E-Commerce Checkout Pages Secure?? ...Maybe Not To Chrome

Background

 Over the past year there has been a push from browsers and search engines to encourage webmasters to migrate over to HTTPS. This post will catch you up on two important additions to the Chrome browser, how they can impact your conversion rate, and how they impact SEO.

 Earning the Google Chrome Green HTTPS Page Security Icon

 In October 2015, Chrome released a large update to its HTTPS page security icon. In this official post Google wrote, “Starting with version 46, Chrome will mark the HTTPS with Minor Errors state using the same neutral page icon as HTTP pages.” This change has taken place on both the mobile and desktop versions of Chrome.  

Here is what that change to the page icons looked like after the October update.  

 What Does It Mean?

It means that to earn the Google Chrome Green HTTPS page security icon, your HTTPS webpage needs to be completely secure. It means that HTTPS pages with the slightest issues will display the same way as pages that have no security certificates. In other words, with this one update, site visitors will know if an HTTPS page is actually secure.

 A New HTTPS Test Built Inside of Google Chrome

If you work on an e-commerce website, let’s test your checkout pages! 

Let’s see if your checkout pages still have the green HTTPS lock after the October 2015 update. 

Load one of your checkout pages in the latest Chrome browser, and let’s watch the HTTPS icon in the URL bar as the page loads. 

Is it still green? 

Yes? 

Great! That’s the goal.

It’s not green? 

Try this: reload your page and watch it a little more closely.

Did the HTTPS icon start out as green and eventually switch colors?

 Hopefully that test didn’t panic you too much. It’s really designed to show you that checkout pages have an opportunity to improve in the eyes of Google. If you have any issues, you might want to loop your dev team into the next addition that Chrome made.  

 In January 2016, the Chrome team added a new testing tool that will help us troubleshoot how we can get the green page icon back. 

 In the latest version of Chrome we were given a new Security tab in the developer tools that come with the browser.

It’s very easy to use. 

1. Load any webpage that you want to test inside the of latest Chrome browser version.
2. Right click the page
3. Select “Inspect”
4. Select “Security”
5. Watch the page load – does it say if its secure or not secure?
6. Loop in your favorite developer, and troubleshoot the security issues in the dev console below the security and mixed content issues.

This new addition to Chrome allows webmasters to verify if their HTTPS security is truly secure and troubleshoot any issues. This is a new resource to quickly identify what is preventing your checkout pages from earning the green HTTPS.   

 Need more of an overview? No problem! Google’s YouTube video will walk you through what it is and how you can use it at around the 12-minute mark.   

So How Might This Impact Conversions?

Chrome stopped making exceptions for when it displays the green HTTPS lock in October 2015 for all devices. As Android and Chrome desktop users get familiar with seeing the green lock, it will become a habit for them to look for it. That is a habit you will want to be on the right side of early on, so make sure your pages are secure. 

How Does This Affect SEO?

Because this ultimately affects your users and security, it affects all digital marketing channels.   

 HTTPS has been a slight ranking signal since 2014.

 Why else? Because the Googlebot user agent is most likely built on top of the Chrome browser! 

If you want an interesting read, check out Mike King’s blog from 2011 where he does a great job of attempting to prove it. 

 The Takeaway

There are new standards and testing tools for us all to consider when it comes to security.  

Google Chrome has taken a firm stance to say that “if your HTTPS pages have any issues, then we will no longer display them as being secure”. Google search will be no different. As Google migrates further towards artificial intelligence for website ranking, we are likely going to see more simple “no exception” type scenarios tied into their ranking algorithms, too. 

 Google’s goal is to rank the best result for any given search query. To accomplish that goal, they need your website’s visitors to have the best experience they can. Google owes it to their users to uphold their security, and you owe it to your users, too.  

Trust us in saying that Google would not have gone through all of the trouble of creating these new tools if a minor security issue was still acceptable in 2016. Going forward, to get the benefit of HTTPS, your HTTPS page needs to be completely secure. 

 Fixing your checkout page’s security is one of the greatest optimizations you can make.

Good luck and let us know if we can help in any way! 

For more information about how Pepperjam can help out with your SEO needs, email [email protected]. Check us out on the web at https://www.pepperjam.com.

Resources

https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2015/12/security-panel?hl=en

https://blog.chromium.org/2016/01/introducing-security-panel-in-devtools.html 

https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal.html