Secure Your Site Already
The best time to make your site secure was 10 years ago when Google first recommended it. The second best time is today.
Despite Google increasing the penalties for sites that aren’t secure, many small businesses still haven’t secured theirs. Including the last three that came to us for our services. So this seems to be a sign to give a gentle reminder to everyone that they need to SECURE THEIR DAMN SITES.
How to tell if your site is secure
Open up your browser and type in your URL. Are you seeing that little lock next to your URL?
If so, mazel tov. That’s one thing less you have to worry about in these worrisome times.
No secure lock and instead are you seeing a rightfully scary Not Secure message when you click on the (i)?
Good news– now you know. And it’s fairly easy to fix.
What happens if you don’t make your site secure?
- Google will continue to penalize you in search rankings. There are many factors that go into the algorithm that ranks where your site shows up when people are searching for your product/services/content. A non secure site is a signal to Google that you don’t care about your visitors and rank your site accordingly.
- Most people notice if a site is not secure. They are not going to feel comfortable signing up for your newsletter or doing anything else on your site.
- You’re opening the door for hackers. While securing your site won’t hacker-proof your site, it will make it more difficult for them.
- You can’t use Google Ads. Even if you are paying Google money, they are not going to take it if your site is not secure. This is why we have to tell would-be clients that (including our most recent ones) that they need to secure their sites.
How do I secure my site?
Contact your website hosting service provider to discuss setting up a security certificate and making your website secure (HTTPS). The security certificate is an additional fee (not much) and varies depending on what level of hosting you have.
You of course could also ask your webmaster. But before asking them about setting up, you will need to have a discussion on why they did not do it in the first place.
