HTTPS is quickly becoming the norm on the web, with Google’s HTTPS-friendly algorithm update and browser warnings now making it abundantly clear that HTTP websites are on their way out. Google has just announced that they will be including an additional HTTPS report in their Search Console, but what does this really mean? Let’s take a look at the new HTTPS report in Google Search Console and how to use it to your advantage.
Introduction
Google has been pushing for the use of encrypted HTTPS sites, which is a much more secure protocol than HTTP. There have been warnings that have shown up on some pages when you visit them over an unsecure connection, but now there is a new report in the Google Search Console that will show you the status of your site. This report will let you know if any warnings are present and it can be used as a tool to inform you about what might be wrong with your site.
If you find that there are warnings, don’t worry! This doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong with your site.
How to Use the Report
Google Search Console’s new HTTPS report will show you whether your site is using the secure version of the protocol, if it hasn’t been set up yet, or if it is being served over HTTP. If you’re not sure how to use the report, follow these steps.
1) Log into your Google Search Console account and click on Security.
2) Click HTTPS under Secure Status.
3) Scroll down and click on the link that says View Security Tool.
4) There are four different categories of information that you can view here. The first category lists all pages with an insecure connection. This includes any page that has a 404 error message as well as pages where there was no certificate installed at all.
What the Report Can Tell You
The new report will show you which of your pages are not yet configured for a secure connection and help you fix any issues. A green check mark means that the page is operating on an encrypted connection, but a red cross means it isn’t. The report also lists secure protocols and cipher suites (i.e., TLS 1.2) and highlights any protocol or cipher suite that isn’t being used by all the secure connections. In addition, the report provides information about how server certificates are configured, whether they expire soon, and more.
Conclusion
The new HTTPS report in the Search Console is an important tool for those of you who want to make sure your site is secure and that you’re eligible for ranking improvements. The data found here will tell you how many pages on your site are not encrypted and where they are located, as well as how many pages are completely blocked from indexing due to insecure content.
The report also shows what content types aren’t encrypted on your site and which ones have been blocked by robots.txt or meta tags. If you have no blocks set up, this may be a sign that something else is preventing search engines from crawling your site properly.
Keep in mind, it’s not just about the security of your website; there are other benefits too!
