Hint: Google ain’t playin’ around no more.
After months of warnings and mass email notifications, the October launch of Google’s fight against websites without SSL certificates is almost here. If you’re wondering what that means, it’s basically Google’s way of trying to make the internet a safer place by putting added pressure on businesses to encrypt their websites and provide more security for their visitors.
No SSL Certificate On Your Website? Here’s Why That Could Be Terrible For Your Inbound Marketing
The Specifics
Beginning in October 2017, with the launch of version 62 of Google’s Chrome browser, a “not secure” warning will now appear in the address bar in two additional situations: when users enter data (or “interact”) on an HTTP page, as well as on all HTTP pages visited in Incognito mode. This is being done in order to make visitors aware that communication may not be secure and their interactions with the website can be hacked.
What this means for anyone who works on or manages a website is that you need to act now to make sure Google’s increased security measures don’t interrupt your users’ experience and cause you to lose traffic and leads.
Why Chrome and Why Now?
The method behind Google’s approach is simple: Chrome is completely dominating the global browser market. By that, we mean that more than half of the world’s internet users now use Chrome as their preferred desktop browser. Because of this, Google is using Chrome’s popularity to its advantage and making it its mission to try to motivate people to tread lightly while interacting with unencrypted websites.
If you’re curious as to how your website traffic stacks up again this global statistic, you can check out exactly how many Chrome users your site has through your Google Analytics account by filtering by Audience > Technology > Browser & OS.
What This Means for Inbound Marketing
As an inbound marketing agency, the majority of our efforts are centered around generating as many qualified leads as possible for our clients. In order to do that, we have to create websites and landing pages that collect information from visitors such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, and so on.
All of this is done in order for us to begin to establish a relationship, build trust and nurture leads until they are eventually converted into customers. For this exact reason, the SSL certificate is more important than ever for businesses with this type of marketing model.
Think about it this way: when someone sees a big red flag in the beginning stages of a new relationship, isn’t their first instinct to run in the other direction? Shouldn’t the same rule apply to new relationships between customers and a business? Well, that’s exactly what Google is hoping for.
By immediately telling potential customers that a website is “not secure” they’re trying to raise a big red flag and let them know that their security is not a top priority and that these companies should not be trusted.
Call us crazy, but that doesn’t bode well for businesses that aren’t willing to invest in SSL certificates moving forward. And keep in mind, the website visitors aren’t the main ones at risk here. The business itself is also a sitting duck at risk of being hacked. – making it a bad move on all accounts.
Conclusion
If your marketing efforts heavily depend on collecting data from customers, an SSL certificate is a must for your website. This small investment is proving to be crucial for inbound marketing efforts – no matter the industry.
Interested in learning how RUNNER can help with your website improvements and inbound marketing efforts? Give us a holler about our web hosting and security services.
