Google starting to use HTTPS as a ranking signal

I am wondering whether it will affect organic traffic at all. If we do not convert our sites to https in time, I am wondering if Google will not include our sites in organic search.

They say that it only affects about 1% of searches for now, but who knows what will happen as time progresses.

Andrew

That's interesting,

I see Google is suggesting to use relative URLs for the internal links. They also suggest using protocol relative URLs.

• Decide the kind of certificate you need: single, multi-domain, or wildcard certificate
• Use 2048-bit key certificates
• Use relative URLs for resources that reside on the same secure domain
• Use protocol relative URLs for all other domains
• Check out our Site move article for more guidelines on how to change your website’s address
• Don’t block your HTTPS site from crawling using robots.txt
• Allow indexing of your pages by search engines where possible. Avoid the noindex robots meta tag.

I see no point is using HTTPS on content based sites, moreover the existing Signals are not doing any good for my sites. So, thanks Google, but no Thanks.

I'm slipping in my old age keeping up to date. Looks like one of my main competitors has made the switch already. Left me scratching my head wondering what they where thinking.

Thinking faster than me, is what they where doing.

Google just keeps increasing the entry price for the newb. Whats new?

Touche...

This is very interesting...

It could hurt small site owners who don't want to pay $10/year for an SSL cert, and at the same time I wonder why content-only sites should be penalized for not using HTTPS. But I guess the security doesn't just protect stuff like user's passwords, it also ensures that content like images is secure...hmmmm...

Google is leaning towards https for our own domains but I wonder how/If https will have an impact on backlinks:

• What happens If the backlink domain is running https across the entire backlink domain?
• Will backlinks from https sites be stronger than backlinks on http sites?
• Will https help create SERP authority since it's supposed to be a safer site?

Something to consider...

The timing for that Google https blog post is hours/days after the largest Russian hack.

This (https) was probably all in the works years ago by Google but the timing is kinda weird.

Tabloid headline: Is Google the Russian Hack?

It is not difficult to implement HTTPS on your website but it is really annoying if you are currently using a CDN service that doesn't support HTTPS. A warning of "page contains secure and nonsecure items" will appear on every page of your website. So always test before you proceed otherwise it may cause problems.

Not yet as its still a new concept. When really google give ranks to all https websites. I think we should also move to https site.

So what is your take on this Yukon, are you using https?

I can tell you right now this is going to end up being a cluster %$@#.

I'm not even sure that $9 SSL from Namecheap is worthwhile:

[Google source]

1% is almost insignificant.

If your website is already serving on HTTPS, you can test its security level and configuration with the Qualys Lab tool. If you are concerned about TLS and your site’s performance, have a look at Is TLS fast yet?. And of course, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to post in our Webmaster Help Forums.

Hi sandytuff,

Ok, but how does that apply to this thread? Did you even read the OP?

The OP was about the decision by Google to start using HTTPS as a signal for ranking. Google explicitly says the opposite of what you seem to be asserting. How did you come to a different conclusion?. Please elaborate so that you may enlighten us to your reasoning.

Read about it the other day, actually was emailed this by my domain registrar in hopes to sell me their package i guess considering they have nothing to do with seo and i was like meh, not gonna waste my money especially after the whole openssl heartbleed fiasco, i was glad i wasn't using SSL.

Google can use it as a ranking signal all they want but all its going to achieve is skew the results in favor of SEOs who are trying to game their search engine because your average webmaster isn't going to bother with this if it isn't required for the functionality of their site and its going to be a loss of Google if they don't include them. I don't see a reason to use SSL for every website, unless you have big $$$ to have a fast server, all it does is slow your site the **** down when there is absolutely no need for it. That was the same thing with authorship where everyone and their mother started using it in hopes of getting ranked and look where that is now.

Google's job is to show results relevant to the search you are performing, if they start enforcing stupid shit on people and disappear genuine good websites because they don't follow their stupid rules, well guess what its going to be Google's loss. A couple years back, i got sick of the spammy crap on google and i switched to bing and it was pretty good, i still had to use it because of the traffic it brought to my site but thats what i used it for back then. I eventually came back to it and started liking it because they improved the SERPs and i believe its the best search engine these days but anytime they **** that up, people are going to get sick of this shit, not the SEOs but the average users and i can tell you average user doesn't give a crap about SSL, they just want the info they are looking for whether it comes from a SSL site or a non-SSL one and apparently, your information is not secure even when a site uses SSL. Look at all the hacked information and passwords, they were on SSL secured domains.

Thats just how i feel about it, of course that doesn't mean its going through the minds of every webmaster out there, in fact i think this news probably is going to make tons of $$$ for SSL companies out there, makes you wonder if google had gotten into bed with them...who the heck knows

What about blogspot Bloggers.....will blogspot will also be https soon.

Hey guys!

Did you know that you can get a FREE ssl certificate?

https://www.startssl.com/

I got one for myself, and it's 100% free!

Yes I have tried it myself and it works without having to install anything in the browser. A nice green lock shows up on chrome by default.

https only good for ecommerce websites or those who collect informations through registration. I dont see a point on spending 50$ or more just to have an https on your site if you dont need it.

Wondering how big an effect this would play in long tail search. Where off-page (links) are more likely to be less of a ranking factor over on-site. The weight of a large e-com site already has an advantage, now having a + something for a security cert too has to play a big role.

Well, I got my first two emails promoting SSL certificates and how they will make my site rank better. Surprised it took a week for SSL sellers to jump on this. They are probably going to see their business skyrocket.

I decided to get an SSL cert for my most profitable site (not an ecommerce site) because even if it increases traffic by .5% it's more than worth it. Moreover I suspect most of my competition won't bother which maybe gives me a slight advantage for the next while.

It may have been a big waste of money, but it's worth the gamble... even if it's just for testing purposes. The cert should be fully installed by early next week.

I went with digicert which is fairly expensive, but they offer high assurance ssl certs, and I figured if I'm going through the trouble, I might as well get a good cert.

I only publish a few sites so ssl certs aren't a big deal, but I can see they'd be a real nuisance if you run dozens or hundreds of sites.

If I see any pop in traffic over the next while outside of the norm in traffic growth, I'll add some updates.

I have also read recently that Google keyword rankings will be affected if you don't have secure website (ISHIR). So, in my opinion, HTTPs is generally used by ecommerce sites so for sites which are not offering products online will not go for secure website. I'm not understanding the concept of Google for forcing HTTPs on every website.

I like to look at this as a way SEOs can improve their skills and not always complain about it. A lot of people say SEO is dead, nothing seems to be working, where look at this like something new that is working and is certified whitehat by google, even if its impact is low at the moment. A new tool to add to your arsenal, and i don't think a couple of bucks paid for a ssl is that big of a deal to pay.

As Https can effect only 1% so instead of its implementation working on other SEO activities is better unless your site is ecommerce website.

I'll prove it. I will not do anything bad and get as little to reassure our visits.

LOL... you guys got it all wrong.
Instead of jumping when G. told us to jump, we're trying to second guess G, where as
all we have to do is to ask G: how high we should jump?

People, I surprised after all these years you still care what G. says or does... no really.



fastreplies

Hi Friend, I'm Larry Frank a young blogger and I wicsh you all can help me make my blog start ranking on search engine when I was using my blogspot domain name my blog was very visible on search engine but since I bought a domain name my blog traffic has refused to climed to usual. I blog at The Tech Evangelist! and its sameblog i want you to help me optimize it for search enging. Thanks wish to hear from you.

This is one of the best step taken by Google to improve user's security.

Google cared about user's security and it wants a single web page should be protected with HTTPS.

Every users must need to know how SSL works and how it protects website. SSL by Symantec - Learn How SSL Works | Symantec

Https is used for security purpose, S stands for Security. If you are running a site which is related to e-commerce, financial, social networking or even if your site have a member login you should really switch to HTTPS.

But if you're running a blog, brochure site, news site, or any information site in which users do not provide with any personal information, then I would recommend not using HTTPS.

If we do not convert our sites to https, will Google not include our sites in organic search?

This was after Google's announcement of the new Algorithm signal, I'm assuming? You plan on testing across multiple domains or is this your one guinea pig?

So, now we must have to convert our website into HTTPS to get high ranking in Google search engine.

Even if it gives a ranking signal a site will only get a very very small percentage on this. Some might say it is better than nothing but is it really worth it or is it really necessary??

I do not think that this is logical. majority of the websites are on http if every one have to shifted in https then it will be a big headache

I just completed installing an SSL certificate on one of my existing sites. Time will tell if it's been worth it.

I purchased from Digicert. Their support is excellent. It's a high assurance certificate. I have no idea if spending more on an SSL certificate is worth it... so in an abundance of caution, I chose to get the high assurance certificate.

It's not an easy process when adding it to an existing site.

ISSUES I ENCOUNTERED:

The main issue is ensuring every item on every page is secure. Items and issues were:

• Image source URLs
• Plugin URLs
• Social Sharing - all of my Facebook like/shares count volume reset to zero.
• AWeber forms: AWeber doesn't provide a secure form, so you need to change it to https in the raw html code. It worked for me, but apparently doesn't always work.
• Display ads: Adsense transitions perfectly; however, I needed different ad code for Media.net. One advertiser didn't offer secure ad code, so I had to drop it. That's going to be a bit of a cost, but I'm looking for a replacement. Fortunately, it was my lowest earner, sot it's not a big loss. I just hope potential traffic increases make up for it.
• Related Posts (I used Shareaholic) are not secure. I had to remove it. I may use AddThis which offers a secure related posts widget.
• Site load speed: Slightly slower.

My hosting service was helpful installing it and ultimately redirecting http to https. However, I had to locate all unsecure items on all pages and make them secure.

I ended up hiring WPCurve.com who were tremendously helpful and made every page secure.

CHECKING FOR UNSECURE ITEMS:

At first I used http://www.whynopadlock.com/; however, it wasn't terribly accurate for me. It said my pages were secure when they were not.

A much better approach to checking a URL for unsecure items is when on the URL, press CTRL/SHFT/J - this will display all unsecure items on that url.

TOTAL COST TO DATE:

• Digicert SSL certificate: $175/year
• WPCurve.com: $69
• Lost ad revenue from lost ad source: $240/month (however, I hope to find a replacement)

The lost ad revenue was unexpected, but I decided to proceed anyway because I suspect the SSL cert will grow in Google search algo importance.

I don't plan to use HTTPS on my site in the near future... /-:

I think content based sites are safe for now as most of them don't have https so Google has no option.. However, to present more security on web Google trying to make more site Https so that they can easily fight with Spam over Internet or SERP..

Google advice for HTTPs for secure the website. Consider a case, if two websites have same weight-age ,then google look for https website and rank them top. I like it is better to convert to https to secure the website.

Hi

I think certainly makes sense for new sites, why not just get it done now before having to do in the future

I also think all other things being equal (for 2x similar sites) and G's looking for something to prejudice one over the other having HTTPS compared to not having it may be a deciding factor as to which outranks the other. Similarly a site with Enhanced Validation Cert may well be considered more highly than one with a lesser certificate for things like ecommerce sites etc.

Does anybody know if theres any particular benefit to having multi domain certs over individual ones ? I see some companies offer Multi Domain certs much cheaper than buying individually but i have heard that you should really get one per domain and not multi domain, can anyone else concur ?

All Best
Dan

I've implemented it onto my site just because I like being in favor of Google. But i haven't seen any changes as you'll notice from my current thread about my website issues.
Also, i don't think its really necessary since i don't have a shopping cart option.

UPDATE:

I've had my SSL cert installed for about 1 week. I've had a bit of an increase in traffic, but it's impossible to know whether the SSL cert is the cause. My traffic has been increasing steadily for months.

ONE BIG PROBLEM WITH SSL CERTS

I've now had 2 ad networks whose banner ads are not secure. I've removed those ads because there are other options and these ads were not huge earners... but it is a cost.

One of the ad networks is Amazon's new CPM ad network, which really surprised me that they don't offer a secure option (they confirmed it via live chat). I've requested that they do offer a secure, option, but because it's new, I'm sure that feature will be a long time coming. It's too bad because it pays on CPM basis and I earned decently for the few days I had those ads on my site.

Because I really want to see how the SSL cert performs in the long run, I've decided to stick with it and keep non-secure ads off the site.

Agree with this. My opinion is that this is just another trust signal for Google.

There real is not reason for a site that is content based to have https. This should only be for sites that require personal info registration and a check out process ie shopping cart.

I work for a web hosting company and my manager stated we need to make this change to https. Do you really think it's necessary and will our backlinks we have to our site be irrelevant. Should we update some of our backlinks we can to https instead?

Thanks for any help

Does Godaddy offer them? Or does it have to be where your host is?

HTTPS has been a ranking signal for years... That's why so many of my sites have had it... for years.

Now will adding HTTPS give you the magic bullet in ranking? Absolutely NOT. Though it will give your site more security as well as give anyone interested in purchasing or opting in a little more peace knowing you have a secure site.

-RD

Well this is an oxymoron and rather silly - because enabling an SSL site wide will make your site slower, and hurt site speed, basically perhaps canceling out the increased factor with HTTPS

HTTPS is not a jackpot for SEO guys if this is true so those people who wanna rank well their older website which they has been trying their best to get top rank their website but failed so when they just set up their website's URL in HTTPS so do you thing that their website will get top rank magically no this is not a scene. HTTPS is just informing signal for the visitor is that this is website is secure and safe for the visit and interaction and creating account.

Even 1% can affect heavily in my opinion!

1% is almost insignificant.

Matt Cutts has a video where he talks about this and kinda sorta seems to relate that it "might" be okay. Even he doesn't know...

It's not. Secure socket your pay page only.

Is it worthy going to HTTPS for service based websites?

Please learn from my lesson.
Sequel to the August release of the information by Google on using HTTPS as a ranking factor, i quickly purchased and installed Quick SSL on my site.
The purchase and redirects went smoothly and everything was perfectly done.
Now the SEO results:
First, my whole site disappeared from Google index and resulted in 0% traffic from Google for a few days until i decided to submit the HTTPS version of the site via Webmaster tools.
After indexing my HTTPS site, the end result was a 60% drop in traffic.
Please bear in mind that your traffic would definitely be reduced if not totally lost after you migrate to SSL.
I have now removed the SSL from my site because the site traffic is the most important thing why i created the site in the first place.
Today, everything is back to normal including my traffic showing that the original implementation of SSL on the site was the main issue.

Google will never tell you this, so be careful on your choice. (Site in question: Valforex.com)

This is serious stuff if you are really serious about your online presence. Google want people to use their search Engine with security and no fraud one snatch details of their users. They want to take care of their Searchers from whom they make billions daily.

We use https or not it does not matter to Google but if Google find the same content under https domain searched by the their SE user they will put it in front. Its as simple as that. Your opinion don't matter but lets face the reality.

I did but not for google, but for my users safety. Don´t care much of google tricks to keeps us busy, but Do care of user loyalty and trust. SSL is so cheap these days and easy to implement ...