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:
Eric Enge @stonetemple +Eric Enge
Data From SEO Clarity A Detailed Study
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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
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How Many Sites Made the Switch A>er August 7th?
Only 630 of the 218,000 sites have switched so far (0.3%)
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Very Few Major Brands Switched
GoDaddy was the only major brand that was seen to switch
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Pages HTTP vs. HTTPS
HTTPS Pag
es
8/10
8/17
8/24
8/31
9/07
9/14
9/21
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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
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Switched Our Own Site Too
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Tracked Dates That Indexed Page Changed to HTTPS
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Changeover States – HTTPS Page Not Even Discovered
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Changeover States – Not Yet Indexed by Google
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Changeover States – Not Yet Indexed by Google
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Changeover States –Indexed by Google
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Changeover States –Indexed by Google
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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
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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
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Had Some Details to Clean Up
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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> "; ?>
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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
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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
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Facebook Counts SUll Wrong on Some Posts
The Real Number is 818
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Thank You!
Eric Enge [email protected] Twi[er: @stonetemple Google Plus: +Eric Enge (508) 879-‐0950 h[p://www.stonetemple.com
Eric Enge @stonetemple +Eric Enge
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