Should I get an SSL if my non-SSL site is ranking well?
-
I have a client with a local divorce law business. He's ranking really well, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that rank. His site does not have SSL. I feel like it would be good to get rid of the "not-secure" message from Chrome, but not important enough to risk ranks. Would love to get thoughts from this forum on this.
Thanks!
-
Google Chrome shows "not secure" today forms don't matter If you look at the example website it does not have a certificate or is it using HTTPS
Because lawyers websites are considered "money or life" sites they hold more weight with Google & the public. meaning they need to be secure and trustworthy.
Hopefully, he is already updated his site if not make sure he does.
Respectfully,
Thomas
-
Just a word to the wise from the not as wise....is it possible that there is a slower time of year for a divorce lawyer? I would certainly aim the transition for a slower time if possible. If you do it all perfectly, you may not take a hit. But, I don't know about you...but I'm not perfect.
-
I agree with the others. Your client is going to have to convert, it's just a matter of when. The site reputation, and by association, your client's reputation, is at stake.
If you're concerned about rankings, set up a staging area and do the conversion and testing there. Baseline some key performance indicators which you can use to help determine root cause if problems arise. Hire a consultant to double check your work before you hit the migrate button. Set expectations by letting your client know that he or she may experience some short-term movement in rankings but will recover.
-
PS you can use https://www.cloudflare.com/ssl/ or Let's Encrypt for free SSL certs but if you buy this has very good pricing for paid SSL certs. https://www.ssl2buy.com/
-
I have the same ( I never do local but was talked into it same type of law business)
_ "but not important enough to risk ranks."_
He needs to understand today Google will not hurt you for moving to https if done correctly see the guide below under to fix use.
As you see now "Not secure" is only on forms In July 2018 all non-https sites in Google Chrome will show up as "Not secure.” This warning will show for all HTTP websites. That will cost someone in Law a lot.
See photo 1 will be in July 2018 & photo 2 sometime after. 3 is google
- https://i.imgur.com/wYMb88P.png
- https://i.imgur.com/ZVeyTuy.png
- https://i.imgur.com/HVsVKAO.png
- SEE https://transparencyreport.google.com/https/overview
To Fix this use
- https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/search-engine-optimization/http-https-migration-checklist-google-docs/
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XB26X_wFoBBlQEqecj7HB79hQ7DTLIPo97SS5irwsK8/edit#gid=1975121463
- https://www.semrush.com/blog/http-to-https-a-complete-guide-to-securing-your-website-semrushchat/
- tools to know it worked.
- Moz crawler
- https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/
- https://deepcrawl.com
- SEMrush
Google’s announcement was firm about their goal to warn users of insecure sites, with the intent of further shepherding more web publishers into upgrading to HTTPS.
“Chrome’s new interface will help users understand that all HTTP sites are not secure, and continue to move the web towards a secure HTTPS web by default.”
Cite: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-sets-https-deadline/236225/
- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-https-works/220347/
- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-is-requiring-https-for-secure-data-in-chrome/183756/
Hope this helps,
Tom
-
Personally, I believe that making a site https is something that majority of the sites in the world should do. Google gives a slight ranking boost and slowly customers are trusting https sites more, with Google transitioning to "not secure" then it makes it even more of a reason to do so.
In majority of cases, https is quite a simple process if you're using a common cms. Just check that all of the scripts are functional and redirects are in place, once you've done that submit the sitemap and wait for Google to recrawl your site.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Client in Scotland wants to rank for France term
We have a client who's head office is based in Scotland but they want to rank for France related keywords for their chalets that are in France. They only have chalets in France and will never have chalets anywhere else. As a business they have always used their Scotland address when the brand is mentioned and their Scotland address is used in the site footer. But as they want to rank for France related terms and nothing for Scotland, I'm wondering if I should use their France address instead or in addition across their site footer, on social media channels and across the web where possible?
Local Listings | | Marketing_Today0 -
How to Rank in Places Across Range Keywords
Having some success in Google Places but would like to rank across the range of phrases that we work with. To give you an example where LOCATIOn is the city we are based in: office partitions LOCATION
Local Listings | | GrouchyKids
Position 1 Local Results office refurbishment LOCATION
Position 29 Local Results office fit out LOCATION
Not present office partitioning LOCATION
Position 3 Local Results suspended ceilings LOCATION
NA What can I do to achieve results across the range of phrases? Am I missing something fundamental like not including something in Google Places? Justin How to Rank in Places Across Range Keywords LOCATION0 -
How to rank same business page in different locations?
Hello all, First of all thanks for answering my previous queries. Now, I have one more query and I am hoping to get best possible answers from you guys. Query: I have one business which is located in one city only and I have a verified listing there (I am ranking good in that city). However, I want to rank the same business page in couple of other cities as well. What should I do considering that I cannot create a new listing for other cities because I have my office in single location only? Looking forward to answers. Brian
Local Listings | | BrianBotts.0 -
Why I'm I ranking so low on Google Maps
About 3 months I started a website (www.guyetteroofing.com) for my roofing business in Montgomery, Alabama. The site is still a work in progress, however, because the competition doesn't really market via internet it was fairly easy to rank on Google Maps. Within 1 month the business was letter "A" in Google Maps. About 3 three weeks ago my ranking was dropped considerably, not showing up at all in letters A through G. The business is still indexed in Google Maps, but only represented by a small red dot. My website is still ranking pretty high for "roofers in Montgomery", but my position on Google Maps has all but disappeared. I have no idea what I've done to be rank so low on Google Maps but still have a solid position on regular Google Search. I've checked my citations and my NAPs, there are a few inconsistencies but nothing major. How can I rank so far below my competition if I have twice as many citations, an actual website, and a Google Plus page?
Local Listings | | billyguyette0 -
Local listing ranking higher than domain name
Hi everyone,I was wondering why on my ranking report there is a fluctuation between the local listing page and the domain name page. Is it a way to always get the domain name ranking higher than the local listing?Thanks for your support,RM
Local Listings | | skrauss0 -
Would having 3 locations NAP in footer of site hurt?
We have offices in New York, London and Sydney. On our website, we used the Yoast local plugin and set up NAP for all 3 different addresses in the footer of the site - and hence all pages. Is that bad? Would G consider that as stuffing or whatever other word that they may deem to call it? Any help would be appreciated.
Local Listings | | MashBonigala0 -
How is a competitor franchise ranking all for all 3 Local results with unclaimed G+ pages in a search for the national corporation?
My company is an individual franchise of a national corporation - every franchise is operates as [National Corporate Brand Name] + a chosen descriptor such as "Premiere" or the names of the owners such as "Smith Jones". A logged-out Google search for just the national brand name returns the corporate website first, followed by the website of a competing local franchise and 3 Local listings for their offices. These listings are all unclaimed and unverified on Google+ and have no reviews or posts. The corporate Twitter is next, followed by my franchise's website. The corporate Facebook is the last result on the page. How can this competing franchise rank for all 3 Local listings with unclaimed pages? My company operates several more offices than the competitor in the same area and I regularly post to their G+ pages which I verified several months ago. Is it because the competitor's website just holds significantly more weight in Google than our own? A search for the brand name + the town where our offices are in does usually return our Local listing pages, but that limits our reach to those specific towns. Anyone have any insight on this?
Local Listings | | WGW0 -
Local SEO: How many consistent citations needed to rank
Hello, Can you guys analyze this site and see how many (quality, consistent) citations they'll need to rank 1st (in local results) for the two following local terms: weight loss salt lake city hypnosis salt lake city website: The Brain Trainer LLC www.expandingpotentials.net Thank you
Local Listings | | BobGW0