Improve Google SEO search ranking and more
Google has officially announced that websites served via HTTPS (enabled via SSL certificates) will rank higher in search results. This is because users can be guaranteed that the site will encrypt their information for that extra level of security.
It is pretty clear from data analysis that HTTPS sites have a ranking advantage over HTTP link so this switch will now benefit all companies, confidential information or not.
According to Search Engine Land, Google said that based on their initial tests the HTTPS signal showed “positive results” in terms of relevancy and ranking in Google’s search results.
That same article predicted that this may change eventually, and Google may decide to strengthen the signal, or give more ranking benefit to HTTPS sites because they want to keep online users secure.
It is still a light-weight signal so far and will not be replacing the need for quality content on websites.
SEO Advantages of switching to HTTPS
It is clear that HTTPS (via SSL certificate) offers security, however, there are also some additional SEO benefits for you to consider.
- Increased rankings.
Google has confirmed the slight ranking boost of HTTPS sites. The value of switching to HTTPS is very likely to increase over time.
- Referrer Data.
When traffic passes to an HTTPS site, the referrer information is preserved. This is unlike what happens when traffic passes through an HTTP site. Over HTTP it is stripped away and looks as though it is "direct".
