HTTP vs HTTPS, Safe or Unsafe, Google Weighs In.
What's HTTP?
HTTP precedes www.yourdomain.com and it tells the browser to connect using Hypertext Transfer Protocol. HTTP is a standard protocol developed to allow client and server to communicate with other websites. A client sends a request to a server and the server sends back a website.
What is HTTPS?
HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. The 'S' stands for SECURE. HTTPS uses an encrypted HTTP connection. This protects any private data being sent from hacking.
HTTP vs HTTPS? Google Will Soon Label HTTP Websites as “Unsafe”
Google announced that they will considering HTTPS websites when establishing page rank. That means if your site has an SSL it will rank higher in a search than if it doesn't. Google also intends to mark HTTP websites with an "unsafe" warning on the Google Chrome browser.
Here's a link to securing your site with HTTPS from Google.
Will this have negative effect on traffic to your website if it's only on an HTTP vs HTTPS connection? You bet. We'll watch to see when Google moves forward this change, but we're recommending our clients to upgrade to HTTPS now?
Security on the internet is a huge issue for all of us.