What Does This Mean? “WordPress Website Not Secure”
Have you seen this message “NOT SECURE”? in your browser address bar?
YOUR WEBSITE IS NOT SECURE!
is a scary message indeed!
Scary, not only for you but for your site visitors. Chances are visitors to your site will panic if they see this warning when trying to connect to your site.
In July 2018 Google implemented a warning policy for websites that do not use an SSL Certificate.
An SSL Certificate Can Answer The Question “Why Is My WordPress Website Not Secure?”
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. A Secure Socket Layer provides encryption of the data you send and receive from websites. This is particularly important if you are asking website visitors to transmit their sensitive data like credit card numbers and personal information in the course of registering for services or buying a product from you.
Removing The ‘Site Not Secure’ Warning
Having an SSL Certificate for your site gives your visitors confidence that their interaction with your site is secure. Having SSL installed on your server will remove the ominous Google warning message and for most browsers you will now see https together with a small padlock icon instead of just http. The ‘s’ on the end of the http means SECURE.
SEO Boost For Sites Using SSL
Google prefers sites that use SSL and although not mandatory one can see why it is a good idea to comply with their ‘subtle push’. It’s never a good idea to bank on incentives Google may use to improve the search experience, but common sense would suggest that this is a new best practice. Neil Patel and Alan Potts of Medium.com inform us of the benefits of using SSL and that if two sites in equal contention for ranking by Google are both employing the same best practice SEO techniques and they both contain high-quality content, then the site with the SSL Certificate will trump the standard HTTP site.
Conclusion
Owning a website and complying with all the technical and security requirements can be a pain at times, however getting security issues sorted out early should be given priority. Applying SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is one of those housekeeping tasks (Which by the way is already done for you at Gordon Design) that will pay dividends with increased traffic and improved trust by users.
