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You are here: Home / Google / Google Plans to Make HTTPS Ranking Signal Stronger

Google Plans to Make HTTPS Ranking Signal Stronger

June 8, 2015 at 6:17 am PST By Jennifer Slegg

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google secure searchWhen Google first announced that HTTPS would be a ranking signal, a large number of webmasters jumped on the opportunity to get what was essentially a freebie boost in the search rankings simply by switching to HTTPS.  Later, John Mueller from Google announced that it was a very small ranking signal, something that Gary Illyes from Google recently clarified as acting more as a tie-breaker in the search results when two sites would otherwise be ranked the same.

At SMX Advanced, Danny Sullivan asked Illyes about HTTPS and if we would see secure search having a larger impact at some point in the future.  And the answer is yes.

Illyes said that HTTPS is super important and they do have plans to improve it and make it stronger, referring to secure search as “it’s my baby.”

He doesn’t go into detail about what could be changed to improve and strengthen it, so it could be simply making it a stronger ranking signal or there could be something changing in the signal itself.  Likewise, we don’t know when we would see changes, or if Google would pre-announce changes as they did with the mobile friendly algo update.

The fact Illyes has been out of the office a lot traveling to events is one of the reasons why we haven’t seen any changes with secure search as a ranking signal.

SEOs once again might want to start thinking about switching their sites to secure again, as many stopped working on it once it became known the boost for secure sites was fairly miniscule.  But with both Chrome and Firefox making changes or deprecations that would alert users to unsecure sites, switching over will become even more important for reasons completely outside of Google search.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post
Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.
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Latest posts by Jennifer Slegg (see all)

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Filed Under: Google, SEO Tagged With: https, secure search, SSL

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Comments

  1. Michael Martinez says

    June 8, 2015 at 3:17 pm

    And now that malware (which infects wireless routers and steals your encrypted passwords in their UNencrypted form) is out in the wild, all this HTTPS nonsense has been rendered moot, obsolete, and yesterday’s bad news. You cannot protect the Web with HTTPS. That false dream will only become more of a nightmare as more people buy into it.

  2. Malcolm Slade says

    June 12, 2015 at 6:08 am

    Hi Jennifer, I’m in the UK so wasn’t able to attend the SMX Advanced sessions but was wondering if you had details of exactly what Gary Illyes said.

    My concern is that “secure search” is much bigger than “HTTPS as a ranking signal” and unless he explicitly said “HTTPS will be given more prominence as a ranking factor” or similar we are at risk of jumping to conclusions.

    Malcolm.

    • Jennifer Slegg says

      June 12, 2015 at 6:53 am

      His exact wording was that he plans to improve it and make it stronger when asked if it will have a larger impact in the search results in the future. It was specifically about its signal in the search results. Unfortunately Danny didn’t ask him more detailed questions about it though.

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  1. Why All Sites Need to Go HTTPS, According to Google - The SEM Post says:
    June 9, 2015 at 4:50 am

    […] Google Plans to Make HTTPS Ranking Signal Stronger […]

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