What is HTTPS?
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is the encrypted version of HTTP. It uses SSL/TLS certificates to encrypt data between the browser and server, protecting passwords, payments and personal information from interception.
Why HTTPS matters for SEO
HTTPS is a basic ranking signal and a browser trust indicator (the padlock). Since 2018, Chrome marks non-HTTPS pages as ‘Not Secure’, which harms trust and conversion. Search engines also require HTTPS for many features, including core web vitals measurements and some structured data.
How to ensure correct HTTPS
- Install and renew SSL certificates automatically.
- Redirect all HTTP URLs to HTTPS with 301s.
- Update internal links, canonicals and sitemaps to HTTPS.
- Avoid mixed content (HTTPS page loading HTTP resources).
HTTPS and GEO
Secure, trusted sites are more likely to be crawled, cited and recommended — security is part of overall content trust.
Related terms
How Social SEO Team can help
We secure and correctly configure HTTPS migrations. See our web development services.