HTTPS: How does it secure your site and boost SEO?
Want your website to rise in Google search results? Security is key. Google favors HTTPS sites, and installing an SSL certificate is the key to improved rankings and a safer browsing experience.
Adding HTTPS not only protects sensitive data but also helps build visitor trust and improve your site’s search visibility. In this article, you’ll learn how SSL certificates work, why HTTPS impacts SEO, and how to get started securing your website with Namecheap.
What is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?
HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, a communication protocol that encrypts data to prevent it from being intercepted or altered by third parties. HTTPS sites use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocols to protect the transfer of data between browsers and servers.
You’ll know a website is secure when its URL begins with https:// instead of http://, and you see a padlock icon in your browser’s address bar. Most modern browsers automatically redirect users to the secure version of a site when possible.
How does HTTPS impact SEO?
To enable HTTPS, a website owner must obtain an SSL certificate from a trusted vendor such as Namecheap. When you purchase one, the vendor collects information about your domain and business and then submits it to a Certificate Authority (CA) such as Comodo or Broadcom (formerly Symantec). The CA verifies your details, ranging from simple domain ownership to full business registration, and issues a cryptographic key pair consisting of a public and private key. These keys encrypt data transmitted between your site and your visitors, ensuring that login credentials, payment details, and personal information remain private and tamper-proof.
SSL certificates also authenticate your website’s identity. When a browser connects to a site using HTTPS, it checks that the SSL certificate matches the domain name and hasn’t been altered or revoked. This verification reassures users that they’re communicating with the genuine website and not an imposter.
Not all SSL certificates are created equal. While every SSL activates HTTPS, different types offer varying levels of validation and trust signals.
For blogs or personal websites, a Domain Validation (DV) SSL provides a quick and affordable option. This type of SSL confirms only that you own the domain.
For small businesses and organizations, an Organization Validation (OV) SSL goes a step further by confirming both domain ownership and basic company details.
For businesses or e-commerce sites that handle sensitive customer data, Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificates are the best choice. These high-assurance certificates require a thorough verification of legal business ownership, providing the highest level of trust. EV SSLs display the company name in the browser’s address bar and a site seal, signaling to visitors that the website is legitimate and secure.
Google offers a detailed guide to HTTPS and SSL certificates, along with a helpful video presentation on the subject of HTTPS.
Does an SSL certificate really help SEO?
Yes. In addition to protecting transactions and user privacy, SSL certificates directly support better SEO performance. Google has confirmed that HTTPS is a ranking signal, which means secure sites have a measurable advantage in search visibility.
Today, that benefit goes beyond rankings. Modern browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari flag HTTP pages as “Not Secure,” which can discourage visitors and increase bounce rates. A missing SSL certificate no longer just looks outdated; it can also damage user trust and reduce conversions.
Google now includes HTTPS as part of its overall page experience evaluation. Factors such as mobile usability, page speed, and site security work together to influence how your pages appear in search results. A secure, encrypted site demonstrates to both users and search engines that your website prioritizes safety and reliability.
In practice, websites that verify ownership and protect user data are more likely to rank higher, attract returning visitors, and maintain engagement. As of 2025, HTTPS is no longer optional but is a basic requirement for any professional website that wants to perform well in search and provide a trustworthy experience.
How can you get started with HTTPS?
When you’re ready to take your website to the next level to secure your users’ data and transactions, Namecheap has you covered. With Namecheap, you can select from various levels of security, tailored to your website’s specific needs.
Not sure which one to purchase? We’d love to help. Explore our explanation of our various SSL certificates. We also offer 24/7 customer support to help you through the SSL purchase, installation, and validation process.
Summary
- Installing an SSL from Namecheap improves both trust and SEO visibility.
- HTTPS encrypts user data, protecting it from interception.
- Google gives preference to secure HTTPS sites over HTTP.
(Updated November 2025)
In this rush to setup HTTPS many companies do it incorrectly leading to unsecured or partially encrypted web pages. Partially encrypted could mean just the images aren’t encrypted, but who has time to research this. Ironically Google is one of the worst for this. I saw the problem yesterday with the website PhotoBucket
Hey Tim, thanks for the comment! We address this issue briefly in a previous post: https://www.namecheap.com/blog/ssl-avoid-mixed-content-warnings/
Namcheap, EV certificates are dead, just read Troy Hunt’s article on them: https://www.troyhunt.com/extended-validation-certificates-are-dead/ Unless you’re a bank, they’re useless today. Put more effort into supporting Let’s Encrypt free SSL certificates, they’re just as secure as paid ones, and less hassle.
Would SSL be necessary for a newly registered domain that will be intended to work only as a redirect address to a destination address that does have SSL? Although I understand that if someone visited the address using HTTPS by typing it in manually at the beginning of the domain then yes it would need it, but my understanding is that if they don’t type the “https” address before it, it wont cause those safety warnings to appear and would redirect appropriately to the SSL enabled site that does have https.
Meaning, no one would have it bookmarked or would theoretically have a version of it pre-saved in their autofill history of their browser’s address bar (if they decided to type it in that is).
Although, it will, however, be the URL address which will be used as the link provided in ads purchased on Google and while the address it points to will have SSL, would I need to purchase SSL for the redirecting URL if I plan to use it with Google Ads and if yes, would that still apply if I don’t intend to run ads where potential visitors would only be typing in the said redirect URL or clicking on it from a third party link (which would be instructed to use the standard http address)?
Hi there! You raise a good question, but I’m not sure how to answer it. My hunch is that your logic is correct, that you would not run into the warnings given your scenario, but I have no easy way to verify it. Perhaps someone else has this specific setup and can respond based on experience? Alternately, you could try it without the SSL and see what happens. At any rate, this seems more like a question about Google Chrome than SSLs in particular.