SSL certificates are essential for guaranteeing the sort of security that modern websites need. Their need has increased drastically in the last few years with the growth of cyber security concerns. Today, sites are at risk of multiple dangers, such as hacking. Any website that requires visitors to enter their private and sensitive details would not be worth a second look without such a certificate. For these reasons, sparing a few coins to invest in even a cheap SSL certificate would be an excellent decision, as it could help improve your SEO rankings.
Recognition as Ranking Factor
Often, Google changes the factors it relies on for ranking websites. One such change occurred in 2014 when it considered SSL certificates a good enough factor on which to base search engine ranking. Google opted for this change to show its commitment towards encouraging the creation of safer websites. Consequently, it hoped that such a move would also lead to the emergence of a secure Internet for everybody. You can check SEO Dresden here.
In recognizing SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates and HTTPS as ranking factors, Google has made it clear that its values trustworthiness. Untrustworthy sites see no need to embrace this emerging change. That change is quite momentous for several reasons. The most significant reason is searchers will have access to content on HTTPS sites first. That’s because Google doesn’t want to direct them to HTTP or unsafe websites. By implementing SSL certificates, you would be guaranteeing your visitors the best user experience.
HTTPS vs. HTTP
When talking about SSL certs, you would invariably also be mentioning HTTPS and HTTP. Today, clients can tell that your site has an SSL certificate the moment they notice the HTTPS in front of the actual domain name. In browsers, the HTTPS appears in the form of a locked padlock, which denotes safety. The emergence of HTTPS and SSL certificates has also seen a massive proliferation in the popularity of encryption. The transmission of data on HTTPS sites only happens after encryption. You should always check the SSL to ascertain that should not have expired.
SSL Certificates and Google Analytics
Significantly, you would be unable to use or rely on Google Analytics for measuring the success of your SEO endeavors if your site lacks SSL. With Google Analytics, you would be able to perform the following SEO-related tasks smoothly:
- Viewing organic search traffic
- Measuring the quality of SEO traffic
- Calculating the dollar value of your organic traffic
- Discovering slow loading pages
- Creating an SEO Dashboard
Verification
SSL requires verification for SSL certificates. A site with SSL attribute enjoys verification and recognition from Google. What this means is your visitors can browse through your site safe in the knowledge that their activities are not at risk of exposure to hackers. Verification comes with the assurance that you will receive a substantial increase in traffic.
SERPs
In talking about SSL and their impact on SEO, one must look at SERPs (search engine results pages) too. It’s worth mentioning that several factors determine SERPs. For this reason, you should never contemplate prioritizing SSL certificates at the expense of all the other ranking factors. Otherwise, the magical improvement in SERPs that you were hoping for would only remain a pipedream. After all, anything that boosts user experience will always win the heart and mind of Google bots, which crawl your site to see where to rank it.
Additionally, you also must consider the boost that having an SSL certificate has on your site’s visibility. For the most part, clients may not think twice about opening a website that lacks the appropriate HTTPS protocol. To them, the Internet is now straightforward. If they can’t see a closed padlock or the letters “https,” then they won’t waste time opening the site. That means your website isn’t visible to them. Usually, people don’t open what they can’t see. Again, this has to do with trust. Anything that affects your site’s visibility messes your conversion rates too!
Conclusion
Do not think twice about buying what the best cheap SSL certificate providers of 2024 provide. What they have to offer could be the difference between successful SEO practices and failure. Making such a decision would portend fantastic news to your website too. For the most part, you will have boosted your ranking significantly. The organic traffic to your website would also improve substantially. Users would enjoy the experience of browsing through your site. However, none of these benefits would come your way if your cheap SSL certificate were not valid!