SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”. What it really means is designing your websites so that Search Engines (e.g. Google, Bing, etc.) can better catalog and rank it. Many things are involved in this process: from making sure each page is titled well, to creating site maps, and even labeling images appropriately. The point of each change - each optimization - is to help search engines better understand what your site is about so that your site ranks better against user queries.
Search engines, such as Google and Bing, use applications called spiders to crawl the Web. When a spider comes to a website, it indexes the “valuable” words on the first page it comes to and then proceeds to follow each and every link on the page. With each page discovered, the spider follows the same pattern: 1) index the page; 2) follow the links; 3) repeat.
In the early days of the web, websites would use the same key words - the valuable words mentioned above - over and over again on a web page for the sole purpose of increasing its visibility and value to search engines. Websites which had nothing to do with a particular industry might nevertheless use key words from that other industry in order to rank better with search engines. For example, an e-commerce site selling aroma therapy candles, might use “hidden” key words from other industries such as politics, technology, or medicine to become more visible.
This practice changed with the advent of Google’s page rank algorithm. Rather than ranking a site’s importance by how many times the word “candle” appeared on the page, Google began ranking sites according to how many times the site was linked to from other sites. If the other sites were ranked highly, then the linked to site would would also rise in value. Key words are still important, but only with regard to what a site is about and not how valuable the site is.
With our understanding of how search engines work, we can now address the question, “Does implementing a secure layer on a site hinder SEO?”
HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. This “protocol” is really just an agreement between two computers about how to transfer information. In the case of HTTP, the two computers agree to transfer HyperText information - one will send and one will receive. HyperText is just the computer language we use to build web pages. (Hyper implies that we’re going beyond just Text; we’ll use links, images, plugins, video, etc.)
HTTPS, then, is the same thing, only with an added layer of Security (the “S” in HTTPS) thrown on top. The information is encrypted so only the computers which are communicating can understand it. Joe Hacker may be able to see the information passed back and forth, but without the secret keys, he’ll be unable to read it. Not so with HTTP.
So does having an secure layer hinder SEO? In short, the answer is “No.” Every search company creates their spider application to understand both standard and secure websites. Matt Cutts, Google’s webspam team’s chief, says, “either one is fine; just pick one or the other and link to it consistently. http://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-for-http-and-https/15055/
Consistency is the issue. Search engines recognize //samuelmullen.com and https://samuelmullen.com (notice the ‘s’ in the second) as two separate sites, even if they are not. If both URLs are linked to regularly, the result will be that the site’s ranking will, on average, be halved or ignored. This is known as a “duplicate content error”.
Generally speaking, most of the actions which can be taken to increase SEO will require effort from your web site’s maintainer, but believe it or not, you don’t have to be a technology whiz to play a part in increasing your site’s visibility. Here’s a list of relatively simple things you can do to increase your site’s SEO:
Unless you add analytics to your website you will never really know if your efforts are working. You may see an increase in sales or phone calls, but without actual data to back it up, you can’t certain. Fortunately Google offers a free service called Google Analytics which can easily be added to your web site. Employing this service will allow you to see from where your customers are coming (both in the real world and online), what they are searching for, what pages they are viewing most often, and more. Furthermore, you will actually be able to see your site’s traffic increase or decrease daily. This will allow you to correlate your actions to results.
If your site isn’t employing any of the simple techniques listed above or in the references below, don’t get discouraged, because it’s not too late to start. Search engines scour the Internet almost daily looking for new content. Almost as soon as you start improving your site’s SEO, search engines will begin taking notice and respond accordingly. This is your site and your company, let the world know you’re in business.