Over the past several years, Google has moved aggressively to display only verified, secure content in search results. The search giant is about to take its next big step forward towards a secure internet.
Google wants websites to transition to hosting only secure content on secure websites.
Currently, secure websites (featuring https://) are able to serve mixed content, including both secure and insecure (featuring https://) content. Starting in December, Google’s Chrome browser will stop displaying mixed content on secure pages.
If your site has mixed content, this new policy might create a poor user experience, negatively affect your SEO, and even compromise secure information exchanged on your website. What does this mean for your website, and how can you fix it?
Google placas high priority on serving secure websites in search engine results pages. Having a securely encrypted site is one of the easiest ways to improve SEO.
HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. This means information that is transferred on this website is completely encrypted. Security and encryption are vitally important for websites that contain sensitive information, such as credit card numbers.
HTTPS websites commonly house mixed content, which occurs when subresources on a secure site are loaded insecurely over https://. Browsers often block mixed content such as scripts and iframes, but still allow images, audio, and video to load. While this might create a good user experience, it presents security concerns. An attacker could tamper with a mixed image to present misleading information, or could even inject tracking cookies into mixed resources.
Google Chrome is the first browser to block all mixed content by default. Starting with Chrome 79 in December, Google will automatically upgrade mixed content on secure sites, so sites will continue to work if their subresources are already available over HTTPS. Once these changes are implemented, Google will provide an option for website visitors to display blocked mixed content. However, requiring the user to unblock content creates a clunky user experience and may increase bounce rates.
Do you want to fix mixed content on your site? Google recommends migrating website services to HTTPS. You should also check with your web hosting provider or content management system to see if they have ready-made tools to de-bug mixed content (like this WordPress plugin).
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. We can help you navigate how to identify and fix any mixed content on your website.