With the recent announcement by Google that SSL Certificate will be considered as a critical factor for search engine rankings, it has become imperative for website owners to consider installing SSL Certificate. Apart from security and protection of the user’s confidential information, SSL Certificates have now become a ranking parameter for marketers. However, despite the huge impact of SSL Certificates, many marketers neglect it and avoid installing it.
SSL Certificate plays a major role in securing the transactions taking place over shopping websites. Also, it creates a sense of trust with the user as it shows a green padlock in the address bar of the website with the label ‘Secure’.
Additionally, if you migrate to HTTPS website, you have a competitive edge in the digital marketplace as you can generate more conversions through your website.
Role of SSL Certificate in Search Engine Ranking
Google indexes HTTPS versions of web pages when compared to the duplicate HTTP version. Business owners who do not have websites that are secured with SSL Certificate will have to face the repercussions of Google’s policy as it marks the website as not secure. This will repel your customers and they might choose your competitor over you. Moreover, as your search engine ranking gets hampered if your website is without this security certificate, you would not be able to get the desired traffic on your site. Ultimately, it will affect your conversion rate.
Whenever a prospect checks the search results, a secure HTTPS website appeals more than a non-secure website with merely http. Google Chrome changes the HTTP security indicator to a red triangle that is used to show broken HTTPS at the time the customer enters the information in the form on HTTP page, and for every HTTP page in incognito mode.
The website performance gets greatly enhanced if a website is running on SSL Certificate. You can get cheap SSL Certificate right away so that your business growth does not get deterred because of security issues.
Even when you consider your website as a content-based site, with no involvement of sensitive data whatsoever, securing it with SSL Certificate is worth the investment as the current boost in search engine rankings could soon become a penalty for sites that do not, at some point in the near future