SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is used by websites to establish a secure connection between the host and the visitor. All data transferred through an SSL connection remains private and integral. Websites with an SSL certificate can be accessed through HTTPS. The SSL and SEO are now interlinked. Lately, SSL certificates have become popular and widely used – but people still wonder if having an SSL certificate affects SEO. First off, we’ll tell you the SSL certificate benefits and why you should get one:
Does an SSL certificate Help SEO?
Since it’s easy and recommended to install an SSL certificate, the final question is whether or not it affects SEO. Here are a few ways how SSL certificates help SEO:
1. Google prefers HTTPS
Google officially announced that having an SSL certificate positively impacts your rankings, and it’s considered a ranking signal. The reason that Google themselves have stated that it does affect SEO is a valid enough reason for you to switch to HTTPS and increase your rankings on search engines.
2. You have more referrer data
With an HTTP connection, some of your referral data get lost, and you won’t even notice it. In such cases, your website traffic that originates from certain sources will be shown as “Direct”. If you use an HTTPS connection, you’ll see all your referral data and where it comes from.
3. Websites with HTTPS rank higher
A number of research studies have been done by Moz, Ahrefs, and Brian Dean, where they analyzed top websites ranking on Google and have concluded that HTTPS websites already rank higher then non-HTTPS ones.
4. Users prefer websites with HTTPS
Based on analytical data from different websites. When searching for something, people are prone to click a secure HTTPS website rather than a non-secure one. So if your website has HTTPS and ranks with other non-HTTPS websites on the same SERP, the user is most likely going to visit your website.
Based on all the reasons listed in this article, we recommend that you buy an SSL certificate and increase your search rankings if you haven’t already done so.