SEO has become very important for every website in today’s world. SEO is a process to increase the visibility of a website in the SERPs. Better SEO will help you to get better rankings. SEO is a very big topic, but in this article, we’ll only talk about Technical SEO and we’ll learn “What technical SEO issue can you solve with an SSL certificate?”

SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate is an extra layer given by Google to ensure that a website is safer from malicious actors. SSL Certificate is the proof that confidential information of visitors is safe from the website server.

For more visit here: https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/what-is-a-ssl-certificate

For example: Whenever you visit a website, they will likely ask for consent to set cookies, which are usually designed to acquire information such as your email address, and phone number. SSL stands for secure sockets layer and an SSL certificate plays a vital role in building the foundations of a website’s security. If you detect that the website is without an SSL certificate, I counsel you not to authorize cookies. Besides, if the website requests you to enter your details when leaving a comment, then it will be wise not to give them because in this way your mail address and phone number could be exposed and then it could be used for hacking.

You can check the website’s SSL certificates on the left side of the website:

Connection is secure means, this website does have a valid SSL Certificate. The same process is also for mobile devices.

Or, Check the website URL once. If the website URL starts with “HTTPS://” then the website is secure or has a valid SSL certificate and if the URL starts with “HTTP://” then that website is not safe or doesn’t consist of a valid SSL certificate.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is what technicians do, they make your website’s purpose as visible as possible on search engines and ensure that it works perfectly. Unlike content optimization and building links which deal with (the content and the external factors respectively), technical SEO deals with technical elements that affect how the search engines crawl, index and rank your website. It is made up of several factors for instance web page speed, mobile responsiveness, website architecture, crawlability, indexability, and security.

Importance of Technical SEO

These are the importance of Technical SEO in website performance:

1. Make sure that search engines can easily crawl and index your website.
2. Effects site speed and user experience, which in turn increase rankings.
3. Adapts to mobile devices, targeting growing mobile users.
4. It pinpoints and solves technical problems that may harm SEO.
5. Provides a logical site structure for easy navigation.
6. The security of the website is improved using measures such as SSL certificates.

Overall, technical SEO is the foundation for successful SEO campaigns and helps your site rank higher in search engine results.

Visit here for more information about Technical SEO: https://dgtalearth.com/what-is-technical-seo-examples-of-technical-seo/

SSL Certificates are mainly responsible for site speed, mobile-friendliness, crawlability, and security vulnerabilities that impact website performance. And improve user experience.

What technical SEO issue can you solve with an SSL certificate?

SSL has the main role in SEO and here are the seven roles of SSL in Technical SEO:

1. Secure Data Transmission: SSL certificates provide websites with an SSL/TLS protocol that can be used for HTTPS to encrypt the data transmitted from users’ browsers to the website’s server. The encryption will make sure that the sensitive data doesn’t get intercepted by the malware throughout the transfer.

2. Encryption of Sensitive Information: Thanks to the SSL shield, sensitive content is encrypted before transmitting through the internet to prevent potential threats. This encryption facilitates the fact that unauthorized parties find it almost an impossible mission to decipher or manipulate the data, thus the overall security feature of the data is highly protected.

3. Trust Indicators: HTTPS sites feature trust indicators, like a padlock icon and “https://” in the web browser’s address bar. The appearance of these indicators demonstrates to users the safety of their connection, which in turn, breeds confidence and trust in that particular website. Gaining user’s trust eventually will increase their experience and engagement subsequently bringing SEO metrics such as bounce rate and dwell time in a positive direction.

4. Improved User Experience: Secure sites are usually a very good experience for users who feel more convenient dealing with sites that shield their sensitive information. SSL certificate provides a safe environment which increases the chance of good user experience by eliminating the possibility of a security-related problem or incidents.

5. Search Engine Rankings: Search engines elevate the pages with secured websites to the top of the search results giving them a slight edge on the websites without the security layer. HTTPS is an area that Google has mainly focused on as a ranking factor, for example. Hence, the installation of an SSL certificate helps search engines better rank websites, and consequently, visibility and organic traffic get improved.

6. Prevention of Security Vulnerabilities: SSL certificates are one of the best means that prevent security vulnerability arising from unencrypted connections. Websites running without SSL are vulnerable to hacking which leads to data breaches, man-in-the-middle attacks, and information theft. The introduction of such an SSL is the best practice that protects the website by addressing the above points. It also increases the security of the website which in return helps to safeguard both the users and the website itself.

7. Compliance with Industry Standards: Many industries apply SSL to not only achieve the suggested security standard but also to reach the industry-specific rules and regulations concerning data protection and privacy. SSL encryption becomes compulsory in many cases when it comes to websites aimed at carrying out sensitive operations like online banking or dealing with personal information. For example, most websites handling payment transactions or personal information are legally required to use SSL encryption to comply with such standards as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

So it must be clear that “What technical SEO issue can you solve with an SSL certificate?” is mainly about the Security of visitors and SSL also ensures trust indicators, Google rankings, improved user experience, prevention for vulnerability, etc.

Implementation of SSL and Best Practices

Purchasing and implementing SSL certificates is also equally important. So buy the SSL with the trusted providers and also contact your web hoster for this. Have a look at the best practices:

1. Choose the Right SSL Certificate: Respectively pick an SSL certificate that matches your needs, and account for its attributes such as validation level, number of domains/subdomains, and warranty/support.

2. Purchase from a Reputable Certificate Authority (CA): Use the SSL certificate from a well-known and trustworthy Certificate Authority that is dependable to make customers feel secure to shopping with you.

I’ll recommend GoDaddy for this. Visit here for the rates: https://www.godaddy.com/help/get-an-ssl-certificate-40166

3. Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR): Create a CSR on the web server and submit the request to the CA for the registration of the certificates.

4. Install the SSL Certificate Properly: Take note of the instructions dictated by your web hosting provider or CA for an accurate installation of the SSL certificate into your website server.

5. Configure HTTPS Redirects: The redirects from HTTP to HTTPS need to be set up automatically to ensure all connections to your website are cryptographically protected.

6. Update Internal Links and Resources: Fix internal links, scripts, and resources to use https URLs instead of HTTP versions to remove the mixed content warnings and ensure everything is fully encrypted.

7. Set Up 301 Redirects for SEO: Use 301 redirects to point from HTTP to HTTPS links so that SEO legacy is preserved and search engines are informed of the permanent change to HTTPS.

Case Studies and Examples

Certainly, here are examples and case studies illustrating the impact of SSL certificates on website performance:

1. E-commerce Website:
   • Example: The administration of “XYZ Clothing” carried out the SSL certificate installation on the website of e-commerce.
   • Outcome: Just as soon as XYZ Clothing switched over to SSL, the confidence and the trust level of its customers kept on growing which in turn meant more conversion rates and thus more sales. Furthermore, the HTTPS website also provoked Google to identify the secure connection and reward it with good search ranking, which influenced organic traffic and website visibility.
2. Blog or Content Website:
   • Example: The blog I own, “TechTrends Blog” succeeded in the migration of the HTTP to HTTPS protocol by installing the SSL certificate.
   • Outcome: The key takeaway after implementing SSL is that the site has witnessed a decline in bounce rates and an increase in user interaction factors such as time on site and page per session. They would not feel unsafe if they surfed the web through a secure connection, which in turn, enhanced trust and loyalty. Not only this, rankings on search engines also improved, ensuring the flow of organic traffic in addition to a broader exposure of the audience.
3. Service-based Website:
   • Example: “QuickFix IT”, which is the very IT company, added the SSL certificate to secure their website.
   • Outcome: With SSL implementation, QuickFix IT Services sees a big decline in security incidents and data breach safety. Through measures to safeguard clients’ sensitive information, public confidence in the company’s ability to protect data grew which resulted in lower rates of client attrition and welcoming of word-of-mouth and other types of referrals. Last but not least, Google acknowledged the preservation of these new security standards and rewarded the website outranked higher positions in the search engine results, boosting traffic and inquiries.

These are examples that how SSL Certificates positively impact various types of websites. SSL helps to increase visibility and give a better user experience. SSL is not only important in security but it also gives the website power to compete in this competitive place.

Conclusion

In this article, we learned about Technical SEO and SSL Certificates. I hope you’re clear about the phrase “What technical SEO issue can you solve with an SSL certificate?” from now on. SSL is responsible for boosting user trust and ranking. With an SSL certificate user will be sure that their data is in privacy and secure. There is no future for a website without SSL so make sure you have a valid SSL certificate on your website.

Also visit here: https://dgtalearth.com/how-to-conduct-a-technical-seo-site-audit/

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