Google SEO: Is An SSL Certificate Important?
Google SEO is one of the best ways to help your business meet your goals and expectations. Google rarely states definitively what affects their rankings, but they have confirmed that a secure website with an SSL certificate will have an advantage in its rankings over other websites without one. While it won’t automatically bring you to the top, if you are following other Google SEO best practices, it will give you an important boost.
What Is An SSL Certificate?
An SSL Certificate is an electronic document that website design uses to verify your credentials like your business’s name, the certificate’s serial number and expiration date, as well as your signature as the certificate-issuing authority. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology consists of small data files that are installed on a web server that activates a padlock that encrypts data, establishing a secure connection between a web server and a browser. The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is prefixed with “https:// ” rather than the standard (unsecured) “http://.” (The extra “s” stands for “Secure”).
An SSL Certificate prevents sensitive information like your passwords, bank, and credit card numbers from being accessed by unauthorized users. In addition to keeping your website safe, an SSL Certificate builds trust in browsers, improves your rank in searches, and encourages user action.
Why Does SSL Matter For Google SEO?
An SSL Certificate is valuable for Google SEO because it shows browsers that your website is safe for users to enter confidential data without fear that hackers will gain access and steal their information. For example, when a user completes an action on your eCommerce website, clicking on a call-to-action to make a purchase, they are assured that their confidential information is protected when their browser accesses your SSL Certificate, establishing a secure connection.
On the other hand, without SSL certification, all the popular web browsers such as Google Chrome, Bing, Opera, or Mozilla Firefox will flag your website as “Not Secure” and in some cases, your website may even fail to load. When that happens, your page visitors will leave your website and probably never return.
When your website does not have an SSL certificate, ALL data submitted through your website could be intercepted by someone who is not supposed to have it – this includes contact forms, logins, chat logs, and browsing patterns.
If your website is not secure, when users click on the link they will be taken first to a page that provides an additional warning stating unequivocally that the data is unsecured and not safe and could be stolen. At this point, most users will not proceed any further into the website. This can be a liability and have negative effects on your website’s Google SEO ranking.
KC Web Specialists can ensure that an SSL certificate is implemented into your website design to improve your Google SEO ranking. This will show visitors that your website is verified and safe from hackers. When you need an SEO company that can truly optimize your web presence, call KC Web Specialists at (913) 489-7866, ext. 107.
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