You might have panicked when you received an e-mail from Google saying that the latest version of Chrome will mark your non-https website as not secure. I know I did. You probably also relaxed when you found out that it was not the end of the world, and the that notice would not be so intrusive (just yet). Online you have probably found that people are quite divided on the topic, with a large number of people saying you don’t have to move your site to https if you operate a normal blog and not an e-commerce site. Some people have valid arguments, but a lot of them seem to want to fight off Google.

What has Google got to do with it?

Google has been pushing the move to https hard, and with their latest tweak to Chrome and their promise to take the notice even to include all pages it feels more like an ultimatum. People frustrated with Google’s dominance tend to want object to Google shaping almost everything online. But you have to face the facts – they already pretty much do.

And if you care about getting found in Google you better make the move to HTTPS. Google has already said that they will not rank you higher just because of being https, but if you rank just as well as your competitor, your https page will win.

As Gary from Google tweeted:

If you're an SEO and you're recommending against going HTTPS, you're wrong and you should feel bad.

— Gary Illyes ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ (@methode) August 18, 2015

My main argument: Don’t underestimate your visitor

My number 1 argument is even more simple than that. Of course, it’s great that it’s faster and more secure. But with https becoming the norm (the Moz chart above shows the rise in HTTPS results in Google), you simply can’t stay behind. As soon as the little green secure sign appears on a lot of sites, people will start looking for it, or will at least notice when it’s not there.

Even if you are just a blog you want to confer a trustworthy image, and a non-secure notice simply won’t help you there.