SSL Certificate is set up in two steps. At the outset, you create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) created from your web server. This is then sent to the Certificate Authority from whom you have purchased your certificate. Your web host can assist you with the entire procedure. The subsequent step is to install the certificate that you will receive via email on the server. After installation, every page requested using the https:// prefix will be sent over a secure connection.
The use of SSL Certificate on the website creates issues like duplicate content and SEO efforts. Whenever a page gets accessed through both a secure and non-secure connection, these two separate pages get seen as duplicate pages that result in a negative impact on search rankings.
To avoid these duplicate content issues on the website:
- Secure your entire website, not just sensitive sections. It does not make any sense to do so as it leads to confusion pertaining to redirects.
- Change every link on your website from http:// to https:// if you have specified the protocol in your links.
- Change the URLs for all your images and resources to reflect the new secure address.
- Redirect requests to the non-secure http:// versions of the pages and resources to the new secure location through the 301 Moved Permanently redirect on your server.
- Update all the canonical URLs.
Final Thoughts
As your users are getting more and more aware about security on websites, SSL Certificate will have a deep influence on the search engine ranking in the years to come.
If you have enough business finances, now is the right time to buy SSL Certificate and stay assured of the security issues.
