A couple of weeks ago I posted about the upcoming changes announced by Google, that sites that are not seen as secure (that is, they are accessed with “HTTP” instead of “HTTPS”) will be labeled as insecure. In addition, Google has indicated that security is a ranking factor. That post provided step-by-step instructions for installing SSL (HTTPS) for your site using Cloudflare.

Today Cloudflare’s blog (Cloudflare is the site I used in my instructions in that post) points out that the time for Google’s “insecure” labels is now only 25 days away. They also provide a quick, free, testing tool to see if your site will be seen as secure or insecure. Simply put your domain (without either http or https) in the search box, press Enter, and get the answer.

Another helpful item in the post tells you not only that you can get a certificate from Cloudflare (they have free and paid plans), but they also point out another free alternative, Let’s Encrypt.

I haven’t used Let’s Encrypt, as I have been using Cloudflare. According to the site, Let’s Encrypt is sponsored by many of the major players on the internet, such as Mozilla (who provides, among other things, the Firefox browser), Chrome (from Google), Facebook, and more.

So with two free ways to set up a secure site, why isn’t your site ready?