Images | HARTENSTINE

HTTPS Should I Go All-In? Does encryption help my search rank?

There was a lot of noise some time ago (August 2014) about how Google would use https as a ranking signal. SERoundTable had this article out shortly thereafter. We finally decided it was time to test this signal.

We tested this very website over several weeks to see if Google treats websites that use HTTPS (SSL encryption) any different. We used forced and unforced https from WordPress and using htaccess (apache).

We saw the greatest drop in traffic using forced https by way of htaccess redirection for all URLs. This caused Google Mobile Friendly test to choke for some reason. We checked all our settings to see if we screwed up some where. But no other service reported issues. Everything worked fine except we saw our queries in Google Webmaster Tools drop to almost zero. Obviously Google does not seem to like this method very much.

The spot of good news was the drop in unwanted bots in logs and other noise from “those” referrers in our Google Analytics – not really worth if we also loose legit traffic.

We then switched to WordPress to do the same all-URLs redirection from within the settings menu. This worked better for Google Mobile Friendly test, but our traffic remained at the lows we experienced using htaccess and our queries as seen in GWM did not rebound.

We then rolled back to only forcing https using htaccess for only those pages requiring SSL encryption. The entire website can be accessed using both http and https. This seemed to be the best solution as our traffic began to return as queries seem to be rising back to normal levels.

Its not expensive to buy a SSL certificate. But considering how difficult it can be to setup SSL on a website – something requiring a bit of experience to get right – there is no reason to switch unless you need encryption. And then only force https on those pages that really need it.

…….January 24…….

After a few weeks and with no further modifications, we noticed that Google Search Console prefers the https property over the others. That means we followed Google’s instructions to setup all possible URLs as properties with https one of them – as seen in this screenshot. As it turns out, Google has chosen to use the https property under which all all dashboard data is displayed. What does it mean? We have seen no significant change in search rank – if even a slight drop in placed.

We’ll report more as we learn more.

Anytime those (often very loud) promoters of Social Media advertising (spending) speak, they should be confronted with the facts. When faced with these facts, its hard to justify any Social Media spend. The studies continue to prove the same end result year after year.

Here at Zerohedge is yet another very good example 62% Of Americans Say “Social” Ads Have No Impact On Purchasing Decisions. That article is sourced from the WSJ which said, In a study last year, Nielsen Holdings NV found that global consumers trusted ads on television, print, radio, billboards and movie trailers more than social-media ads.

And another Zerohedge article from earlier in the year illustrates why: Recently, Facebook got into hot water with investors when it was revealed that as many of its 1.18 billion active users 14.1 million (and likely orders of magnitude more) were fraudulent.

The ROI has never been proven. Real social media exposure (advertising) cannot be purchased on any scale – fact. Yes, you can pay an employee to engage your following on some platform, distribute coupons, but that’s about the end of it. And even then, the real engagement may not have an ROI. (You may sell a few more (____), but the time you or your employee spends on Social Media may not be profitable).