Does SSL affect Google ranking? We explain

SSL encryption has found its way onto quite a few million websites in recent years. We clarify whether SSL also affects Google ranking and what the correlations are.

Good for SEO: SSL can make or break individual Google ranking positions.

SSL gives domains the prefix "https" instead of "http". This way, you can always see while surfing whether secure encryption is active on a page or not.

SSL and Google ranking: Here's the situation

On Google ranking and the role of SSL, here is the most important info:

• Already in 2014, SSL was officially named a ranking factor by Google. This means that encryption can improve the position in search engine results.
• However, it is a so-called weak factor. The influence is therefore not too great.
• SSL acts as a "tie-breaker", so to speak: If two pages are rated equally strong overall in terms of SEO, but only one page has SSL, this can tip the scales in favor of the better ranking.
• In this way, Google wanted to give website operators tangible incentives to install an SSL certificate and thus make the web more secure.

Whoever owns one or more websites should therefore rely on SSL in any case. The encryption has long been available for relatively low additional costs; these should not be a counterargument measured alone by the security plus.