Houston SEO: HTTPS SSL
Beginning in 2018 some web browsers like Firefox and Google began to signal that any website with HTTP is not secure and this resulted in many visitors choosing not to frequent those sites. This made it necessary for any serious business to get an SSL certification which gives them the extension of HTTPS. More than half of the sites on the first page of search results in the search engines have an HTTPS protocol. Most experts believe that this trend will continue to rise meaning that anyone who fails to make their site secure will not rank.
Does My Business Website Really Need HTTPS SSL?
In as early as August 2017 as much as one-third of all sites on the first page of search results were secure that means they had an HTTPS SSL. In less than a year from then, that number jumped up to a full one-half of the results that had HTTPS protocol. As more and more serious business owners change over their site to one that is secure this trend will continue to increase until anyone without it simply won’t rank. That is why Houston SEO experts always suggest getting an HTTPS SSL for better website SEO performance. Now when a searcher goes to a site and sees that it is not secure they will often leave the site before they have a chance to check out the sites services or products or content. Any marketing professional knows that it’s their job to prevent that from happening and to convert those viewers to customers and this means it’s necessary to secure the site with HTTPS protocol.
Will The Rates For Converting A Site To HTTPS Continue Rise?
Houston SEO expert estimates that secure websites will represent about 2/3rds of the search results on Google by the year 2023. A website will want to do everything possible to make sure they are not one of those that are in the minority. Current conversion rates have shown a 20% growth since the spring of 2017 and some experts believe that Google will continue to favor HTTPS sites over others in their algorithm although this is not certain. Even so, it is better to do it and be safe. To date, Firefox and Chrome are not penalizing HTTP sites but they are giving warnings to visitors that the site is not secure. Although most consumers consider this to be a good thing it is less so for businesses who haven’t secured their site.
How Can I Make My Website Secure With HTTPS Protocol?
It’s really pretty easy to secure your site and all it takes is purchasing and then installing an SSL certificate. For those who are not technically inclined, however, the installation can be a bit tricky. It requires understanding your server configuration and encryption and this means that most business owners will need some assistance for installation. Vladislav Denishev has a guide on exactly how to do this and you can check it out to learn more.
All New Websites Should Have An SSL Certificate
If you’re just getting a new website you should absolutely set it up from the beginning with HTTPS protocol. Setting it up as a secure site from the beginning will save you time and effort. Having an SSL certificate installed is pretty cheap and in some cases, it can be free. If you work for a company and are in charge of this, you should speak to your boss about allowing you to have it done.
Getting An SSL Certificate For An Existing Website To Improve SEO
It is important to know that if you are changing an existing site to one that is secure, it needs to be done with caution. Anytime you make changes sitewide it can cause some unforeseeable problems. Fortunately, it will often be very doable and relatively simple by using the control panel, provided that your host company supplies the SSL certificates. In the end, the extra effort will be worth it as your site is highly likely to get more traffic and better rankings.
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