Google recently announced that it will provide a small search ranking boost to websites that will switch from HTTP to HTTPs. In its announcement, Google stated that the reason behind this move was about security, ensuring web users that the results for their searches are not only relevant, but safe and protected, as well.

What is HTTPs?

If you are not familiar with HTTPs, it stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure. Simply put, it is a secure version of http. It is commonly used on ecommerce sites, online banks, and payment websites to promote secure transactions. Often, you may notice a padlock icon on the address bar of your browser when you visit these websites, making you confident that the website you are visiting is secure.

HTTPs as a Ranking Factor

Matt Cutts, Google’s head of spam search, claimed earlier this year that he would want website’s security to become a part of Google’s ranking algorithm. In addition, Google started promoting the “HTTPS Everywhere” campaign. With these recent Google announcements, HTTPs has a big potential to become a ranking factor soon.

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Should you switch from HTTP to HTTPs?

Google owns about 70% of the search engine market share. Thus, if you want to please the search giant as it encourages “website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web,” then there’s no harm in following. If anything, this move can even provide benefits to your website, especially when HTTPS finally becomes officially part of search ranking algorithm.