Should I Move My Website to HTTPS? Does It Really Affect SEO Rankings?
HTTPS has become the primary format for information on the internet. It guarantees a secure connection between a computer and the webpage and browsers have started indicating which websites are safe and which aren’t. That could affect your ability to maintain customers, so it’s essential to switch to HTTPS as soon as possible.
Although HTTPS seems complicated, it’s remarkably simple to make the switch and doesn’t require any advanced knowledge of coding or HTML. Some of the benefits of switching to HTTPS includes a more secure site, guaranteeing that no one can tamper with the information between the server and the customer. Furthermore, if that information were intercepted, it’s encrypted, which adds a double layer of security. It also makes it harder for hackers to get access to your customer’s information by impersonating your official correspondence or using a popup window. Finally, using HTTPS will improve your SEO by making your website rank higher in search engine results.
First, you need to get an SSL certificate that certifies your identity. It’s something you need to install, and it includes the company name, the domain name, address, country, state, and city. You get Organization Validation or Domain Validation if you’re an e-commerce site or if you collect personal information. Extended Validation Certificates are for the legal terms of HTTPS. You can purchase these certificates from some reputable websites, although the prices vary, and, once you have, you can install the SSL. Installing the SSL is a crucial step in securing your site for e-commerce.
Once done, you’ll have to redirect all your former HTTP URLs to HTTPS versions. HTTP and HTTPS are two separate URLs, so it’s important to redirect so you can implement this change. You’ll have to make copies of the web pages and redirect them. Be sure to have at least one webpage that works in HTTPS before you overhaul your whole website, just to make sure everything is working as it should be. You’ll also have to update internal links, which can be a lot of work if you’ve created manual links as opposed to relative links. If you use a content delivery network (CDN), you’ll need to make sure its compatible with HTTPS. While most CDNs are, there are some that aren’t.
Make sure your website is accessible by search engines by re-entering your website information into their crawler because, as previously mentioned, HTTPS sites are considered unique pages. It’s important to make sure you do this because taking too much time to get this information changed can impact your website’s traffic. While you may not notice a marked increase in your search engine rankings, your site will undoubtedly be more secure. Make sure you’ve done the SSL certification correctly. If you have an e-commerce business, then switching to HTTPS is indeed a smart choice for business.