SSL and SEO: do they both matter?

Let’s start with remembering some of your most current searches, disregarding what you were looking for, either checking out your opponents or seeking for some products or services on the Web. You have probably visited both HTTP and HTTPS-based web pages. But what is the real difference between them, particularly from the viewpoint of SSL and SEO? Considering their mutual impact on e-commerce and most of every web store, let’s see how well SSL and SEO are doing in reality.

Are SSL and SEO are so useful when acting together?

Let’s start with some technical background and see how SSL works. Being a part of Hypertext Transport Protocol Security, it uses a 2048-bit key to protect the user experience via the safety procedures of authentication, verification, and encryption between the web server and the Internet browser itself. Basically, SSL security comes in three layers:

• Encryption works for ensuring that the current user’s actions are untraceable, so any information can’t be hijacked by the scammers
• Authentication procedure helps to resist hacker attacks while building stronger trustworthiness among the users
• Data integrity serves to prevent any files from corruption or unauthorized modification during the transfer

And let’s finally go back to the point - what is the actual connection between SSL and SEO? Or how is security driving your website’s ranking in the Search Engine Result Pages? Just like any good onsite properties bringing a positive effect towards your ranking, as well as the traffic and conversion rate itself. I mean your website security also has a direct impact on Google’s search algorithms when deciding to award you with a higher ranking. Below let’s consider the interrelations between SSL and SEO on three basic directions - rankings, traffic, and conversion:

• As already mentioned, your website rankings are now even more dependent on SSL security than ever before. Looking back to 2014-2015 when Google issued its first algorithms to favor HTTPS-based web pages, SSL security used to be just a light algorithm component for making the final decision. But today, according to the official statistics, nearly half of Google’s organic search results are referring to HTTPS-based websites secured with SSL certificate. Moreover, just about 1 percent of all online frameworks on the Internet are estimated to be secure. So, why not to use SSL and SEO simply to get ahead of the competition, once and forever?
• Considering traffic gains, better ranking usually delivers a greater traffic flow, only because the more users are visiting your website, the wider audience you will get engaged. Moreover, the available web security gives every potential buyer browsing on the Internet an active signal on your website authority and trustworthiness. Most of the users are likely to skip all non-secure sources and click on the search result driving them to your web pages, in turn giving a boost to your site’s CTR rate.
• After all, SSL and SEO can be working together to effect on your conversions considerably. I mean that more potential customers will be turned into the real ones, once they visited your well-secured website with a trusted authority. Just remember that according to the leading surveys, over 80% of undeveloped clients would reject their commitment to buy, simply on discovering that their just filled personal data comes through the insecure connection.