HTTP / HTTPS

HTTP and HTTPS are the protocols a browser and a website use to exchange data. HTTPS is the secure version, where the connection is encrypted with an SSL/TLS certificate so nobody in between can read or alter it. The difference sits at the front of every URL: https:// means an encrypted connection, http:// an open one.

Why HTTPS became the standard

HTTPS moved from recommendation to minimum requirement long ago. Google has used it as a ranking signal since 2014, and modern browsers mark plain HTTP pages as "not secure" in the address bar. On any page with a form, a login or a payment, the encryption is the precondition for doing business at all. For SEO the picture is just as clear: practically the whole visible web runs on HTTPS, so a site without it stands out the wrong way.

The certificate and the migration

HTTPS requires an SSL certificate that binds the encryption to the domain, and most hosting providers now issue one free and renew it automatically. The real work sits in the migration when an older site moves off HTTP: every old address has to send users and crawlers to the HTTPS version, internal links have to point at the new addresses, and images and scripts have to load over it. Done properly, a site keeps its rankings through the switch; done carelessly, the signals split between two versions of every page.