A Quick Secure Website Check To See Why You Have No Padlock
You can do this quick secure website check to see why you’re not always seeing that lovely green padlock in the browser bar. You’re probably aware that Google is making it mandatory to offer secure web browsing for your target audience. It doesn’t matter if you collect payment information or not – if you have a contact form where you’re getting names and email addresses, you have to make your site secure, if you already haven’t.
If you’ve done the hard work of transitioning your site from HTTP to HTTPS, and yet, on certain pages, you see this below in the bar:
Oh crap!!!! Looky here….
Now you’re probably saying damnit, what did I pay all that money for?? Why oh why, after all that time, money and heartburn do I see this damn exclamation point? More to the point, how can I fix this error and do I need my web developer to do this for me?
Well, there’s a quick way to check each page and an even easier fix, especially if you’re on WordPress for your website.
Make a list of all the URLs that have the (!) at the beginning of those pages in the browser bar.
Next, head on over to Why No Padlock. This is a free service from the site that’ll let you run each affected URL, and it’ll tell you exactly what’s wrong with each page, so you can zero in on the fix right away.
Enter the URL you want to check. It would be great if you could just plug in your domain and have the entire site checked, but remember this is a free service, so you have to do some heavy lifting yourself. Don't worry, it's worth it!
It'll take a moment for Why No Padlock to analyze the page and give you the results.
Here you get some basic information and custom results URL for reference.
Now for the part that matters the most - SSL status:
Note the triangle above. It matters most if you're running an e-commerce site. That being said, I need to get with my web dev and see what I can do to fix this.
Now for the part that's causing the lost padlock icon:
The most common problem causing the (!) - at least for WordPress sites is when the transition is made from HTTP to HTTPS, sometimes your image URLs in the media library don't get the memo. Fortunately, this is a quick fix!
Read on...
Log into your WordPress account. Bring up the page or post in the edit mode. Right click on the image in question:
Click on that pencil icon. Take a look at this:
Ooops! AHA!!! It's the old HTTP URL!
No worries - just stick your mouse cursor in the URL after the letter "p" in "http," add the letter "s" and click the Update button in the lower right hand corner.
Done like a dinner...
Now, re-publish the page.
Success!!
Now, lather, rinse, repeat!
Want to learn more about the SEO implications of a secure site - or not secure? Take an SEO class from Invenio SEO and see why this is so important, plus learn how to find the best keyword phrases for your content, how links can make or kill your site and more!
Until we meet again, stay safely between the ditches!
All the very best to you,
Nancy McDonald
