tech

How to fix: HTTPS as Google ranking signal

Part of the Technical SEO pillar on the Site Integrity Index.

Why this matters

Search engines prefer to index HTTPS URLs and may skip or deprioritise HTTP-only content as a quality signal.

Background

Google has used HTTPS as a (small) ranking signal since 2014, and major browsers warn on plain-HTTP. Search engines prefer to index the HTTPS variant; ensuring the HTTPS version is reachable, canonical, and not blocked by robots/noindex is now table stakes.

References

Google Search Central · HTTPS as a ranking signal (since 2014)

How to fix

Code snippet for each stack we cover. Pick the one matching your server / framework.

nginx

See security.https_enforced — same fix.

apache

Same.

cloudflare

Same — Always Use HTTPS ON.

wordpress

Set siteurl + home to https:// in wp_options; OR via Settings → General; OR Really Simple SSL.

flask

Force HTTPS via Flask-Talisman or reverse proxy.

express

Same.

rails

config.force_ssl = true.

Verify it's working

Google Search Console → URL Inspection — should show the HTTPS variant as the indexed URL.

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