Monthly Archives: March 2018

Will Google Mark Your Website as Unsafe?

Many internet users trust Google implicitly and assume they will deliver websites which are safe and secure. Google illustrate this by labelling the site as either secure or not secure, with a padlock icon next to the URL. Over the last few years the company have been changing their approach to how they distinguish between secure and unsecure websites, more specially when it comes to http and https.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP is a way of facilitating communication between systems- for example between a browser and server. Although this protocol has been utilised by the majority of websites, it does have one massive flaw and that is security. HTTP data is not encrypted which means it is incredibly vulnerable to hackers and possible theft of data. HTTPS or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure attempts to fix this problem though the use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates. This SSL certificate encrypts the data when it’s moving between the browser and server- securing it against theft or loss.

Google is trying to encourage site owners to make the jump from HTTP to HTTPS but obviously this is a big undertaking and their plan is very much a long term one, with numerous smaller steps involved. At the beginning of 2017, Google started the process specifically with website that collects sensitive data such as passwords or credit card information- marking them as unsecure on Google Chrome if they didn’t have a HTTPS connection. Obviously a “not secure” label on a website can have a negative effect on a company’s reputation and many websites have moved from HTTP to HTTPS as a result.

October of 2017 brought another change in policy with Google warning that any website that used a HTTP connection and allowed for any inputting of data would be labelled as not secure- even if it’s only a search box. Furthermore, it was also at this point that Google labelled all HTTP pages as not secure when people were browsing using their incognito mode on Chrome. The idea behind this being that users expect a certain level of privacy on Incognito and this would place further pressure on HTTP websites to make the change.

The next big move from Google isn’t far off- July 2018 will see the release of Chrome 68 and it is at that point that Google will being marking all HTTP websites as not secure. As this is quite a bold move, it’s expected that many of the remaining sites that haven’t migrated to HTTPS will do so before or at this point in order to avoid the dreaded not secure label.

Considering these changes are coming very soon, any websites that haven’t made the switch to HTTPS should really look in to implementing the change. Not only will you avoid having an “unsafe” website, it has also been shown that Google rewards HTTPS websites in their search ranking- with a modest boost.

There are clearly some issues which are dissuading site owners from migration- most notably cost and the perceived complexity of the process. The actual process itself isn’t as complex as it may seem, it’s basically buying and installing an SSL certificate. Even more surprising is that the cost isn’t substantial- you can get an SSL certificate for a small yearly subscription. In fact, you can even get a free certificate from Let’s Encrypt. Fortunately, there are a plethora of detailed guides online which outline each step of the process, including purchasing, installing and verifying your certificate.

It’s also worth noting that migrating from HTTP to HTTPS will technically appear as an URL change so you will have to make sure to update all hard-coded links but there are tools out there that can help. Furthermore, this URL change can also temporarily affect your website traffic but this will normalise within time.

Any websites that don’t migrate to HTTPS before the July deadline will risk a not secure label and a potential loss in visitors and maybe even revenue. It has never been a better time to make this change.

 

Is big data for little companies?

Big data has drastically transformed the business landscape in recent years. Companies have always collected data but not necessarily used it to it’s fullest potential. Rather than storing data in a folder or on a disk, never to be seen again, businesses can employ the big data approach and use this information as a way to gain valuable insight.

Big data involves the analysis of large sets of statistics, whether that be consumer information, revenue, advertising, footfall or ever social media. This data is collected and analysed in order to find patterns that would otherwise be difficult, if not impossible to recognise using standard methods. The information which is produced from big data can offer a wealth of benefits, including financial, promotional and organisational, just to name a few

The reason that big data has become so popular in recent years is because it is now much more affordable and easy to use thanks to the evolution of technology. However, there does seem to be a disconnect between this new type of analysis and smaller businesses. Many small to medium companies won’t even consider big data because they assume it’s suited to larger organisations and out of their reach, but this just isn’t the case.

It is true that larger amounts of data does facilitate more accurate results and this may seem to benefit larger companies but any amount of data can be useful. This is particularly true if the business in question hasn’t been analysing much or any data previously, which tends to be the case with smaller companies.

So why are so many smaller businesses failing to embrace big data? It’s likely that there is a number of factors behind this. Money is probably the main issue, with many smaller companies assuming that they wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of the equipment, software and personnel required to utilise this new technique.

Another problem is the assumption that utilising big data techniques would require a designated department or member of staff with the expertise to run it. The majority of small business owners employ a small number of staff and don’t have the budget in place to hire new employees, never mind a whole team of specialists.

The concept of big data itself can be quite intimidating and many business owners feel that they don’t have the full understanding in order to get the most value from this tool. Even if they are able to collect and analyse the data, there is a worry that they won’t be able to fully utilise the results in any meaningful way.

Although understandable and very common, these worries are often misconceptions and are holding companies back from embracing an invaluable tool. Thanks to the rise of another huge business trend- self service solutions, companies are no longer forced to modify their own infrastructure in order to utilise new techniques, they can simply outsource.

There are many online organisations that offer self service big data solutions, levelling the playing field for every company, no matter how large or small. These services not only help businesses to collect and analyse their own data, they also convert the raw data in to meaningful, simple to understand information. This information is incredibly useful and can be used to make informed decisions that will hopefully cut costs, streamline processes or attract new custom.

The best part of the self-service approach is that it doesn’t require new software, hardware or personnel and is therefore much more affordable, straightforward and infinitely more attractive to smaller businesses.

In the past, techniques such as big data may have been more accessible to larger, richer companies but thanks to the continual evolution of technology- this is no longer the case. Fortunately, the breaking down of technological barriers is helping to create a much more egalitarian business landscape.

In fact, it’s worth noting that there are advantages that smaller companies have over their larger competitors when it comes to big data. For example, they benefit from a much more flexible approach to change- meaning they can react to data in real time. Larger companies tend to be fixed and have many more moving parts- therefore modifications are complex and require more time.

It has never been a better time for smaller businesses to adopt a bigger approach to data.

So where do you start?  The choice is yours but one company we have worked with may be worth a call https://brainlogic.co.uk