We all know Google to be the most popular search engine. When you ask someone to search for something you don’t say “Yahoo it”…
Google is taking advantage of it’s dominance of the world wide web to push more websites into protecting the people that are using its services.
Over the past few months Google has been running tests and working on a change to their top-secret algorithm that determines search result rankings.
Google will now be using website encryption, or HTTPS, as a ranking signal – a move which aims to prompt website developers and website owners to make the change. This means that websites that automatically encrypt their services will now be boosted slightly higher in Google’s system. Initially, HTTPS will only be a lightweight signal, affecting fewer than 1% of global queries, says Google. However, the company says it may put greater focus on the security measure in the future.
So how do you know if a website is encrypted and why is encryption important?
If a website’s address begins with “https://” it’s data is encrypted. Encryption protects your sensitive information as it travels across the world. It keeps the internet from being ruled by criminals and intruders and also provides many direct benefits to you and your customers.
Even with this new change to Google’s formula, encryption is unlikely to become the most important factor when it comes to ranking websites. Search Engine Optimisation is a very complex thing, but the quality of a website’s content and its relevance to a search query will remain among the most influential factors to the search results. Website developers and website owners are constantly looking for that edge to ensure they get the best SEO results they can. Encrypting websites will cost the owners more money however the benefits of this one simple upgrade could be vastly.
I say good on Google! They’re helping nudge the web in a safe and secure direction.
