Google Chrome Now Labels All Non-SSL Sites As “Not Secure”

In a push to make the web more secure, Google Chrome 68 started marking all unencrypted connections to websites as “not secure.” The warning is part of Google’s push toward a safer web browsing experience. This is an ongoing effort that started back when Google made HTTPS a ranking factor in 2014. While Google wasn’t the first to make this change, the Chrome browser is by far the largest. According to StatCounter, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox (who also warns users of non-SSL URLs), account for 64% of all web browsing activity.

Until now, the majority of websites only used SSL when sensitive information was being passed. It’s been the standard to encrypt credit card and other delicate information for many years. This new push is to make all communications between browser and website secure.

What is SSL?

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a standard security protocol for establishing encrypted links between a web server and a browser for online communication. The usage of SSL technology ensures that all data transmitted between the web server and browser remains encrypted. If SSL is properly set up, your website’s URL will start with “HTTPS://”, not the traditional “HTTP://”.

How does this impact your website’s SEO?

If the connection to your website isn’t secure, your SEO is going to take a big hit. First, Google’s search engine is listing SSL above non-SSL sites, giving your competitors, already set up with SSL, a ranking advantage. Second, the users that do find your website, will also find a large, red, “not secure” warning right in the address bar, next to your URL! Users will see this as a security risk and quickly move on to another website.

What can you do?

If your website is already encrypted with SSL, you’ll see “HTTPS://” and/or an SSL icon () before the URL in the address bar. If set up correctly, all of your site’s pages will show as secure and any traffic to non-SSL URLs will automatically switch to the HTTPS address.

If your website isn’t SSL/HTTPS enabled, the time to make the switch is now. Having your site flagged as “not secure” hurts your SEO, and is a bad look for your business or organization. Depending on how your website is set up, adding SSL can be easy as flipping a switch, or may require rewriting of some backend code. If you’re not sure of your site’s SSL status, check with your webmaster or hosting provider.