Is your website SECURE? How do you know AND Why is it important?
Is your website HTTP or HTTPS?
Go to your website and look at your URL address at the top of the page- if you see HTTPS (the S means Secure) then you're good- your website is secure! If you see HTTP without an 'S' then your website is not Secure and you need to take action before July 2018.
The impact of this warning is huge.
Visitors of an HTTP website will get a wake-up call: any communication with this website is not secure. This means the data shared between the website and their computer can be intercepted and changed. They cannot even be sure that the website they visit is actually the website it claims to be.
With its Chrome browser, Google has a massive market share and other browsers (Mozilla, Edge, Safari) also follow the example set by Chrome. https://selnd.com/2nUQUqp
GOOGLE has set July 2018 as a major month for websites!
Google has been pushing for all websites to be secure or encrypted. What this means to the average person is the website is safe to browse. This is vitally important in this day of high tech and hackers trying everything to get access to Your Personal Information!
In July, Google Chrome will start marking websites NOT SECURE to educate consumers!
Google also set July for the month that the SPEED of a website will become a factor in page ranking of search results! Check it out! https://selnd.com/2mP7isD
With the explosion of smart phone usage and smart phone ownership ballooning worldwide, in 2017 Google began Mobile First Indexing- what's that you ask? Well to put it in simple terms.....ALL websites that are mobile friendly will show first on search results! Google stats show almost 60% of searches are done from a smart phone.
So if you have to 'pinch to zoom' on your smart phone to read your website- THEN Your Website is being pushed further and further down the ranking results of search engines -yep, you're helping your competitors that have a mobile friendly website! Ouch!
Why do we follow so closely what Google announces? Because Google owns roughly 85% of all search engines- pretty impactful when you think about it! And most all search engines and browsers follow Google's lead!
A Recap of what features Google values when ranking your website on search engine page results:
1. Content- Fresh relevant Content is King!
Content is highly weighted when it comes to search engine ranking! This is why we recommend having a blog or News page on your website. Making posts a few times a month with fresh solid content helps your ranking. In fact, statistics show websites with a blog page receive 55% more visitors than those without.
2. Your website must be Mobile Friendly- or Dynamic!
This means your website auto sizes itself based on the device used when viewing your website. So no more pinching to zoom!
3. Speed
Your website better be fast to get the best search engine page ranking!
4. Secure
Google expects websites to be encrypted, which will show HTTPS in the url, otherwise your website will be marked as NOT SECURE.
More and more businesses are realizing that mobile websites are vital to sustaining and growing their business!
If you want the best page ranking on search engine results, you must have a Mobile Friendly, Fast and Secure website- it's the foundation for ALL websites!
Halo Creatives Group based in Sarasota Florida has been designing custom mobile friendly sites since 2009. "Our focus is the small business owner- we want to improve their online presence so they can focus on their business and serving customers. All our websites include full Search Engine Optimization and verification with Google as well as monthly Google Analytic Reports. It's what we do!" Give Halo Creatives a call today 941-220-9722 or 330-256-3396 or visit our Mobile Friendly, Fast & Secure website at HaloCreatives.com