Internet
World Markets Becomes HTTPS and What it Means to Your Micro-page Ranking on the World's Biggest Search Engine
August 6th was significant as that was the day that Google announced that they would start using HTTPS as a ranking signal. Simply put this is one of more than 200 signals that Google uses to rank websites.
Google is on a mission to make the Internet a safer place and this is part of their process.
At the moment this is a lightweight signal - about 2%. High-quality content is still a major factor in ranking strength but be sure that the HTTPS factor will grow in importance. Why? Whether you like it or not, Google is the world's biggest search engine and what they say goes.
Generally when Google announces a change in algorithm or some kind of update it applies to all websites both big and small.
To get started Google published some basic tips.
They stated the following tips:
Google also recommends the use of "Qualys Lab tool" to test the SSL certificates. Qualys' SSL Server Test is a free online service that performs a deep analysis of the configuration of any SSL web server on the public Internet.
It is still early days so there are no case studies showing any major difference between HTTP and HTTPS when it comes to ranking.
However, it is worth noting that some site owners have complained about drops in ranking. At World Markets we have noticed some changes since changing over to HTTPS, some of our clients' micro-pages have climbed in the rankings. We can't be sure that this is due to HTTPS but we feel that it is worth noting, we will be monitoring this over the next few months.
About the only instance we can see where a site might consider the transition from HTTP to HTTPS is if complete site migration/redirection was already under discussion for other reasons (overcoming site penalties, complete corporate rebranding, etc.)
If as a company you are already considering a complete site migration and the process of redirect mapping is already under way, then as an organization you may want to consider taking the extra step of shifting your entire site to HTTPs.
If Google increases the ranking factor for secure sites, it might be necessary for everyone to migrate their websites in time.
We made the change over to HTTPS from a simple security point of view and also to help maintain our client's micro-page ranking. We want to protect your information as much as possible and following the advice of the world's biggest search engine is a way of doing just that.
Liam Lusk - Global Social Media Marketing Manager
liam.lusk@world-markets.biz
Media contact:
Trevor Lott - Founder
trevor.lott@world-markets.biz
+34-690-263-124
Website Global
http://www.world-markets.biz