HTTPS as an SEO Ranking Factor

By | September 11, 2017

I now recommend that that you get HTTPS access for your website, even if you don’t collect any secure data. Why? Here’s the scoop. I’ve already seen Google issues warnings in Chrome browser when a person opens even a simple contact form that is not secured with HTTPS. It makes the customer have doubts about your site, even if there no basis for it.

Website owners looking into search engine optimization to boost the ranking of their websites will want to make sure they know what’s coming for SEO for 2018. One of the factors they’ll want to learn more about is switching the website to HTTPS. Google has announced this is something they look for when they’re ranking websites and, although it’s only a small piece of everything Google looks at, it might be worth switching for many website owners.

Reasons to Switch a Website to HTTPS

Most websites right now operate on HTTP. However, HTTPS is more secure and is better for many websites. It can be difficult to switch protocols, however, which has many people wondering why they should switch.

Two of the biggest benefits include better security for the website and customers appreciating an easy way to know which websites are more secure. Additionally, websites that operate on HTTPS are more likely to rank higher than websites that use HTTP, a detail that can be important for many website owners.

How Much of an Impact HTTPS Has on SEO Today

Right now, switching to HTTPS does not have a major impact on the optimization of a website. There are so many factors to consider, this is just one that might help boost a website ranking a little higher.

However, Google is advising websites to switch to HTTPS and using this as a ranking factor, so it definitely does have some impact on the ranking for websites. Some website owners will want to go ahead and switch to get the small advantage now and in the future.

The Future of HTTPS for Website Ranking

Although studies show the advantage is small right now, it’s predicted to become larger as time progresses. More and more websites are switching to HTTPS for the improved security and the improved rankings. If website owners take advantage of this now, it could help them boost their ranking right away and help keep it higher when the HTTPS protocol has a higher impact on the ranking for websites.

The Dangers of Switching to HTTPS

One of the concerns with switching is that it is complicated and there could be significant issues for a website trying to switch to the new protocol. However, this can be minimized by doing all of this carefully. The entire website will need to be moved to HTTPS and all of the links in the website will need to be updated.

For large websites, this is a significant amount of work that needs to be done to minimize broken links that could occur. However, experts do agree that it is possible to move any website from HTTP to HTTPS to gain the benefits of the switch as long as it’s done carefully and monitored closely.

Website owners will want to ensure they do as much as possible to help their website rank as highly as possible for a variety of relevant keywords. This means paying attention to what the search engines favor and what might make customers trust their website further. Learn more about https as an SEO Ranking Factor today to see if this is something you’re going to want to do to help boost the ranking and security for your website.

Category: SEO