Recent changes in Google Chrome might mean you should purchase a secure certificate to prevent your search engine rankings from declining.
What Is HTTPS?
The “s” at the end of the “http” part of a URL means the website is secure. When installed on a web server, an SSL certificate activates a secure protocol that allows secure connections from a web server to your browser. This ensures that a user’s activity cannot be tracked, that their information stolen, and that data files cannot be corrupted as they’re transferred. But having (or not having) an SSL certificates can also affect search engine rankings!
How does HTTPS impact SEO?
Google has encouraged webmasters to make the migration to a secure site for a while now and is now giving an increasing amount of weight in ranking boosts to websites that are HTTPS. Although only less than 1% of all websites are secure 40% of Google’s page one organic search results feature an HTTPS site.