Google Chrome 56 and your business's online reputation

Online Reputation Rules are Changing

New browser version. New reality.

The new Google Chrome browser will be released soon. It will pack the most recent updates. Generally, most businesses have no valid reason to pay attention to every newly released browser version; this time around is different. If your business has a website, you must understand the most important Chrome update that may negatively affect your website visitors’ confidence.

To try and keep our personal information more secure, Google has introduced a notification in the address bar letting the website’s visitors know if the website is not secure. How does Google know this? Simple. If your website does not use HTTPS as opposed to HTTP (meaning that the information transferred between your website and visitors device is not encrypted), Google Chrome will display a non-secure notification to your website’s visitor. This major change follows an earlier announcement by the Google team that stated that the company will reward the websites that use SSL, a secure connection, by ranking these websites higher in search results.

What importance does this hold for your business?

If you don't use SSL currently, you have an issue concerning your website ranking within search results. When the updated Chrome browser is released, you will have a much bigger problem as your website’s visitors will be greeted with the "non-secure website" notification. Most definitely, something like that would affect your online business reputation. Since over 57% of people use the Google Chrome browser, it's the force to be reckoned with.

Protecting your online reputation.

Your business has to react quickly before your customers and prospects engage with your competitors.

To address both search engine rankings and ensure you are not penalized for non secure data transfer, you should add an SSL certificate to all public facing websites and web applications. The good news is that it's simple, and your webmaster or a web development partner can address it in a matter of hours. Over the years, the price of secure certificates has decreased significantly, so that it wouldn’t be too hard on your bottom line.

What about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Well, since Google uses HTTPS as a rankings signal, unless getting free traffic to your website is not one of your main goals, adding the necessary security must be one of the top priorities. Of course, your website optimization won't end there, though it will help you rank better.