EverWeb Logo

Protect Your Website and Increase your Search Engine Rankings With HTTPS Secure URLs

Wednesday, June 14, 2017 3:28 PM

Over the last few years Google and other search engines have been giving a rankings boost to website using HTTPS instead of just plain HTTP. Websites that use HTTPS have the secure lock in their web browser’s path bar.

HTTPS means that all data sent from your visitors computer to your website is encrypted. It makes sure that your website is safe for your visitors and increases its credibility. That is why Google and other search engines will place an HTTPS website higher in their rankings.

Switching from HTTP to HTTPS can sometimes be a difficult process.

With EverWeb 2.4 we will be introducing automatic HTTPS secure websites and we take care of all the transitional steps for you. Just one check box gives you an HTTPS website that is highly optimized for search engines and protects your website visitors. 

This new feature is included in EverWeb + Hosting accounts (EverWeb Standalone users must work with their own web hosting provider to set this up). It is included free on EverWeb + Hosting 10GB plans and for EverWeb 2GB plans you can purchase the EverWeb Site Shield SSL Encryption for just $29.95 USD/year.

Add EverWeb Site Shield Secure HTTPS by following these steps or click this direct link;

  1. Login to your Client Area
  2. Go to View Available Addons from the navigation bar
  3. You will see the available addons on the next page. Select the addon and follow the purchase steps

Enabling HTTPS Websites with EverWeb (Coming Soon)

We took all the complicated steps of using and switching to HTTPS and turned it into one simple checkbox that you can access from the File menu->Site Publishing Settings in EverWeb.

After you select this option, EverWeb will take care of the rest once you publish your website. We recommend that you publish your entire website because while this option is selected, some link structures in your website need to be re-published.

Remember, this option is only available for EverWeb + Hosting accounts. If you need an HTTPS website with a third party web hosting provider you will have to work with them to set everything up properly based on Google’s recommendations.

Insuring High Search Engine Rankings with HTTPS

Once your switch to HTTPS websites within a few weeks you will see a jump in your search engine rankings. HTTPS is the single most effective and instant search engine rankings boost that you can apply today.

However, there are a few steps you can take to make sure your website’s rankings improve faster and even more. To do this you want to add your new HTTPS website to Google Search Console and submit a XML Sitemap.

Fortunately these steps are very easy and should only take a few minutes.

  1. Create a Google Search Console (Formerly Webmaster Tools) account
  2. Add your website as https://www.yourdomain.com. It is important that you include the www portion and the s after http
  3. Once your website is added your should use Sitemap Automator to generate your XML Sitemap file and follow the steps to submit your sitemap
  4. Monitor your traffic from your EverWeb Client Area. Go to Services->My Services then select your website from the list on the following page. From their scroll to the bottom and select the Metrics Module