Google’s latest update will most probably have an impact on your conversions. Indeed, as from October 2017, ‘Chrome 62’ will warn all users that have landed on a website page containing a form field and/or a search engine who isn’t secured with HTTPS.
In 2014 already, Google was making security one of its top factor when it came to SEO. The more your webpage was secured, the more chanced it had of appearing on top searches.
This race for security hasn’t stopped there. Earlier this year, in January, Google was warning users that were providing private details such as bank details or passwords on the unsecured pages HTTP.
Chrome 62 requires an extra level of security when it comes to the web pages. Chrome users will be warned when they type anything into a form field on a non-secure HTTP page (this also includes fields like search bars).
In order to be considered as a secured web page by Google, the entire website has to be secured via HTTPS.
These modifications can have a major impact when it comes to Chrome’s user behavior (reduction of credibility, decrease of traffic to website and conversions). Up until now, Google has noticed a 23% decrease of traffic on unsecured pages that are asking private information such as banking details or passwords.
Why you should use HTTPS?
- Sensitive information is protected
- Ranking factor
- Increases customer trust
- More referrer data in Analytics: whenever traffic passes from a secure HTTPS site to a non-secure HTTP site, the referral data gets stripped away.
This traffic shows up in your analytics report as ‘Direct.’ - Your site is legitimate and secure
- HTTPS sites load faster
But switching to HTTPS may also have important consequences on your SEO!
For more information, please contact our local search expert Benjamin Bonnet.