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Ok, here it is - For those within our Church who are still contemplating making a decision on whether or not to upgrade the Parish website; these three areas alone should help to re-boot your thinking.
Part 1. Website Security - Warnings displayed on sites which do not comply
Many of our Parish websites are currently using old programming language, which in many cases renders the site vulnerable to malicious activity. Modern websites use the latest coding, designed to minimise the likelihood of suspicious activity. Furthermore, it is fundamentally essential that your website be issued with an SSL certificate. This ensures that information submitted through your website (enquiry forms, transactions, comments, emails) is encrypted; meaning that anyone trying to use naughty tactics to view visitor information, will only see the encrypted code, thus protecting the website visitor's information.
FACT -
The BBC reported last year
that
Google is now penalising websites which do not have an SSL certificate, by displaying to the website visitor, a warning message: "Unsecured website" - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44937782. The harsh reality - If visitors do not feel safe whilst browsing your website, they will simply go elsewhere.
SSL certificates provide your website with a padlock or green browser bar, and reassures website visitors that they are safe on your website. Google also favours secure sites; which means that your search engine ranking may improve, should a certificate be displayed.