With 4 months to switch on HTTPS, are web hosting companies ready?

[glennrocksvb]

You're going to need SSL, but does the shared hosting offered by 1&1, A2 Hosting, Bluehost, DreamHost, GoDaddy, Hostgator and other hosts offer it?

Like it or not, if your website isn't using HTTPS (the encrypted version of the web's HTTP protocol) by July then you're likely to lose traffic.

That's because in July 2018 Google Chrome, the world’s most popular browser, will start warning users that web pages served over HTTP are not secure (they aren't).

This isn't an empty threat, Chrome has been turning the screw on HTTP for a number of years and Google Search already gives sites with HTTPS a boost in its search rankings. You should expect other browsers to follow Chrome’s lead.

In other words, if you're buying web hosting you're going to want HTTPS.