{"id":22,"date":"2026-08-29T08:44:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T08:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dooda.com.au\/bestseoagencymelbourne-com\/2026\/08\/29\/https-and-website-security-do-they-really-affect-seo\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T08:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T08:44:43","slug":"https-and-website-security-do-they-really-affect-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dooda.com.au\/bestseoagencymelbourne-com\/2026\/08\/29\/https-and-website-security-do-they-really-affect-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"HTTPS and Website Security: Do They Really Affect SEO?"},"content":{"rendered":"

From October 2026, Google Chrome will start warning visitors before they open any website that isn’t running on HTTPS \u2014 the padlocked, encrypted version of a web address. If your Melbourne business website is still sitting on plain HTTP, or has HTTPS installed but not properly enforced, that change is about to matter a lot more than a small ranking tweak. Here’s what HTTPS actually does for SEO, what’s changing in 2026, and how to check whether your site is genuinely secure or just appears to be.<\/p>\n

Does HTTPS actually affect your Google rankings?<\/h2>\n

Yes, but modestly. Google confirmed HTTPS as a ranking signal back in 2014, and it remains one today \u2014 but it has always been what Google itself describes as closer to a tie-breaker than a major ranking driver. If two pages are otherwise similar in quality and relevance, the secure one gets a slight edge. On its own, switching to HTTPS won’t move a page from position 20 to position 3. So if HTTPS is only a “lightweight” ranking factor, why does it deserve a full article? Because the ranking impact was never really the main story \u2014 the trust and conversion impact is, and that’s about to become unavoidable.<\/p>\n

It’s also worth being clear about what HTTPS does not do. It won’t fix thin content, slow load times or a confusing site structure, and it won’t outrank a genuinely more relevant competitor page. Think of it as a baseline requirement rather than a growth lever \u2014 something every page on a professional Melbourne business website should simply have, in the same way a shopfront should have a working front door. The businesses that get caught out are rarely the ones who never heard of HTTPS; they’re the ones who installed it years ago, assumed the job was done, and never checked it again as their site grew new pages, plugins and subdomains.<\/p>\n

Why it matters far more in 2026 than the ranking boost suggests<\/h2>\n

Google announced on its official Security Blog that Chrome is moving to “HTTPS by default” in two stages. From April 2026, Chrome 147 started warning users enrolled in Enhanced Safe Browsing \u2014 a group of more than a billion people \u2014 before they load an insecure HTTP page. From October 2026, Chrome 154 extends that warning to everyone, by default, worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Date<\/th>\nChrome version<\/th>\nWho sees the warning<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
April 2026<\/td>\nChrome 147<\/td>\nEnhanced Safe Browsing users (1 billion+ people)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
October 2026<\/td>\nChrome 154<\/td>\nAll Chrome users globally, by default<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In practice, this means any Melbourne business still running an HTTP page \u2014 even a single old landing page that never got migrated \u2014 will soon show visitors an active warning before the page even loads, not just a missing padlock icon they might not notice. Full detail is available directly from the Google Security Blog’s announcement on HTTPS by default<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What happens when a visitor sees “Not Secure”<\/h2>\n

This is where the real cost sits. Once Chrome flags a page as “Not Secure,” a large share of visitors simply leave \u2014 around 64% close the page immediately rather than proceed. For a Melbourne business relying on its website for enquiries, quote requests or online sales, that’s not a ranking problem, it’s a lost-customer problem, and it happens before your content, your offer or your reviews get a chance to do their job.<\/p>\n

\n\nSecure versus insecure address bar comparison<\/title>\nSide-by-side comparison of a secure HTTPS address bar showing a padlock icon and trusted appearance, next to an insecure HTTP address bar showing Chrome’s Not Secure warning, illustrating the visitor trust gap between the two.<\/desc>\n\nWhat Your Visitors See<\/text>\n\n🔒 https:\/\/yourbusiness.com.au<\/text>\nSecure \u2014 visitor stays<\/text>\n\n⚠ Not Secure \u2014 yourbusiness.com.au<\/text>\nWarning shown \u2014 64% leave<\/text>\nBest SEO Agency Melbourne<\/text>\n<\/svg>
Figure 1: The gap between a secure and an insecure address bar is about to become an active browser warning, not a subtle icon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Not sure if your whole site is properly secured?<\/strong> Get your free SEO audit worth $1,200<\/a> and we’ll check HTTPS enforcement along with everything else.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Common mistakes that undermine HTTPS even when you have a certificate<\/h2>\n

Plenty of Melbourne business sites technically “have HTTPS” and are still exposed to the coming changes because the certificate isn’t doing its full job. The most common issues we see are:<\/p>\n