HTTPS As a Ranking Factor...Or Not?By Eric Enge

HTTPS as a Ranking Factor … Or Not?

Eric Enge @stonetemple +Eric Enge

Who is Eric Enge?

§  Lead Co-‐author: The Art of SEO §  CEO: Stone Temple Consul6ng, 50 person Digital Marke6ng agency §  Columnist:

§  Interviewer:


Data From SEO Clarity A Detailed Study


Methodology

• Monitored top 10 results for 130,000 keywords •  218,000 domains tracked • HTTP vs. HTTPS ranking tracked •  Sites which switched from HTTP to HTTPS aLer August 7th iden6fied • Ranking posi6ons measured


How Many Sites Made the Switch A>er August 7th?

Only 630 of the 218,000 sites have switched so far (0.3%)


Very Few Major Brands Switched

GoDaddy was the only major brand that was seen to switch


Pages HTTP vs. HTTPS

HTTPS Pag

es

8/10

8/17

8/24

8/31

9/07

9/14

9/21


Average Ranking of Pages

8/10

8/17

8/24

8/31

9/07

9/14

9/21

This is a Very Narrow Range!

5.89 5.93


Switched Our Own Site Too


Tracked Dates That Indexed Page Changed to HTTPS


Changeover States – HTTPS Page Not Even Discovered


Changeover States – Not Yet Indexed by Google


Changeover States –Indexed by Google


Ranking Scenarios – 12 Pages Indexed as HTTPS

•  12 Total Pages Indexed •  6 Improved Rankings •  5 Rankings Got Worse •  1 No Change

• Net Impact: No Material Change


SHA-‐1 CerUficates Being Deprecated

• Bought an Extended Valida6on SSL Cert •  Stricter level of valida6on •  Heard that this was “be[er”, so I did it •  Digicert provided us with a SHA-‐1 cer6ficate by default •  However, these are being deprecated L •  Fortunately, SSLGuru flagged this issue for us •  Caused a 2 day delay


Had Some Details to Clean Up


Social Sharing Code – to Show Counts From HTTP Page

<?php $h[purl = "h[p://www.".$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; $h[psurl = "h[ps://www.".$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; echo " <div class='l-‐like' data-‐href='".$h[purl."' data-‐send='false' data-‐layout='box_count'></div> <a href='h[ps://twi[er.com/share' class='twi[er-‐share-‐bu[on' data-‐counturl='".$h[purl."' data-‐url='".$h[psurl."' data-‐count='ver6cal' data-‐via='moz'>Tweet</a> <div class='g-‐plusone' data-‐size='tall' data-‐href='".$h[purl."'></div> "; ?>


What This Code Does

•  Shows share counts from original HTTP URL • Will NOT add in new clicks on the bu[ons aLer the site is moved •  Should only use on posts made prior to the migra6on


Pseudo Code for Ideal Logic

•  If Post Date Prior to Migra6on Date •  Use Code that shows shares from original HTTP URLs

•  Else •  Use Code that shows shares from new HTTPS URLs


Facebook Counts SUll Wrong on Some Posts

The Real Number is 818


Thank You!

Eric Enge [email protected] Twi[er: @stonetemple Google Plus: +Eric Enge (508) 879-‐0950 h[p://www.stonetemple.com


HTTPS As a Ranking Factor...Or Not?By Eric Enge

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