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
-
How to rank local keywords?
Hi guys, I have been enjoying here to be a part of the community. A simple question: I have some local low volume keywords and want to rank on 1 with all. I have set up pages according to the keywords such as "california plumbers" and page is /california-plumbers.html To rank these types of keywords I am doing local listing and adding these particular page instead of "home page". Am I doing right? Would classifieds and local listings are suffice to get these keywords on 1 spot of Google? What else can I do? Can you suggest me some queries to find "deep local directories or classified or other stuff whereby I can target my pages? Thank you in advance for ideas.
Local Listings | | ksmith882 -
I have a question regarding what package I should get
I work at an agency, we have a client that has 20 locations (all different websites and google business listings). We are trying to pick the best and easiest package for each location. We are trying to improve their SEO and ranking and their Google My Business pages. Can you explain the packages that you have to offer and which package you think would be the best fit.
Local Listings | | groovehive0 -
Do you get junk mail after adding a local listing?
I'm curious if when anyone has submitted a new business citation, once it appears in Google, Bing, Yellow Pages, etc, do you notice if junk mail starts to flow in?
Local Listings | | MrSem0 -
Which Rank Trackers Include Local 3-pack Rankings?
Granted the Local 3-pack is heavily influenced by the distance between the user and the business, when you actually include the city name in the search, the local 3 pack result doesn't center the map at the city in the search and not the user's location so it is much more consistent despite the searcher's location. So my personal opinion is that it is worth tracking local 3-pack when you use a keyword such as "Home Inspection Seattle Wa" With that said, which rank tracking services includes the local 3-pack in their tracking results, other than of course Bright Local?
Local Listings | | JCCMoz0 -
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 -
YP.com cloning my site! Will this hurt my original content?
Client was in an obscene YP.com contract. Now they are cloning the site I built for client, inserting the phone number that gives them credit for the leads. It's harvesting content immediately, loading pages I created just today. Client site : http://www.shephearstmeadows.com/
Local Listings | | jacksonmc
YP clone: http://www.awomansway.calls.net/ Is it possible this is hurting the site's score as source of original content? Anyone know how to stop it? Thank you,2 -
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 -
No access for UK Get listed and now Moz Local Alternatives to Moz?
Ive had a pro subscription now for quite sometime and it was a shame when Get Listed UK was removed, now Moz has released its Moz Local and thats also just for US customers. I presume UK and other countries are a low priority, so don't expect anything for us for the foreseeable future! Ive taken out a subscription for Whitespark, but is there an alternative to Moz that people know of that does support us poor UK people?
Local Listings | | Ant710