SSL implementation: The best practice for maximum benefit

When you acquire an authoritative position in any industry you don’t only get the power and reputation but you also need to utilize the same to promote the interests of the industry and the clients. The top brands are definitely aware of this fact and one of the latest examples is Google’s decision to make internet a safer place for users as well as for businesses.

However, in order to enjoy the best benefits out of SSL certificate you need to keep in mind some of the key technical details during different processes associated with SSL certificate implementation. If not implemented in a proper way some or many of your website’s pages may still be treated as unsecured. It can also have negative impact on SEO.

So here are some of the most important things to keep in mind in order to enjoy the best benefits out of your SSL certificate without any challenges:

Managing Crawl speed

The number of request per second directly impacts the crawl time. So you need to optimize the things before starting https migration process:

• Copy various URLs of your site that will be affected by Https migration prices and organize them in a spreadsheet
• Slash down the requests per seconds to the minimum possible number around a business week before you start the migration process
• You can use the saved URL list for the comparison process during ad after the migration process.
  

SSL and Cloud Delivery Network (CDN)

Every CDN has a different, specific way of dealing with https. So it is a good idea to check with your CDN provider on the specific way in which they deal with HTTPS requests and take the decision accordingly to prevent any present or future challenges. The objective is to evaluate and eliminate/minimize the negative impact of https migration on your CDN benefits.

You should be able to:

• Efficiently access all the key digital assets
• Download the present 301 redirects
• Download the disavow file and update the same
• Download 301 redirects, URL removal requests and disavow file.
• According to Google’s recommendation, you should buy the certificate with at least 2048 bit capacity

Make SSL work best for your site

It is not uncommon to discover that the SSL certificate fails to work properly even after you have downloaded it. The major reason is the error(s) during the installation process. Guesswork is no fun. Test your site thoroughly to confirm that your SSL works in the intended manner and is able to deliver you all the benefits one can expect form an https migration!

Communicate with Google

After successfully completing your installation and testing process you now need to communicate to Google and other major search engines that your site is now a safe HTTPS side – fully qualified for the premium treatment and subsequent benefits.

It is not a complicated process. All you need to do is to get your preferred https site version verified via simple process in Google Search Console. Remember to include all the URLs related to your site including both www and non www versions.

Robots.txt configuration

If your robots.txt is not configured properly it will block the https resources thus denying you the premium SSL benefits. So make sure that the search engines should not continue to crawl the old http unsafe version but replace it with the new safe HTTP version

Another major task here is to confirm that no https URL/content is being blocked by the robots.txt file

RSS feed

Add another layer of conformity by utilizing trusted online tools to check the technical accuracy and proper functioning capacity of your new SSL version.

W3C is the most trusted authentic tool that simplified this process and allows you to get the real honest insights on this.

RSS feed plays a vital role in any website. So make sure to you don’t make any mistake on this part either. Go through the recommended steps to ensure the RSS feed of your site works well for the https version

SSL and mobile devices

A large number of your visitors possibly use mobile devices to browse your site. So, confirm that the URL changes have been applied to your mobile version too and are working fine on various mobile devices. Take this opportunity to check the mobile responsiveness of your site and introduce the updates if required.

Monitoring strategy

Take a well shaped monitoring strategy to check the traffic changes during the initial phase. Make it a habit to check Google analytics and Search console for evaluating the speed, traffic and rankings

Third party plug-ins

There are a number of third party plug-ins and other specific elements to enhance overall functionality of your site. Evaluate each third party tools to make sure that they are also https compliant.