5 SEO Reasons and Benefits for Using HTTPS Websites in 2017+

5 SEO Reasons and Benefits for Using HTTPS Websites in 2017+

We've seen a lot of emphasis and importance placed on SSL websites that use the HTTPS protocol over the past year or so by Google who are now actively marking sites in Chrome that collect some kind of personal data. Whether they are simple sites that only ask for a password or sites that take payment details, names & addresses etc. And there is lot of uphill work to do for Google if they are to make the Internet a safer place for normal, non-tech savvy Search Engine users today.

And just in case you're one of the few that is wondering what the actual benefits to using SSL encryption on your website will be. Here's 5 SEO Reasons for Using HTTPS Websites in 2017+

1. Search Engine Rankings Boost
Google doesn't usually say what their ranking factors are but they came right out and told us that HTTPS sites do get a small ranking benefit in the Search Engines over sites that don't use SSL. It's only a very small ranking factor boost though and just one of many but for this reason, all sites, whether they take personal details or not should use SSL.

2. More Trust From People
People these days know that when a site has the padlock icon in the address bar and uses HTTPS that their details are encrypted and kept safer for when they are using that site to make purchases on or provide them with any sensitive personally identifiable information etc. Having SSL gives people much more confidence in and to trust your site if it's secure with SSL.

3. Better Conversion Rate
Just like getting more trust from people by using HTTPS, most people who use the Internet feel safer and prefer to use site that offer HTTPS encryption. Sometimes just installing SSL on your site can make all the difference and even see an increase of up to 50% or more in conversion rates when users see your site is secure.

4. Faster Page Loading
Some ISP's and web hosting companies SSL configurations actually provide a faster loading experience than sites that aren't using SSL. You'll have to check with your ISP, host or SSL certificate company where you purchase your SSL certificate from first. But since page load and site speed is a critical known ranking factor, you'll want to use SSL for this reason alone.

5. More Visitor Data
With SSL much more details, information and data is held on your sites visitors that visit it using HTTPS. This can be useful in learning more about your visitors that you wouldn't have been able to see using the standard HTTP.

How to Create the Best HTTPS Configuration for SEO?

• Only use a trusted SSL certificate issuer that uses 2048 bit encryption keys and should consider take on using an Extended Validation certificate if you're running an e-commerce site.
  
• Be sure to use a high quality web host on a dedicated server or VPS and IP that makes use of the cloud and caching and all of that.
  
• Make sure your sites SSL certificate works well on both old and modern desktop and mobile browsers and that all forms work correctly.
  
• Enable Search Engines web crawler spiders to index your site by using a sitemap and avoiding using noindex in the robots.txt file.
  

Using SSL Encryption on your site does create a new step in the whole connection process, but that's negligible when you compare it to the connections required for unencrypted overheads.

And since it's now much cheaper and easier to install SSL on your site and they have all these Search Engine ranking and people benefits, it's as important to do as it is essential.

Are you using SSL now for any of these reasons?

What other SEO benefits or reasons might there be for using SSL today?