Last month we moved our website to a new host server. As part of the move we discovered that we needed to change the security for the site. If you look carefully at the URL when visiting the site you’ll notice that it now has “https” at the beginning instead of “http”.

The “s” at the end indicates there is a level of security on the site that was not present beforehand. Over a year ago Google suggested that they would eventually start marking sites as non-secure if they didn’t follow certain security protocols. (see that announcement here).  It included getting a SSL Certificate. (“https” is the acronymn for Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol Secure and “SSL” stands for Secure Socket Layer.) In other words, ours is now a safe site to visit according to Google.

Google also indicated that search results rankings will favor sites with the “https” designation. I found one place that lists 200 factors that go into the rankings. #74 is the security factor.

I make no claim to understand what goes into all of this. Ask your web master. It may involve upgrading your site and may involve some cost.

Before you panic,  I’m assured that your existing http site will work just as before. But for some new visitors they may eventually get a red “unsafe” site page without you knowing it. Plus there is a risk of your site ranking sliding from its current position. Since your author web site is an important part of your marketing please look into this soon.

If you can add, clarify, or correct anything please do so in the comments below!

Just when you thought you had all this stuff figured out they change the rules. Next thing you know they’ll move the distance for the extra point kick in football by 15 yards. Oh wait….