How important is https for you?

[Harry P]

As I heard of google is now indexing sites with https higher than others (http). So if you have the same SEO marketing as another and your site has https and the others doesn't then your site will have ranked higher? As well as I feel it looks better, more truthworthy and has a higher appeal for other users as it shows your site is a lot more safe than others. What are your thoughts on https, do you feel it's worth getting a SSL certificate? or do you think it doesn't matter too much for most blogs and websites?

 

[vishwa]

SSL does have some good SEO score and Google Had few years back announce that it will give extra weightage to Sites with https. Google has said that it will make more trustworthy if you use SSL on your website. However Google doesn't make it mandatory for webmasters to use SSL.

 

[virtubox]

Currently, https doesn't have a true impact on SEO. But to get the benefits of HTTP2, you have to use https.
And SSL Certificates are free, so I do not see any reason to not use it on all my websites.

 

[Localnode]

I started using it on the main domain (not a subdomain) in 2015, IIRC. At the same time a new design, and EV SSL. So it made sense to use it. Previously I had client logins/etc on a secure. subdomain.
There were a few factors to add in - HTTP2, SEO, plus the added benefit of a green bar.

Is it worth getting an SSL?
Well, with Let's Encrypt being free - I don't see why not.

 

[virtubox]

virtubox

+1
Letsencrypt, StartSSL and Cloudflare offer free certificates.

 

[SenseiSteve]

I use SSL on my personal site as I believe it conveys trust, and that's extremely important to me. It doesn't hurt that Google wants every site to have SSL.

 

[Localnode]

+1
StartSSL

The StartSSL certificate is included by default in Mozilla Firefox 2.x and higher, in Apple Mac OS X since version 10.5 (Leopard), all Microsoft operating systems since 24 September 2009,[10][11] and Opera since 27 July 2010.[12] Since Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Internet Explorer use the certificate store of the operating system, all major browsers include support for StartSSL certificates.

On 30 September 2016, during the investigation on WoSign, Apple announced that their software will not accept certificates issued by one of the WoSign certificates after 19 September 2016, and said they will take further action on WoSign/StartCom trust anchors as the investigation progresses.[5]

On 24 October 2016, Mozilla announced on its security blog that, following its discovery of the purchase of StartCom by another Certificate Authority called WoSign during its investigation on numerous issues with that CA, and that both have failed to disclose this transaction,[13] Mozilla will stop trusting certificates that are issued after 21 October 2016 starting with Firefox 51.[14] On 1 November 2016, Google announced that it too would stop trusting certificates issued after 21 October 2016 starting with Chrome 56.[15]

From Wikipedia

Basically don't bother with StartSSL.

 

[Luxin Host]

SSL should be standard in 2016 considering the amount of open WIFI zones around and how cheap SSL has gotten. Never mind the fact that you can get it free from cloud flare and such services. In addition it does give a little bit more feeling of security to your customers or visitors.

 

[EpicGlobalWeb]

SSL does have some good SEO score and Google Had few years back announce that it will give extra weightage to Sites with https. Google has said that it will make more trustworthy if you use SSL on your website. However Google doesn't make it mandatory for webmasters to use SSL.

I suppose you're technically right but do you really think it matters all that much? Relevancy is what Google likes more than anything.

I use SSL on my personal site as I believe it conveys trust, and that's extremely important to me. It doesn't hurt that Google wants every site to have SSL.

Surprised they don't sell it themselves

 

[HostXNow]

I use SSL on everything for extra security/helps with rankings. No excuse being as it's free with cPanel/Let's Encrypt.

 

[FreebieBoy34]

As I heard of google is now indexing sites with https higher than others (http). So if you have the same SEO marketing as another and your site has https and the others doesn't then your site will have ranked higher? As well as I feel it looks better, more truthworthy and has a higher appeal for other users as it shows your site is a lot more safe than others. What are your thoughts on https, do you feel it's worth getting a SSL certificate? or do you think it doesn't matter too much for most blogs and websites?

I don't think it matters as some of my sites (I own or have created in the past) run with https while others have not and yet their rankings are quite the same. Yes having a site with https is more "appealing", but what really matters is the site's content as well as the product or services you offer to a particular market...

 

[Harry P]

Harry P

Nice to hear this opinion, recently i read from some people changed their sites from http to https and their traffic decreased and didn't get them back like before. It can be different from your sites because you start using https at the beginning point.

 

[Knightrider]

Eventhough Google has said https carry some seo weight, its very negligible and affects less than 1% of queries. But I think its better to change into https as this weight will increase with time.

 

[Salmonjames]

Ok I have question here. Say I have my website that is not using https and its simply http. Now when I shift my store to any of E-Commerce platforms like Shopify or Tibolli. Both of them are offering their own https for free. So will it impact the ranking of my site as well. As my main url will change from http to https?

 

[Elisabeth Kuhn]

I really need to find out more about SSL as well:

When I first read about it being required (or preferred) by Google, I went to my hosting services and asked about that, and they all quoted me prices that are quite prohibitive because they would apply to EACH of my many domain names. Yikes!

Then again, I'm not collecting personal information. If people buy anything from me, they're redirected to either PayPal or my shopping cart, and they have their own SSLs.

As for opt-in forms, I need to check on that with Aweber and my shopping cart. Good question.

What about those free sites mentioned above? Are they accepted by Google and most hosting companies, specifically Hostgator?

Thanks!

 

[outpower hosting]

It is no longer a question of whether its important for YOU or not or whether you like it or not. Google is serious about your site not being https compliant.

2016 saw the year of liberation from the clutches of SSL cert providers with the emergence of Lets encrypt as a free and credible alternative. Google then told you, get an https cert and we will rank your sites comparatively better than those who don't.

If you didn't listen then, now they are even more serious. See this screenshot of how things are since Jan 2017:



It's unlikely that a modern site does not have a customer login password field, especially web hosts. So, unless you want people to walk away from your site because it says your site is not secure, then like I said in the beginning, it's no longer a question of whether YOU/I think its important.

 

[Hostens]

For sites who do not require any login or registration HTTPS is not a must and in such sites I personally do not care about not having certificate. However if I have to register/login or enter another information I first look for certificate and if there is none then it is no go for me.

Either way in an age of free SSL certificates I do not see any reason why site cannot have SSL certificate.

 

[Zack]

I'm not sure about the details of even how true it is but I saw something online the other day about Google placing some kind of unsafe website tag in their results if you use their Chrome browser. If that's the case then it is very important to me and I will be setting up my sites with it.

 

[smsmbooster]

Not only higher ranking from search engine, but also customer will trust our site. That they know that all data will be encrypted.

 

[Sam]

After reading some webmasters tips, reviews, researches, and Google Webmaster Tools guidance, HTTPS does not have a big impact on your site's SEO. HTTPS is needed for a page that relates to payment, sign up, sign in, and other pages that have sensitive data. The rest, you can make them HTTP.

 

[Riviera]

SSL is a +1 of SEO technique. Google consider the https:// better than http://
This is the trend.
With https:// you can use LetsEncrypt, Cloudflare. Both of them has the free plans, that's great for personal/small biz use.

 

[braxtoncina]

HTTPS is a secured version of Hyper Text Transfer Protocol.it mean communication between Browser and Website is encrypted.