What Role Does SSL Certificates Play In SEO Rankings Ever noticed that little padlock in the address bar of your browser If you haven’t, then take a look. The presence of the symbol denotes that the particular website is protected by Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, and has a valid SSL certificate to guarantee the fact. And this one small icon has sent SEOs all over the world scrambling for answers. The reason can be found in an announcement made by Google way back in 2014, where the company disclosed that all things being equal, the presence of SSL certificates would give any website a certain modicum of advantage in gaining good search engine rankings. And since then, the one question bugging local SEO services the world over is how relevant SSL certificates actually are for search engine rankings. Want to know the answer? Read on to find out.
How SSL Certificates Can Help SEO Services? Before going into the details of whether SSL certificates are important for SEO or not, let’s first understand what SSL is, and how SSL certificates operate. SSL is essentially a security standard that guarantees an encrypted connection between a browser and a web server. The presence of SSL encryption serves to ensure that all data communication between the browser and the server remains secure and is protected against unauthorized access. An SSL certificate is a digital document that signifies that a website is protected by SSL encryption and is safe for visitors. By providing a secure link, an SSL certificate serves as a mark of authenticity for any website. As per Google’s guidelines, sites with SSL certificates stand to gain in rankings. Although search engines are usually circumspect about the ranking factors, the presence of SSL certificates can work in favor of your SEO efforts in multiple ways.