Does Switching from HTTP to HTTPS Affect SEO?

Published on October 18th, 2019 by Rahul Kumar Singh

Does Switching from HTTP to HTTPS Affect SEO? I have same question in mind when my site is on HTTP. At that time I think my ranking has gone if i change my site from HTTP to HTTPS but this is not true. If you have same question then lets read about whole thing to find answer to this query “Switching from HTTP to HTTPS Affect SEO?”

In 2014, Google made a major announcement about placing greater emphasis on security while ranking websites. Thus, https became a key ranking signal with a greater number of websites making a switch from HTTP to HTTPS.

The main purpose of this initiative by Google was to provide its website visitors with access to authentic and trustworthy information on the Internet. Hence, websites implementing HTTPS would be able to provide greater assurance to their visitors with extra security measures to safeguard their confidential information. 

This means HTTPS websites have a greater possibility of achieving higher rankings on Google search engines.

What is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?

With increasing cybersecurity threats and data theft issues, companies are forced to implement greater security measures to their customers with the assurance of data security.

Today, online shoppers have become more cautious when visiting websites and sharing their personal information. Thus, it’s become imperative to provide a seamless and smooth navigation experience to the users to encourage them to buy your products or services. This is where HTTPS plays a major role in encrypting data to make it more safe and secure for your users. 

For starters, HTTP enables users to send and receive information across the Internet by controlling how this information is displayed to the users. However, the focus was not so much on how this information gets across to them. Although this helped in quick transmission of information, it has several deficiencies. 

On the other hand, HTTPS was mainly designed for making data transmissions more secure including payment transactions and other sensitive data. The main difference between HTTP and HTTPS is that the letter “S” uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL)for safe transmission of data among users. 

Also Read: Top SEO Tasks that You Shouldn’t Ignore for Your Blog Post

Why switch over to HTTPS?

HTTPS makes your site more secure especially for sharing any critical information and they are important for pages that require users to provide their credit card and other personal details.

Thus, HTTPS works in conjunction with the SSL protocol to communicate information safely by encrypting the transferred data for additional security. This also ensures that the data is not tampered or corrupted at the time of transmission. In addition, users can communicate over the secured website. 

HTTPS makes the data visually appealing to the users and provides an added layer of security to the data. Thus, HTTPS can be used for websites that require sites to provide secure information such as eCommerce websites. In addition, banks use HTTPS for securing personal information of the customers and they may be easily recognized using the padlock on the browser. 

What are the SEO advantages of switching over to HTTPS?

Improved SEO rankings

As we discussed earlier, Google gives greater preference to websites that have HTTPS compared to HTTP sites. Thus, if you are among the few to implement HTTPS on your site, there is a high possibility of your site being ranked among the top search engine results. 

Provide reassurance to users

Today, all the major browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Edge provide visual indicators to show which websites are secure. Thus, users are also becoming increasingly aware of this difference and providing such a secure experience to retain customers. Thus, switching over to HTTPS may be useful in avoiding the loss of referral data. 

Although these factors may seem insignificant but looking at the consequences, it becomes clear why HTTPS may be important. With improved site rankings, there are greater chances of having better traffic as Google recognizes such sites which boosts confidence among users to use such authorized sites for conducting transactions.

According to the survey by Global Sign, 84% of the users would abandon purchasing from sites that are not secure.

Switching over to HTTPS depends on other factors especially on the type of site that you may be running. If you have an eCommerce site or any other type of site that processes payments, then OV (Organization Validated) or Extended Validated (EV) certificates might be the best option.

OV certificates require the CA to assess the right of the applicant for using a specific domain name and require vetting of the specific organization with reference to business registration documents and third-party business registration. Customers can see the Secure Site Seal displayed which indicates that the site is safe to conduct transactions. 

GlobalSign Organization SSL is one of the leading SSL certificates offered by GlobalSign. GlobalSign carries a wide range of products ranging from Organization Validation (OV), Domain Validation (DV) and Extended Validation (EV). In the last few years, the number of companies using SSL certificates has dramatically increased to boost trust and security among their customers. 

Conclusion

Choosing the move to HTTPS is no longer just an option, but it’s a must if you have an online business to boost trust among your customers with enhanced security. Blogs and informational sites can also make use of SSL certificate whereas other sites need to have the highest validated SSL certificates for encryption and data privacy.

As seen above, HTTPS can be a game-changer for companies that want to stay ahead of the competition and secure high rankings on the SERP. 

With more companies moving towards HTTPS, the usage of SSL certificates will vastly increase over the years and can help in reducing the increasing menace of cyber thefts to enable customers to transact with greater confidence. HTTPS can help in making your site secure and provide a better experience to your users.

No, Switching from HTTP to HTTPS Does Not Affect SEO 🙂 Please read the above article to know-how.