The Importance of HTTPS for SEO
If you are a website owner or a digital marketer, you might have heard about HTTPS and how it can affect your SEO performance. But what is HTTPS and why is it important for SEO?
HTTPS stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure, which is a secure version of HTTP, the protocol that transfers data between your browser and the website you are visiting. HTTPS encrypts the data using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security) certificates, which prevent hackers from intercepting or tampering with the data.
HTTPS is important for SEO for several reasons:
- It improves user trust and experience: Users are more likely to trust and stay on a website that has a green padlock icon and HTTPS in the address bar, indicating that the website is secure and their information is protected. This can reduce bounce rate and increase conversions, which are positive signals for SEO.
- It enhances site speed and performance: HTTPS websites load faster than HTTP websites, as they use newer protocols such as HTTP/2, which allow for faster data transfer and compression. Site speed is a ranking factor for SEO, as faster websites provide better user experience and satisfaction.
- It prevents referral data loss: When a user clicks on a link from an HTTPS website to an HTTP website, the referral data (such as the source website and the keywords used) is lost, as the HTTP website cannot access the encrypted data. This can affect your analytics and your SEO strategy, as you will not be able to track where your traffic is coming from and what keywords are driving it. However, when a user clicks on a link from an HTTPS website to another HTTPS website, the referral data is preserved and passed on securely.
- It boosts ranking and visibility: Google has confirmed that HTTPS is a ranking signal, meaning that websites that use HTTPS have an advantage over websites that use HTTP in terms of ranking and visibility in search results. Google also labels HTTP websites as “not secure” in Chrome browser, which can deter users from visiting them and lower their click-through rate.
As you can see, HTTPS is not only a security measure, but also a powerful tool for SEO. If you want to improve your SEO performance and provide a better experience for your users, you should consider switching to HTTPS as soon as possible. To do so, you will need to obtain an SSL or TLS certificate from a trusted provider, install it on your server, and redirect all your HTTP pages to HTTPS pages using 301 redirects. You will also need to update your sitemap, robots.txt file, canonical tags, internal links, and external links to use HTTPS.
Switching to HTTPS may seem like a daunting task, but it is well worth it in the long run. If you need help with the process or want to learn more about how HTTPS can benefit your SEO, contact us today at Seo agency halifax. We are a team of experienced and professional content writers who can provide you with unique and informative content that follows the best SEO practices and standards.