Google is making a big change in July of 2018, and I think you should know about it…and they are doing it through the Chrome browser (which Google owns).
Google is trying to make the whole Internet secure. And that’s a good thing!
Chrome is one of the most popular browsers on the internet because it’s the fastest browser. Google Chrome is driving a push to make the whole Internet secure, and if you have a website, or plan on creating a website, this is going to affect you.
Now, in the Website Creation Workshop, I teach non-techie business owners how to build websites in WordPress. Once you build your website, people will be coming to your site to view it, and they’ll use browsers to view your site. Other commonly-used browsers, besides Chrome, include Firefox, Safari for Mac users, and Microsoft Edge (formerly known as Internet Explorer). If you’d like to know more about browsers, check out my article, which explains browsers in simple terms.
With the release of Chrome 68 in July of 2018, all HTTP sites will be marked “not secure.” This image will explain what I am talking about:
Tip: Don’t know which browser/browser version you are using? Here is a handy tool to find that out.
What does this mean if you already have a website?
What does the term “SSL” Stand for?
(Here are the techie details)
SSL means Secure Socket Layer (SSL Secure). When people talk about a SSL Secure site, they mean the site is HTTPS. SSL also secures your login access to the admin area of WordPress. When a website is SSL secure, people cannot hack into it as easily.
HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The ‘S’ Stands for Secure, which means the page is encrypted and protected from cyberattacks. A website that is not secure could have unwanted ads on it when visitors view it, and the website may load slowly in the browser, or worst yet, it could be susceptible to malware. When you load a website over HTTP, someone else on the network can look at or modify the site before it gets to you. Having a website that is not secure will negatively impact your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well.
Currently, if you look at the top left of your Chrome browser, you’ll see a green lock icon and the word “Secure” next to it, also in green font, whenever you visit an HTTPS website.
Over the past several years, Google has sought to make the web more secure by strongly advocating that all website adopt the HTTPS encryption.
According to this Google blog article, now over 68% of Chrome traffic on Android and Windows is protected, over 78% of Chrome traffic on Chrome OS and Mac is protected, and 81 of the top 100 websites use https by default, which means HTTPS is more of the norm these days. Therefore, Google will be phasing out the green lock icon and the Secure label next to it.
In Chrome 68, the omnibox will display “Not secure” for all HTTP pages.
By September of 2018, Google will release Chrome 69 and remove the “Secure” label and remove the green lock (bummer as I love that little green lock!)
Say goodbye to the green lock
Eventually, Google will stop displaying the secure icon all together.
What will replace the green lock icon? Google will be making it more obvious if a website is not secure, so they will be marking http websites with a red warning icon and a “not secure” label, coming October 2018.
If you already have a website, you will want to contact your web hosting company to see if there is a free SSL certificate available for you.
Good Hosting Companies that Make Your Site Secure:
My favorite web hosting companies are:
and
Most hosts have directions on how to activate a free WordPress SSL certificate. For example, Bluehost gives free SSL certificates for all your domain names.
Once you install a free SSL certificate from Bluehost, you’ll receive one email confirming your order and one email once your certificate is installed.
If you use SiteGround, your SSL certificate may be already automatically installed. To confirm, you can log in and click on “Let’s Encrypt.”
Regardless of the host you’re using, you’ll want to check that the SSL certificate has been installed. You can go to https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest, put in your website domain, click submit, and it will show you if the SSL certificate is ready or not.
Another way you can check to see if the SSL certificate is ready, is to go to your browser, and enter in your website domain with https. If it’s not ready, you’ll receive a warning message that your connection is not secure. It may take up to 24 hours for the SSL certificate to be ready.
Once the SSL certificate is ready, you’ll need to update your site URL inside of WordPress. Go to settings –> general and put the HTTPS in front of your website domain and in the Site Address (URL) and click Save.
You’ll also need to fix any insecure elements on your website, such as images or videos. There’s a free plugin to fix your images and other media on your site. The plugin is called Really Simple SSL, and it forces HTTPS throughout your website: https://wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-ssl/ Install and activate it, and it’ll swap out all of your links to show HTTPS.
To double check your links, you can go to https://www.whynopadlock.com/, put in your domain name, and it will show you what isn’t secure. You can then manually edit those links by adding HTTPS.
Finally, and this is optional, if you already have Google Analytics and Google Search Console on your site, you can log into Google Analytics, find your website, and change the dropdown menu to HTTPS under the Default URL. With Google Search Console, delete your website and add it back with HTTPS.
If you’d like to learn more about SSL secure websites, please visit https://givewp.com/documentation/resources/how-to-use-ssl-and-https-for-your-wordpress-website
To recap, if you have a website, to avoid Google Chrome marking it “not secure,” simply call your hosting company today and ask about a free SSL certificate.
Hi Christina,
Can you please tell me if all the links out there on the internet that point back to your http://yoursite.com will automatically point to the new site https://yoursite.com?
If not, why not, and can you do a blog post about that?
if your web hosting is setup correctly, then if someone goes to http it will automatically take them to https. Call your web host to verify that
Hi Christina,
Will all the backlinks transfer authomatically to your new site?
If not, why not? And what further steps must one take??
I replied above. If your site is setup correctly, all the backlinks will still work