Do HTTPS URLs Impact SEO?
A couple of weeks ago Google announced that it would be using HTTPS URLs as a “lightweight ranking signal”. I have not switched any sites yet, but I thought it would be interesting to observe what has happened to client sites that were already using HTTPS URLs.
I took out a few outliers – one site had a lot of publicity, another implemented some SEO upgrades – but the rest had not done anything out of the ordinary to make their traffic go one way or another. There also may be some seasonality at play, but six out of nine HTTPS sites are on their way up. It’s also interesting that most of the “product” e-commerce sites are down while “service” e-commerce sites are up.
So the answer is…maybe.
Google Traffic to HTTPs Sites 8/3-8/23 v 7/13-8/2
Directory Site: Up 40% From Small Base
Service E-Commerce Site: Up 14%
Travel Site: Up 9%
Service E-Commerce Site: Up 5% After Flat For 2 Months
Service E-Commerce Site: Up 4% After Flat for 1 Month
Clothing E-Commerce: Up 3%
Product E-Commerce Site: Down 1% But Trending Upwards Since 8/3
Food E-Commerce: Down 3%
Clothing E-Commerce Site: Down 4%
Share:
