How a Secure Website Can Boost Your SEO

How a Secure Website Can Boost Your SEO

Back in 2014, Google announced that they would introduce HTTPS as a signal for ranking criteria. This was great news for anyone who had a secure website.

However, there were questions. Was a secure website a good point for SEO, or was hardly a drop in the bucket? 

If it was a big deal, what type of certificates would help?

There's a lot of questions, and unfortunately, not a lot in the way of answers. However, we're here to help provide some clarification.

How does a secure website boost your ratings?

Using a secure website as a ranking booster is still a relatively untapped way to jump up the Google ladder. Only about 2% of the top million websites redirect to a secure version of that site.

This could be because there aren't that many websites that are secure. 

The main benefit to using a secure website is the fact that any user experiences will be secure. This is especially important if a user is transmitting data like credit card information.

Of course, this should be obvious. It's not an up-and-coming cyber security precaution, but it does endure.

You can see if your website is secure by looking at your address bar. If you see "https" before your URL, you're in the clear. Some browsers, such as Firefox and Google Chrome, highlight this in green to bring more attention to the fact.

Security and SEO?

The above may be true, but how does a site security help your website out in the important ranking race?

Google has begun to prefer indexing secure versions of websites over insecure versions. 

For the most part, since so few people have made the switch to secure certificates, the use of a secure website acts as a tiebreaker in the race. 

For instance, if all other factors are dead on, neck-in-neck, the website which is secure will take precedence over the one that isn't. 

Your backups are safe

The great thing about using a secure website is that it doesn't erase your referrals or any of your data. You can switch over to a secure certificate and keep your referrals.

Another plus? It almost guarantees that you'll keep your traffic.

If your website and business relate to sales or other confidential information, it's almost mandatory that you use a security certificate. If you don't you risk your audience dropping off when they see that their information isn't secure.

Conclusion

A security certificate can be a lifesaver when it comes to your Google rankings. While there are still plenty of websites ranking without it, the idea of using a certificate is growing in popularity.

In most situations, so few people have switched to using a certificate that it can't be factored into crucial criteria. However, a certificate can give you a leg up that can be used to break any ties between your site and another.

In the ultra-competitive SEO world, you can take any advantages that you can get. For that reason, you'd be foolish if you didn't make the switch to using a security certificate.

If you have questions regarding cyber security and how to keep your data safe, we're happy to get in touch with you and help you make your website secure.