So, how much of a diff? Now/later...
Thoughts?
Well, the announcement just got me the OK to price out a ton of new SSL certs...
I bet the cert and dedi ips sales are about to explode.
A good friend wrote:
"Not saying you don't / you're not going to need to do it at some point. But it amazes me how quick they're willing to pull that trigger. I don't think people get that this decision is pretty much the same as completely changing all their URLs to a new naming convention. Sigh. Fuck you Google. Where's Penguin?"
>completely changing all their URLs to a new naming convention.
wow, excellent point and I didn't even consider that.
More hoops to jump through. Also, its a way of filtering out all the low cost hosting out there.
isn't it going to piss people off with a lot of security alerts when there are external links or inclusions?
And as I was typig I realised they'd jut found the ultimate way to get people to not link out....
I find this really unsettling. Yes, HTTPS is a good thing (generally). Yes, there is logic in the idea that SSL usage would be a quality indicator. However, that isn't what they've done.
What Google have actually done is say "Here is a thing that we want to happen. We're going to deliberate adjust our algo to favour those who support our view". SERPs are being used a carrot to achieve a largely political objective.
Whilst it isn't exactly new for Google to dangle a carrot like that to achieve their aims, they usually at least pretend it is. This time they just jump out and say it: "because we'd like to encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web."
I consider this a live beta test. It's probably the smallest ranking factor and I think it will be for some time.
SSL can increase load time and especially on slow mobile devices, which in turn will lead to lower conversion.