Change is the only constant. That is especially true of technology and the internet. It can be difficult to keep up with all the changes in social media platforms, security concerns, seo, and everything else that happens online. There is one change that could have a major impact on your web traffic. Starting this month the Google Chrome browser will start marking all websites that do not have SSL Certificates as potentially “Not Secure”. This means if your web address starts with HTTP instead of the now preferred HTTPS your website will be marked.

So what does this mean? To the typical person browsing the web and looking for a studio, likely not much. HTTPS is meant to encrypt websites that take user data like credit card information and keep that data secure. For the most part dance studio websites are just informational. If you link to your studio software registration forms, the user gets redirected to a secure HTTPS page during the registration process. This is fairly common. My own studio website works the same way. Once the user gets to our registration page, everything is secure. So why should we worry about this change?

Where this will impact us as studio owners. Speaking to fellow web developers there is frustration in the fact that purely informational websites are being deemed not secure. Most websites that are just informational would not have been setup as HTTPS sites to begin with. There was not reason to, until now. Starting in 2015 Google began down-ranking websites that were not secure. This could impact your placement on search results. Meaning less eyes on your links, less click, and ultimately less customers.

So what do you do if your website is not already an HTTPS website? The good news is the fix isn’t too difficult. There are a few ways to make sure your website redirects to a secure HTTPS connection. It may depend on how you setup your website. My first piece of advice would be to contact your web hosting company. They will likely have options and may even be able to do it for you. Some will cost money but there are free options as well. If you feel comfortable doing it on your own, here are some ways to go about it.

  • Use Let’s Encrypt – A Free Service: Read More
  • If you have a WordPress website: Read More
  • Purchase an SSL Certificate from Certificate Authority: Read More

Those are good starting points. Full disclosure, I have yet to update my own studio website as well as this website. I will be upgrading soon. I will document the process and report back on any hiccups we encounter and pass along any tips we learn along the way.