5 HTTPS Implementation Mistakes That Hurt SEO

Is your SEO campaign not functioning well at all? The problem could be with the improper implementation of HTTP. Here is a list of five very common HTTP implementation mistakes that can be disastrous for your SEO strategy.

1. Too much mixed content

A lot of mixed content takes place when the page has too much HTTP connections and it has elements like scripts, Iframes, links and images which are not very secure and their respective HTTPs are not secure either. This will create a lot of issues with your website. You should know that most websites have this problem. Trying to solve this problem manually is very difficult and takes a lot of time.

2. Internal links that lead to other HTTP pages

Typically every single internal link such as scripts, images and links should connect to the HTTPS version. This can cause a big error when shifting a site to HTTP. To solve this problem is time-consuming particularly if the website has a lot of pages on it.

3. No proper redirects from URLs to the HTTP version

You should remember that when you decide to shift your website from HTTP to HTTPS you have to use suitable canonical pages. If the redirects are used properly then it will not hamper the SEO. It is observed that at least 8% of all websites do not correspond to the various HTTPS versions.

4. Mistakes in the Security certificates

• When the SSL certificate expires: Now you should know that an SSL certificate plays an important part in securing a stable connection between a browser and server, this also prevents theft of data. SSL certificate that has expired will send you a message warning the users and this will affect the rate of bounce on your website.

• Registering SSL certificate to a wrong domain: This particular error takes place when the SSL certificate does not go with the name of the domain. This mistake is usually seen in 6% of the websites that are analyzed. You can solve the problem easily provided you are using a certificate for multiple domains or multiple IP addresses. You must also note that using names that are unqualified may violate the specifications of the certificate.

5. Server Issues

• No support for HSTS: If this is not present then the browsers cannot communicate properly with the servers via HTTPs connections and this may cause a huge error while implementing HTTP.

• Lack of server name: SNI is like an extension to the TLS and this permits you to support more than one layer and also host more than one certificate on a single IP address.

Some words of caution

SNI can be used to solve any problem and as you know if an SSL certificate is registered with an incorrect domain, the users will automatically get a message saying your website is not secure and this may greatly affect your SEO. If you are very well versed with the technicalities then you can do this by yourself or else you must consider hiring out a professional to solve this problem. There are many professional out there that help in preventing errors related to HTTP implementation and you should consider hiring their service without any hesitation. The problem may be time-consuming but it can be solved once the problematic area is identified.