Knowledge Academy

The importance of HTTPS redirects for SEO is reflected in aspects such as improving search engine rankings, increasing user trust and security, protecting user privacy, improving website loading speed, conforming to modern web standards, and ensuring data accuracy. Correctly implementing HTTPS redirects is a critical step that can significantly enhance a website's SEO performance and overall user experience.

The importance of HTTPS redirects for SEO is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. Improving Search Engine Rankings

Ranking Signal: Google has explicitly stated that HTTPS is a ranking signal. Although it carries lighter weight, it is still one of the factors affecting website rankings. Websites using HTTPS may receive higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) compared to those using HTTP.

2. Improving User Trust and Security

Data Encryption: HTTPS protects user data through SSL/TLS encryption protocols, preventing theft or tampering during transmission. Increases user confidence in the website, thus reducing bounce rates and improving user experience.

Browser Security Warnings: Modern browsers clearly identify HTTP sites as "not secure" in the address bar, which may scare users away and increase bounce rates. HTTPS avoids such warnings and maintains user trust in the website.

3. Protecting User Privacy

Data Integrity: HTTPS protects data integrity, ensuring that data between users and servers is not tampered with. This is crucial for protecting user privacy, especially for websites involving sensitive information such as e-commerce, banking, and healthcare.

4. Improving Website Loading Speed

HTTP/2 Support: HTTPS is a prerequisite for using the HTTP/2 protocol. HTTP/2 can significantly improve web page loading speeds through technologies such as multiplexing and header compression. Since page loading speed is an important SEO factor, faster page loading speeds can improve user experience and thereby enhance SEO effects.

5. Conforming to Modern Web Standards

AMP and PWA: Many modern web technologies and standards, such as Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and Progressive Web Apps (PWA), require the use of HTTPS. Adopting these technologies can further improve user experience and SEO effects.

6. Data Accuracy

Google Analytics: If resources on an HTTPS website are loaded via HTTP, Google Analytics may misreport this traffic as "direct traffic" instead of the correct source. Using HTTPS ensures data accuracy, helping you better analyze and optimize SEO strategies.

Steps for Implementing HTTPS Redirects

1. Obtain an SSL Certificate: Obtain an SSL certificate from a reliable Certificate Authority (CA).

2. Install SSL Certificate: Install the SSL certificate on your server. Specific steps depend on your server type and hosting provider.

3. Update Website URL: Change all URLs on your website from HTTP to HTTPS, including internal links, scripts, stylesheets, and images.

4. Set up 301 Redirects: Set up 301 permanent redirects in server configuration to redirect all HTTP traffic to the HTTPS version. This can be achieved by modifying server configuration files (such as Apache's .htaccess or Nginx's nginx.conf).

       Apache Example:

       Nginx Example:

(5) Update Google Search Console and Google Analytics: Ensure to add and verify the HTTPS version of your website in Google Search Console, and update property settings in Google Analytics to reflect HTTPS URLs.

(6) Check Mixed Content: Ensure all resources (such as images, scripts, stylesheets, etc.) are loaded via HTTPS to avoid mixed content warnings.

(7) Notify Search Engines: Notify search engines that your website has migrated to HTTPS by submitting a new sitemap.

Detailed Specifications:

1. It is recommended that websites adopt HTTPS protocol URLs, which are more secure and beneficial for rankings;

2. Websites should use only one HTTP protocol. When accessing HTTP protocol URLs, 301 redirects should be performed to HTTPS URLs;

3. Ensure the SSL certificate is valid, as expired certificates will affect normal webpage access;

4. Sitemap submission and canonical tags should submit the HTTPS version;

5. Avoid HTTPS containing redirect URLs;

Example:

http://www.anker.com/     https://www.anker.com/

Reference URL:

Official Google Explanation:

       You should always use HTTPS to protect all your websites, even those that do not handle sensitive communications. In addition to providing important security and data integrity for your website and users' personal information, many new browser features (especially progressive Web app features) require HTTPS.

1. HTTPS Protects Website Integrity

       HTTPS helps prevent intruders from tampering with communications between your website and user browsers. Intruders include intentional malicious attackers as well as legitimate but intrusive companies, such as ISPs or hotels that inject advertisements into web pages.

       Intruders exploit unprotected communications to trick users into providing sensitive information or installing malware, or to insert their own advertisements into your resources. For example, some third-party website injections may introduce ads that damage user experience and create security vulnerabilities.

       Intruders exploit every unprotected resource transmitted between your website and users. Images, cookies, scripts, HTML, etc. may all be exploited by intrusions that can occur anytime in the network, including on users' computers, Wi-Fi hotspots, or compromised ISPs.

2. HTTPS Protects User Privacy and Security

       HTTPS prevents intruders from passively listening to communications between your website and users.

       There is a common misconception about HTTPS that only websites handling sensitive communications need HTTPS. Every unprotected HTTP request may leak information about user behavior and identity. While a single visit to your unprotected website may seem harmless, some intruders examine aggregated browsing activity of users, infer their behaviors and intentions, and de-anonymize their identities. For example, employees may inadvertently disclose sensitive health issues to employers while reading unprotected medical articles.

3. HTTPS is the Future Direction of the Web

       Powerful new web platform features (such as taking photos or recording audio with getUserMedia(), offline app experiences through Service Workers, or building Progressive Web Apps) require explicit user permission before execution. We will also update many older APIs to require permission before execution, such as the Geolocation API. HTTPS is a key component of the permission workflow for these new features and updated APIs.