If you look at your browser’s address bar, you will notice that the website https://river-it.com (as well as most of our clients’ websites) uses the secure HTTPS protocol. HTTPS has always been a sign that the website you are visiting is safe. Recently, however, Google officially stated that a secure HTTPS connection will also affect a website’s position in search results.
By the end of this article, you will know what the secure HTTPS protocol is, what it is for and how it affects the indexing of your website.
Google takes the security of website visitors very seriously, which is why a secure connection will have an increasingly noticeable effect on your website’s rankings.
The chart below shows the result of a website “migration” to HTTPS: after the switch, the number of the website’s keywords in the top 10 grew noticeably.
It is also worth noting that since January 2017, Chrome has marked pages without HTTPS where users enter a password or bank card details as “Not secure,” and since July 2018 it has marked all websites without HTTPS. A website with HTTPS does not get these warnings, which has a positive effect on visitors’ trust in the website.
What is the HTTPS protocol?
Using this protocol makes your website safer for its users. HTTPS is a special type of encryption that protects any data transferred from the user to the website. This matters for online stores, where users may need to enter their credit card details or other information to make a payment or fill out forms.
When a user clicks “Confirm” or “Pay,” HTTPS data transfer provides several layers of protection:
- encryption: without a special key, the user’s data is useless;
- data integrity: the data cannot be distorted or altered;
- authentication: the user connects to the right website, and their information does not end up in the hands of fraudsters.
Does your website need HTTPS?
We think the answer is obvious: definitely yes! If you own an online store or another website with significant traffic, switching to the secure HTTPS protocol will have a positive effect on both customer loyalty and the website’s overall conversion rate.
RIVERIT offers HTTPS migration for websites of any complexity. Please note that this procedure requires certain skills. To avoid negative consequences, we recommend turning to specialists in this field.
You can order a quality, fast migration of your website to the secure HTTPS protocol by requesting a callback through the website or by sending a request to info@river-it.com.