Google Announce HTTPS as a Ranking Signal

Google are committed to making the entire internet safer. Every year they invest many millions in ensuring the security features attached to all that they create set the standard for the connected world. All those at the good ship Google are on an endless quest to drastically reduce the regularity and quantity of security breaches, not just on the world’s largest sites, but on the smaller ones too.

It’s for this very reason that Google made the substantial demand for HTTPS to become standard protocol on all websites. The take up of HTTPS has increased dramatically over the last few years, but in order to increase global security, Google want this shift to continue.

And they’re offering the biggest incentive of all. The positive results they’ve seen in sites that have already made the transfer to HTTPS has led Google to now officially regard HTTPS as a ranking signal. It currently carries a small amount of credibility in determining your ranking. But Google themselves have announced that over time, its value is going to be increased, making it impossible for webmasters to overlook HTTPS when considering how to most efficiently run their sites.

Achieving HTTPS is done through the installation of an SSL certificate of which there are multiply providers each with a variety of options.

To learn more about achieving HTTPS with an SSL certificate and how it works, read our insight Securing your site with SSL

So where is the best place to get an SSL certificate?

Achieving HTTPS isn't about buying the cheapest and quickest to authorise SSL certificate you can find. Its about finding a certificate that suits your needs, includes the features required for your business opertions along with the trustworthiness of the provider.

A lot of options on offer from different providers are generally very similar and all providers tend to offer the same features in their packages. The important part is to identify an SSL that will best serve your online business from a recognized and reputable provider. For example if you are an e-commerce store you should be looking for a higher level of security with EV (Extended Validation) SSL Certificates that presents the whole browser address bar in green.

Choosing an SSL certificate that is most suited for your business operations will aid in Googles recognition of your domain and organisation as a trusted source. Here are some of the top SSL providers...