John Mueller from Google dismissed the idea that having an SSL certificate would enhance a website’s SEO, making it clear that an SSL certificate does not improve your SEO.
Post on Mastodon About SSL and SEO
The encounter happened on Mastodon, where a member called EncryptedFence posted:
“Boost your website’s SEO and reputation with a must-have security measure: SSL Certificate – https://certerassl.com/blog/ssl-a-must-have-security-measure-for-websites-seo
Don’t miss out on the benefits! Get an SSL certificate today and keep your website safe.”
Google Senior Search Analyst/Search Relations Lead, John Mueller, responded:
“@EncryptedFence this does not “Boost your website’s SEO”, sorry.”
SSL Certificate Doesn’t Contribute Significantly to SEO Rankings?
SSL, an acronym for Secure Sockets Layer, serves as a secure communication standard or protocol for establishing encrypted Internet connections.
An SSL certificate, a digital certification, verifies and authenticates the identity of a website. It ensures that a browser is connecting to the appropriate server.
The SSL certificate plays a crucial role in facilitating the secure transmission of data over the Internet.
Google Encourages HTTPS
Google played a crucial role in promoting the secure transmission of data over the Internet due to various reasons, primarily focusing on user security and privacy.
One obstacle in the widespread adoption of HTTPS was the complexity and confusion surrounding the process of obtaining an SSL certificate.
Numerous website owners hesitated to embrace this standard as they believed it was unnecessary for non-transactional websites.
To encourage the adoption of secure standards, Google took action in 2014 by incorporating HTTPS as a ranking factor, providing an incentive for publishers to make the switch.
Google Hints at Potentially Amplifying the Impact of HTTPS as a Ranking Factor
Google provided encouragement to the SEO community by making a promise that they might enhance the significance of HTTPS as a ranking factor.
Google wrote in 2014:
“At Google I/O a few months ago, we called for “HTTPS everywhere” on the web.
We’ve also seen more and more webmasters adopting HTTPS (also known as HTTP over TLS, or Transport Layer Security), on their website, which is encouraging.
For these reasons, over the past few months we’ve been running tests taking into account whether sites use secure, encrypted connections as a signal in our search ranking algorithms.
We’ve seen positive results, so we’re starting to use HTTPS as a ranking signal. For now it’s only a very lightweight signal—affecting fewer than 1% of global queries, and carrying less weight than other signals such as high-quality content —while we give webmasters time to switch to HTTPS.
But over time, we may decide to strengthen it, because we’d like to encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web.”
Google announced its potential plan to enhance the HTTPS signal.
The SEO community swiftly embraced the widespread implementation of HTTPS, essentially holding Google accountable for their statement.
The reaction received overwhelmingly positive feedback, resulting in a surge of SSL certificate sales similar to the high demand for discounted television sets on Black Friday.
SSL Won’t Boost Your SEO?
Why did John Mueller claim that SSL certificates don’t enhance SEO if HTTPS is considered a ranking factor?
Since a ranking factor is a criterion used by Google to determine a website’s position in search results, it can be assumed that anything classified as a ranking factor would improve SEO.
Well, that’s not the situation.
Certain factors that affect rankings, such as HTTPS, are incredibly insignificant.
There is a unanimous agreement that backlinks from other websites hold significant importance in determining rankings.
Therefore, it is not far-fetched to acknowledge that other ranking factors are so inconsequential that they have minimal impact on a website’s ranking.
Another aspect to consider is that almost every website nowadays employs HTTPS, which results in the nullification of any ranking advantage derived from its usage.
Google’s John Mueller has consistently emphasized the limited influence of the HTTPS ranking signal.
For instance, in 2019, he responded to a query about SSL certificates, where a company suggested that the absence of a certificate would lead to a drop in Google search rankings for a website.
“Without an SSL Certificate Google is likely to drop your website in search results”
Mueller responded:
“Yeah, that’s wrong.
HTTPS is not a factor in deciding whether or not to index a page, at all.
We do use HTTPS as a light-weight ranking factor, and having HTTPS is great for users.
A free certificate from Let’s Encrypt works just as well.”
Revisiting the Complexity of SEO…
There has been significant uncertainty surrounding the impact of HTTPS on search engine rankings.
Certain individuals have suggested that it serves as a deciding factor when all other variables are equal. However, given the widespread adoption of HTTPS nowadays, it is difficult to identify a specific circumstance where it could make a significant difference.
A more comprehensible perspective might be that while links can be a powerful indicator, other factors such as HTTPS may only provide a subtle indication without offering any noticeable SEO advantage.
For more such tips, updates and learning resources, stay tuned to Insitebuild Blog.
