If your browser shows "Not secure" next to your website, customers see it too. Many stop there and do not trust the page. The fix is a safety lock called https. The person who runs your website can usually turn it on quickly.
Meena runs a small clinic. Her nephew made her website years ago.
A patient told her, "I wanted to book on your website. My phone said Not secure. So I did not fill in my number."
Meena had never looked at the top of the page.
This is an example, with a made up name and business.
What the warning means
A website with the safety lock has an address that starts with "https://". The "s" means the page is protected.
A website without it starts with "http://". Google's Chrome browser marks these pages as Not secure (Google).
Fix it yourself
- Look at your own site. Open it on your phone. Look at the address bar at the top. Do you see "Not secure", or a crossed lock?
- Find who runs your website. It is the person who built it, or the company you pay for it each year.
- Ask them to turn on https. They may call it an SSL certificate. Many hosting plans include one. Ask if yours already does before you pay extra.
- Ask them to send every visitor to the https address. Then nobody lands on the old "http" page by mistake.
- Ask if it renews by itself. Some certificates end after a time. When one ends, the warning comes back.
- Check again on your phone. The warning should be gone. Open two or three pages, not only the first one.
- Update the link on your Google listing. Open your Business Profile, tap Edit profile, and make sure the website starts with "https://".
For other website problems, like a slow page or no call button, see five fixes for a website that loses customers.
Common questions
I do not take payments on my website. Do I still need https?
Yes. The warning shows on any page without it. Customers see it before they read anything.
My site was made on a website builder years ago. What now?
Ask the builder's help team how to turn on https. If the site is very old, a new one page site may be simpler.
Will this bring me more customers?
Nobody can promise that. It removes a warning that can make people leave.