The vulnerability of a website to cyber-attack and data loss can be significantly reduced by installing an SSL certificate. This fact is especially true if you have an e-commerce site. With Google’s announcement that SSL certificates are now considered a critical factor for search engine rankings, it’s more important than ever to install an SSL certificate. Despite their positive impact, many marketers and website owners neglect to do just that. Here’s why your website needs one.
Let’s start by defining what an SSL certificate is…
The tech explanation:
An SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer) is a technique to encrypt web communications between client and server systems. In addition, it confirms the identity of the web server. This process ensures that the client is interacting with the individual or organisation that the website is claiming to represent.
The basic explanation:
When you check Google search results, you’ll see both HTTP and HTTPS websites listed. Websites without an SSL Certificate (HTTP) will face the repercussions of Google’s policy as it marks the website as ‘Not Secure.’ Google Chrome also changes the HTTP security indicator to a red triangle.
How does it impact SEO rankings?
Google has confirmed that a secure website with an SSL certificate will have an advantage over websites that aren’t as secure – provided other SEO India factors remain the same.
It’s important to understand that having an SSL certificate won’t just magically propel your site to the top of the search results. However, if you’re taking care of other ranking factors (of which there are more than 200) and doing all the other important things right, having an SSL certificate can provide a much-needed boost to overtake other websites in a tough and competitive niche.
Unencrypted websites without SSL certificates also fail to deliver a good user experience, which is a key factor penalised by Google. The indirect effect of having an unsafe site eventually leads to a demotion in rankings. The domino effect further pushes the site down.
Even for a content-based site with no sensitive data, securing it with an SSL Certificate is worth the investment to avoid search ranking penalties. As your rankings will be hampered if your website doesn’t have this security measure, you won’t be able to attract the desired traffic on your site. In turn, this will make it harder to reach your desired conversion rate. At the very least, the presence of the certificate helps to develop trust with the user.
As users are becoming more aware of website security, SSL Certificates will have a more significant influence on search engine rankings. That means that now is the right time to buy an SSL Certificate and stay assured of the security issues.
