Does Having a Secure HTTPS Site Impact Your SEO?

What is an HTTPS Website?

“HTTPS websites come with SSL, which is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browser remain private.”

Source: SSL.com

The Question: Is having HTTPS important for your SEO Ranking?

Have you noticed that some URLs of websites start with “http://” while others start with “https://”? Perhaps you noticed that extra “s” when you were browsing websites that require giving over sensitive information, like when you were paying bills online.

In August of 2014, Google announced that it had started using HTTPS as a signal in their ranking algorithms. This means that if your website still relies on standard HTTP, your SEO rankings could suffer.

To put it simply, the extra “s” means your connection to that website is encrypted so hackers can’t intercept any of your data. The technology that powers that little “s” in the URL stands for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

Previously, HTTPS remained a “lightweight” signal, affecting fewer than 1% of global queries (according to Google).

However, in September 2016, Google announced that Chrome would flag HTTP pages as potentially unsafe starting in January 2017. This is part of a long-term plan by Google to mark all HTTP sites as non-secure.

Yes, having a HTTPS secure website is important for your site’s SEO rankings. If you haven’t thought about encrypting your site, now’s the time to take action.

(HubSpot and iSmart Communications customers: If you’re using the HubSpot Website Platform, you can get a standard SSL certificate for free. If you’re a customer but don’t have the HubSpot Website Platform, SSL is available for purchase.)

Extracted by Stanley Mak from our eBook: 18 SEO Myths that You Should Leave Behind in 2017.