Google has just announced in its blog post that they will soon add another ranking factor – HTTPS in their vivid search ranking algorithm to push encrypted websites up in Google SERP – Search Engine Result Page.
HTTPS across Google’s web services
Google has been already offering secured SSL or HTTPS encryption for its varying web services like GMail, Search and Google Drive by default so whenever people access these sites, they automatically have a secure connection to Google and now adding HTTPS encryption as a ranking signal to boost up rankings of secured sites, Google will help users enrich secured sites in search results.
This update to their search algorithm seems to be inline with their recent announcement of “HTTPS Everywhere” during their annual Google I/O 2014.
Internet as a safer place for all
Google said that they are working hard to make the Internet a safer place at all horizons.
We’re also working to make the Internet safer more broadly. A big part of that is making sure that websites people access from Google are secure. For instance, we have created resources to help webmasters prevent and fix security breaches on their sites.
Testing, measuring and then announcing
Prior to announcing the addition HTTPS encryption as a ranking signal today, Google started testing out the performance of HTTPS sites in search pages few months ago by considering HTTPS encryption as a ranking signal for which they have noticed positive results.
HTTPS as a signal and its weight in search algorithm
Although this is just a starting point for HTTPS as a ranking signal. Currently, HTTPS encryption carries less weight than other ranking signals such as high-quality content, we are currently witnessing only around 1% of global queries being affected with this change, we will be giving time to webmasters to switch their sites from non-HTTPS to HTTPS and may be strengthening the weight of HTTPS as signal gradually.
Some time ago, prior to strengthening the HTTPS weight in search ranking, Google launched panda 4.0 update to penalise low quality content in search result page.
eCommerce sites are likely to benefit from this update as it will both strengthen websites’ credibility into users’ eyes and will make them appear higher in search engine which will benefit web owners and webmasters.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of inclusion of HTTPS as a ranking signal in Google’s search algorithm? Do you think Google is going right way by making webmasters switch to HTTPS for better ranking? Please share your valuable thoughts and ideas on Google’s HTTPS as ranking signal update with us in comment box below.
What do you think of inclusion of HTTPS as a ranking signal in Google’s search algorithm? Do you think Google is going right way by making webmasters switch to HTTPS for better ranking? Please share your valuable thoughts and ideas on Google’s HTTPS as ranking signal update with us in comment box below.
