What Google says about HTTPS
When Google announced HTTPS as a ranking signal in 2014, it called it a very lightweight signal. It carried less weight than signals like helpful content and affected fewer than 1% of searches. Today HTTPS is one part of Google's page experience guidance, next to speed and a good phone layout.
So HTTPS will not lift a weak page. A strong page on HTTP still gives away an easy point.
Why HTTPS matters more for leads
Since 2018, Chrome has marked every plain HTTP page as "Not secure" in the address bar. A visitor about to type a phone number into a contact form sees that warning and hesitates. For law firms, clinics and anyone taking personal details, that warning costs real inquiries.
How to move to HTTPS safely
- Install a TLS certificate. Most hosts include one for free.
- Redirect every HTTP URL to its HTTPS version with a 301.
- Update internal links, images and scripts to use HTTPS.
- Update canonical tags and your XML sitemap.
- Add the HTTPS version to Google Search Console.
Mixed content is the most common problem after a switch. The page loads over HTTPS, but an image or script still loads over HTTP, and the browser flags it. A crawl with Screaming Frog finds those leftovers fast.
Check your own site
Type your domain with http:// in front. If it does not jump to https:// on the same page, the redirects need work. Then check that only one version of each page appears in Search Console.
Read our answer on 301 and 302 redirects before the move. Our web design team launches every site on HTTPS from day one.