August 7, 2014
It remains well-known that secure HTTPS websites offer users a safer and more risk-free way to browse the internet. Today, Google announced that it would be giving a slightly higher ranking to HTTPS websites with featuring 2048-bit key SSL certificates. Read the blog from Google Webmaster blog here.
According to Google, the boost in page rank will only be a slight one. Still, considering how fiercely challenging it can be to rank a website in today's ultra-competitive market, many webmasters are rejoicing at the opportunity to benefit from something they've been promoting for years. And even if the boost is but a minor one now, even Google has admitted that they may decide to increase the weight of its ranking impact in the months and years to come.
A More Secure Web Browsing Experience
Ultimately, this ties in nicely with the search engine's goal to make the internet as safe and user-friendly as possible on a worldwide scale. Google has, by their own account, been conducting a wide range of tests to determine the relevancy and impact of factoring HTTPS and SSL protocol into their ranking algorithms. Accordingly, the results of the tests were found be positive based on reports from the company.
Google Senior Developer Matt Cutts, the company's head of spam prevention, even went on the record a few months back in saying that he was definitely in favor of SSL being used in their search result algorithms. We could not agree more. Not only is HTTPS ideal for ensuring that users enjoy safer web browsing, it allows developers the opportunity to impart more current and reliable technology to their clients.
Switching from HTTP to HTTPS - What You Need to Know
Before you storm into your IT director's office babbling incoherently about adding an SSL certificate, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Simply making the change won’t be enough to guarantee that you reap any page rank benefits. There are a few things you can do to ensure that the process is conducted properly.
- Be sure to use a 2048-bit key SSL certificate
- Make sure that you've selected the proper certificate for your domain type
- Notify Google that you've switched from HTTP to HTTPS
- Take proper steps to move your site according to Google guidelines
- Adjust your relative URLs for internal links and domains
- Make sure that your website is capable of being indexed by search engines
- Record all conversion activities in your analytic/webmaster tools software
- Test your SSL installation by using Qualys
If you would like to learn more about this recent announcement and how it could potentially impact your website ranking, please contact Evolution Marketing for more information.
