Recent announcements on the use of HTTPS as a ranking factor is likely to redefine SEO strategies and also have a major impact on the security of Websites and the Internet as a whole.
Although Google and Bing shares little information on the algorithms used to determine their own Search rankings. This leaves web designers, SEO specialists and organizations to their own devices when it comes to improving SEO Performance.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a technique through which your website rank higher in the search results of Goggle, Bing, and other search engines. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption is just one of those ranking factors.
A study conducted by Brian Dean on BackLinko.com shows a correlation between HTTPS and higher search rankings was found. Combined with other factors and reflecting what Google had already confirmed.
From Google: We’d like to announce that we’re adjusting our indexing system to look for more HTTPS pages. Our systems prefer the HTTPS version by default.
This means that HTTPS Websites and pages will receive an SEO boost and be the default result for searchers. For the Webmasters, we will need to make sure we have implemented SSL certificates properly to avoid a drop in rankings. Having an SSL certificate on your website is now the "New Website Standard" Just as important as a "Responsive Website Design" is.
All websites should have an SSL Certificate.
Over the past year or so, we have been monitoring sites that use HTTPS in the SEO Ranking algorithms. And we have seen the improvements with ranking that shows it most definitely helps.
After introducing HTTPS by default on all its Services, as well as promoting the HTTPS Everywhere initiative, Google is encouraging stronger security once again by reviewing their algorithms to reward SSL websites.
In short, this means that if users can not connect to your website with HTTPS, your website will lose ranking in the Google search results.
Users trust secure connections. And Websites that follow good practices for "User Experience" will rank better in Google search results. According to the Global Sign survey, 84% of users would abandon a purchase if data was sent over an insecure connection, and over 50% of people will not visit an unsecured website at all.
To enable HTTPS on your website, you will need an SSL Certificate. This is basically a small data file that digitally binds a cryptographic key to your website details. When SSL security is enabled, any data transmitted over the website will be encrypted, preventing it from being intercepted by a third party.
The 'S' at the end of HTTPS stands for 'Secure' which means all exchanges of information between the browser and the site are encrypted.
This video from Google I/O explains why SSL is so important and why they are pushing the HTTPS Everywhere initiative.
AHREFS analyzed the HTTPS settings of the top 10,000 domains and found that only about 1 in 10 had a flawless SSL/HTTPS set up.
One of the most common errors is failing to use 301 Redirects properly.
Log into your cPanel account.
Scroll down to the "Domain" section and click on the Domain icon.
In the "domains" interface, you will see a list of all the domains on your cPanel account. You will notice the "Force HTTPS Redirect" column.
Toggle the switch on for your domain
A "Success" message will appear.
You can toggle several of your domains to enable or disable "Forced HTTPS Redirects" with the option. Just select the checkbox for each domain name, and then select whether you want to toggle them on or off.
Accessing your website with the non-secure "HTTP" will redirect you to the secure version, "HTTPS" and you will see a secure lock symbol in the address bar of the Browser.
Another way to force all browser to use HTTPS is to use the ".htaccess file"
Using this method, you can force or redirect pages from HTTP to HTTPS. This is a simple and straight forward method. You only need to modify the ".htaccess file" which should be in the root directory of your website. If one is not there, you can make one. Naming it ".htaccess". Then edit this file and add a few lines of code to it. You can copy and paste the code provided below.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} !https
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]
Depending on which Web Server or Host your website is using, you may need a different variation of this code.
Most SSL or HTTPS issues are relatively easy to identify. This free SSL redirect scanning tool from SeoReviewTools.com is helpful for identifying issues with SSL set up.
The weight of HTTPS in search algorithms is forecast to keep increasing over the coming months. The news will no doubt boost the use of SSL technology, increasing the number of secure websites out there, and improving the safety of the Internet for end users.
As a webmaster, there has never been a better time to make website security top of your agenda.
To be used as a search engine ranking factor. This will cause websites with SSL to be ranked higher in Google.
Customers feel more secure and are more likely to make purchases from websites that use HTTPS.
Private and sensitive information such as credit card numbers and passwords are encrypted. This means they cannot be intercepted.
SSL certificates are issued and rely on the trustworthiness of certificate authorities. With HTTPS, users can verify who actually is the owner of the SSL certificate.
Visit our Blog for more information about SSL.
And all of our hosting packages come with SSL pre-installed at no additional cost to you.
Jeroen A
Very useful article, Thank you for sharing.
Patrick S
I thank you for your blogs.
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