From Web Positioning Salamanca we want to teach you how to migrate to https without losing strength with rel referrer and how to implement the meta referrer tag effectively. The referrer is the information that is passed from the browser to the destination site so that it knows the origin of the visit. As a general rule when a migration is made from http to https, the way to do it is with some rules in the htaccess. But even though it is basically a 301 what is done, with 301s you do not lose as much strength as with 302 redirects, but you also lose some. By using the rel referrer meta tag we mitigate that loss of strength and ranking that some of you may have noticed when doing it the “traditional” way.
HTTPS: A Step Forward in Security
HTTPS or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is the secure version of HTTP, which was implemented to protect data that could be accessed by a third party coming from an unsecured site. This means that the information has been encrypted between the server and the web .
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Google introduced the protocol in 2010 and soon many sites began migrating to it to protect information, such as banks and online stores that use it to secure password information when a user logs in. But since HTTPS was announced as a ranking signal on the search engine, more and more sites have made the switch.
While the change represents a significant step forward in terms of security, it has also had an impact on two essential aspects in terms of SEO: traffic to the sites and the statistics offered by analysis tools such as Google Analytics. Let's see why.
First of all, when a website decides to switch from HTTP to HTTPS encryption, the URL changes and Google will therefore see them as two different sites. This means that you will have to change all the links that go to the website. As a result, this will cost you organic traffic , which can be as high as 15%. Even if you have corrected this problem with 301 redirects.
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On the other hand, we have the issue of the data provided by Google Analytics, which is that when traffic goes from an HTTPS to an HTTP it does not pass through the referrer; therefore, the tool will reflect it as direct traffic, which is that which arrives when the visitor uses the URL to access the website. What does this mean? That while this traffic increases, organic traffic (which arrives through search engines) will be affected.
So what about SEO?
HTTPS helps make the Internet a safer place, as a result data is protected and as we saw before, it has a drastic impact on the information that reaches SEO experts when using Google Analytics . So, what happens is that the effectiveness of the marketing strategy that has been implemented cannot be determined exactly.
This way, it is not possible to know the origin of the traffic that visits the website. By not knowing how visitors find the site, there is no reliable data on the marketing or SEO strategy.
As more sites operate with HTTPS, it is more difficult to obtain referrer information because the information that is shared is entirely up to them, so it is impossible to obtain it if they choose to do so. There are sites like Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks that are interested in having it known that the traffic is coming from there, so they allow the information to be sent.
However, there is a solution to this problem and it is through the use of the meta referrer tag which is used to transmit information in a secure manner. And as we said in the first paragraph, it is a way to ensure that very little strength is lost , even less than with 301 redirects and that the loss of traffic is minimal as well.
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How to implement the referrer meta tag effectively?
When a user arrives at an HTTP website from a secure site, i.e. an HTTPS site, Google will not provide information to web analytics tools about the origin of the visit or the keyword with which the user arrived at the website. This is where the meta referrer tag comes into play.
This tag is intended to force the browser to allow information to pass through even when the visit is from an HTTPS to an HTTP. Depending on the value used, some, all or no information will be passed through. This decision will always be in the hands of whoever manages the website, who, in the end, is the one who decides what they want to make public and what they don't.
To do this, it is important to know how to implement this meta cameroon telegram lead because, despite being around for several years, many people are unaware of it or do not fully understand it and not using it makes the work of SEO analysts more complicated. Google Chrome was the first browser to use the meta tag and then the rest of them followed suit.
Now, there are some sites that are not interested in letting any information pass by and therefore are unlikely to pay much attention to it. Others have found the benefits, such as the social networks we mentioned earlier, which are interested in letting people know that they are generating traffic.