April 27, 2016

Google Beginning To Use HTTPS As A Ranking Signal

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Google Beginning To Use HTTPS As A Ranking Signal

Google recently announced it has started to use HTTPS as a ranking signal in order to “make the Internet safer more broadly.” HTTPS is a language code that secures the information being passed back and forth between web servers and clients.

Many websites are accessed by HTTP, which means that these websites are talking to your browser using the regular 'unsecure' language. In other words, it is possible for someone to "eavesdrop" on your computer's conversation with these websites that are served via HTTP. This is why you would never want to enter personal or financial information into a website unless you notice that the web address begins with https://.

Since beginning its “HTTPS Everywhere” campaign last year, Google has been testing the use of HTTPS in their search ranking algorithms and they have seen positive results. Thus, Google has announced that they are now taking into account in their search engine rankings whether a website uses HTTPS or not Google indicates that at this point, the HTTPS signal affects fewer than 1% of global queries, for now. It is anticipated that Google will begin to strengthen this ranking signal over time, as they are encouraging all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS “to keep everyone safe on the web.”

If you own a website and are looking to make it more secure, want to get a jump-start, or just want more information on this recent announcement from Google, we are here to help. Please contact us at (831) 425-4505 and we are more than happy to answer your questions.

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Ross McClenahan

Ross McClenahan is co-owner and Lead Developer at Tree Top Web Design, a Santa Cruz Web Design firm.

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