The Underlying Benefits of SSL Certificates for Enhancing Website SEO & Traffic
This article discusses why any website needs an SSL certificate besides enhancing the data security.
The leading search in the world- Google takes over 200 various factors for determining the website rankings in a SERP. One of the key and crucial factors is website security. If you want your website to be displayed higher in SERPs, then you must give due importance to the online security of users who’ll be visiting your site. Google is considered to be very selective as it checks whether your website has been safeguarded or not by means of an SSL certificate such that SEO rankings are not compromised. If two sites that have a similar looking infrastructure, then the website that is being secured by an SSL certificate will definitely hold the advantage in terms of getting higher ranked in the SERPs.
Before we determine the core benefits of installing SSL certificates for a website’s SEO & traffic, let’s see what SSL certificates are in brief.
SSL Certificates- What Are They?
SSL or Secure Sockets Layer is responsible for providing an additional layer of security by protecting the information of the users and visitors from any online cybercrime. SSL certificates are responsible for providing the encryption to all the user data that is being passed between the servers and users. The encryption of user data makes it difficult for the attackers to read and decode it by keeping everything privately intact.
As of July 2018, Google started notifying the users about the websites that are not secure to use in case of the absence of an SSL certificate. A secured symbol of approval from the search engines about the SSL certificates will definitely be a booster for your website’s SEO ranking.
Benefits of SSL Encryption Certificates
SEO or Search Engine Optimization serves as the lifeline for all the websites hosted on the internet. The online business websites need SEO for finding their competition and come up with better digital strategies for getting a higher ranking. If there is a dip in the page rankings, then it won’t be featured in the top SERPS, thereby reducing the website’s visibility to the least. Thus, an organic SEO needs to have a compulsory assurance of an SSL certification for boosting the SERP rankings.
Below are the reasons why websites must have an SSL encryption and how is it going to help the sites enhance their organic SEO rankings-
1. Boost in SEO
While browsing websites, you might have encountered the message- ‘your connection to the site is not fully secure’ before the website is loaded. This is due to the absence of an SSL certificate installed on a website. This warning message can give out a scary experience to the user entering your site online. As a website owner, you can encash on this feature to win over your competition. Having an SSL certificate helps in boosting the ranking of your website to significant levels. Installation of SSL certificates for the site needs to be done simultaneously with other SEO functions.
2. More Secure Platform Resulting in More Visitor Trust
Today, website visitors are becoming more conscious about their information security. Web browsers like Google Chrome often alert the user when they enter an unsafe website and search engines redirect these websites that are fully secure for its users.
Consider an example- you are using your credit card information online on an ecommerce site. The installed SSL certificates will encode your information and send it to the bank server. The server present at the bank will use a secure HTTPs for establishing a connection and then replying back. In this process, security of the data is completely ensured so that the cyber-attackers don’t get away with your critical information.
As a website owner, you can encash on this opportunity as well by introducing enhanced trust amongst your users. Web browsers like Chrome will show your SSL certification and when the visitors visit your site, they get a sense of safety while making any online transaction on your website. This results in an automatic redirection of traffic to your website with significant improvements in the SERP rankings, thus, giving you an additional edge over your competitors. Having an SSL certificate for your website can be an excellent tool for strengthening your website’s SEO as well as the visibility of your page.
3. Secured Payments for Safer Shopping Experience
Any smart website visitor will never share his credit card and other bank information on a website that is not secure. Thus, it has been made mandatory for a business site to have an SSL certificate so that it is compliant to the PCI security standards defined by the credit card industries. In the absence of an SSL Certificate, no online business website can even think of carrying out a successful transaction on them. When the visitors see certain security visual cues on a business site, they’ll find a more secure and trusted experience for shopping online.
4. Enhanced Traffic and Conversion Rates
Whenever you add an SSL security on your site, it enhances its security for the potential visitors. A trusted and secured website will result in visitors regularly coming to your site and thereby increasing the loyalty towards your site. Search engines even consider these minute factors as well for deciding the ranking of a website. Once it has been found that a group of visitors is continuously visiting your site, the web traffic will definitely increase. The search engines determine that your website has been successfully able to provide a safe and secure platform to the users when looking for certain services.
5. A Tie-Breaker for 2 Similar Ranking Websites
In 2005, Google stated that if two websites have the same criteria, then it is the HTTPS and the presence of SSL certificate that will stand out as the differentiating parameter. Web browsers, by default, will prefer the more secure website so that the user information remains protected at all times. Now, SSL certification and HTTPS have become an indispensable component today for most of the sites hosted on the Internet.
Wrapping Up:
When your leads turn into customers, SSL and SEO, along with website traffic, are the fundamental driving forces. Web browsers have evolved quite smartly over the past few years, causing the websites to become highly efficient backed by several features. SSL and SEO is the underlying foundation that you need to have for creating a significant online presence. Towards the end of the day, customers mean everything to the business, whether a physical or a digital one. So, ensuring their trust is very crucial for a business to succeed and grow. Also, with SSL certificates, you reap in an excellent conversion of your possible leads turning to loyal customers.