Non-wildcard SSL risky for SEO?
-
I have a potential client who doesn't seem to be using wildcard SSLs in a multi-site scenario (over 40 sites) - what I'm wondering is the scope of Google's inspection of a site's SSL in this case:
- https://www.domain.com (good to go)
- https://domain.com (certificate error)
Will Googlebot/Google possibly consider the entire TLD insecure?
- Could the secured, www-version of the site end up with the "Site is not secure" message in the SERPs as well?
- Could this invisibly affect the client's rankings?
PS: Yes, I know that the right thing to do is go wildcard, but I need an answer to this before recommending a large purchase to them.
-
Yeah, I'd say that, if Google is typically indexing the "www" version, then you're probably ok, but you can't guarantee that. 301s/canonicals should help, too.
-
As a site-wide issue, any page URL exhibits the behavior (if you remove www)
The site's preferred setting in GSC is on www.domain.com, but I don't think this is a guarantee on indexing following that suggestion completely.
It seems to me the risk vector is dependent on googlebot's behavior in Google's black box so no guarantees.
I don't think they need to treat this as an emergency, but will work repair in soon.
thanks!
S
-
I can't find a reference for what I'm about to say, unfortunately, but I seem to recall Google suggesting that https is a per-page consideration (and that's consistent with Google's overall philosophy) and not domain-based. So, if your indexed pages are all on "www.domain.com" (for the most part) and that version is secured, you should be ok. I've used "www" specific certs and not seen any particular signs of a problem.
Of course, if you secure "www.domain.com" and then canonicalize your entire site to "domain.com," then that's going to be a problem.
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
-
Html4 menu system which is seo-friendly while moving to html5
I have a complex site and very large site that we are moving to html5 as quickly as possible given our resources (long overdue) but I was wondering if anyone knew of a menuing system that would work on mobile that is seo-friendly in terms of do-follow and does not use javascript that the spiders often cannot read. We need code/css that works for both the menu and for select boxes. I know few write such code anymore, and the idea is dated, but it is a temporary stopgap while we move to HTML5 when such tools are available. Does any such code, free or commercial, exist anymore? Thank you in advance as this is very important in terms of not usuing too much mobile real estate with side menus... Best regards
Web Design | | gheh20130 -
How to optimise non-homepage to beat homepage in rankings? Are we on right path?
Hi all, We have a page with "keyword" in slug like "website.com/keyword" where our homepage is "website.com". This "keyword" difficulty is very high, so every minor factor contributing here and we have noticed competitors' pages with "keyword" in URL ranking. Then we also planned to rank this page "website.com/keyword" and interlinked high, so it'll be favoured by Google which didn't happen. So may be we should reduce the interlinking to homepage and optimise this keyword page more to rank for this keyword. Still I doubt the chances of ranking this page is difficult and need much more. How to make this page ranked replacing homepage? If there are no options for this, we are planning to redirect our homepage to this page; so Google will slowly adopt it. Suggestions please. Thank you.
Web Design | | vtmoz0 -
Please help me articulate why broken pagination is bad for SEO...
Hi fellow Mozzers. I am in need of assistance. Pagination is and has been broken on the Website for which I do SEO in-house...and it's been broken for years. Here is an example: http://www.ccisolutions.com/StoreFront/category/audio-technica This category has 122 products, broken down to display 24 at a time across paginated results. However, you will notice that once you enter pagination, all of the URLs become this: http://www.ccisolutions.com/StoreFront/IAFDispatcher Even if you hit "Previous" or "Next" or your browser back button, the URL stays: http://www.ccisolutions.com/StoreFront/IAFDispatcher I have tried to explain to stakeholders that this is a lost opportunity. That if a user or Google were to find that a particular paginated result contained a unique combination of products that might be more relevant to a searcher's search than the main page in the series, Google couldn't send the searcher to that page because it didn't have a unique URL. In addition, this non-unique URL most likely is bottle-necking the flow of page authority internally because it isn't unique. This is not to mention that 38% of our traffic in Google Analytics is being reported as coming from this page...a problem because this page could be one of several hundred on the site and we have no idea which one a visitor was actually looking at. How do I articulate the magnitude of this problem for SEO? Is there a way I can easily put it in dollars and cents for a business person who really thinks SEOs are a bunch of snake oil salesmen in the first place? Does anyone have any before and after case studies or quantifiable data that they would be willing to share with me (even privately) that can help me articulate better how important it is to address this problem. Even more, what can we hope to get out of fixing it? More traffic, more revenue, higher conversions? Can anyone help me go to the mat with a solid argument as to why pagination should be addressed?
Web Design | | danatanseo0 -
Wordpress Blog Providing SEO to Main Site
Hi, I recently started a very much "learn on the job" SEO position, transitioning from a copywriting background. We currently have a wordpress blog up and running (and producing some decent quality content too I hope!) at example.com/blog/ and a sign up page located at example.com (sorry, can't put the address right now) for a site that is being custom built as it's got some nifty software linking to back end systems. My question is whether the content on the blog will bring SEO benefits to the main domain or whether it'll just be for the blog itself? If the latter, should we navigate the blog onto the a separate page of the main site? Thanks so much! I'm learning as much as I can as quickly as I can, but somethings still get me in a little bit of a tizzy.
Web Design | | LeahHutcheon0 -
Javascript, PhP and SEO Impact?
What are the Pro's and Con's of using Java Script and PHP in a site when factoring in SEO?
Web Design | | bronxpad0 -
SEO Friendly Image Swap Functionality Software
Anyone know of any software for this... I need a simple way to create SEO friendly Image Swap Functionality on multiple product pages of a static site. The idea is that customers can see different images within the product screen by clicking on thumbnails. For SEO purposes it is essential that: The rollover does not create a new URL when the product images are cycled The image needs to have an alt attribute (a different attribute set by the client for each product) As per: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/tips-and-musthaves-for-your-ecommerce-platform Thanks in advance. Justin
Web Design | | GrouchyKids0 -
Meta author. Is it relevant for website design company in its seo?
We don't usually add the meta author in the websites that we develop. I wonder if it would have any positive effect in our seo. We usually add a link in the footer like this "Diseño Web Vigo "(Website Development in Vigo). I am worry about this links. I'm not sure if they are positive because they are in the footer and so the link appears in all of the pages. Besides all these websites we develop are hosted in two different servers, and google could easily think that it is manipulative thing. What do you think? Thanks!!! 🙂
Web Design | | teconsite.com0 -
Is there such thing as too much product information in terms of SEO
Hi All, Our website sells products online and is a prestashop system Prestashop comes with a set form you use to fill in products, however to fill it all you end up creating alot of repeated data. What i need to know, is if you have: Product name: Audi A6 Rear Lamp Set Short Description: A Short & Sweet Description Long Description: A Long Boring Description Meta Title: Same as product name Meta Keywords: What more can be said about an A6 Rear Lamp Set??? Meta Description: Same as long and boring description Im stuck in a position of having the ability to add extra information (i.e Meta-Tags) But really ill end up repeating what is already in the products natural listing. In terms of good SEO, is it better to leave Meta Fields empty, or fill them in and be repetitive for product pages? Thanks all, any guidance will be well appreciated <colgroup><col width="57"><col width="36"><col width="323"><col width="328"><col width="56"><col width="26"><col width="55"><col width="23"><col span="2" width="25"><col width="24"><col width="25"><col width="95"><col width="158"><col width="123"><col width="130"><col width="28"><col width="34"><col span="2" width="64"><col width="537"><col width="188"><col width="319"><col width="303"><col width="329"><col width="177"><col width="96"><col width="128"><col width="172"><col width="547"><col width="62"><col width="87"><col width="85"><col width="94"><col width="162"></colgroup>
Web Design | | Ev84
| ID | Active (0/1) | Name* | Categories (x,y,z...) | Price tax excl (+10%) | Tax rate | Wholesale price | On sale (0/1) | Reduction amount | Reduction per cent | Reduction from (yyyy-mm-dd) | Reduction to (yyyy-mm-dd) | Reference # | Supplier reference # | Supplier | Manufacturer | EAN13 | Ecotax | Weight | Quantity | Short description | Description | Tags (x,y,z...) | Meta-title | Meta-keywords | Meta-Description | URL Rewrited | Text when in-stock | Text if back-order allowed | Image URLs (x,y,z...) | Feature |
|
| Price tax excl | Percentage Profit |0