SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of optimizing a website and its content to link organic traffic to a website and improve the visibility of websites in search engines. To publish SEO optimizations relatively complicated, we will use libraries. So, how website security affects SEO rankings? Keep reading.
We can think of web search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo as digital libraries with a large supply of books and information. A visitor to one of these libraries enters his question into a search engine, and the search engine searches at high speed all the information it has in its index.
Based on the keywords entered by the visitor and its algorithms, the search engine displays the most relevant results that it believes will successfully answer the user's question.
While it is not known exactly what algorithms search engines use to search for the most relevant search results, proprietary websites may follow certain guidelines to optimize their website and the content it contains to signal to Google (or another search engine) that the website can find the answer to the question posed by the user.
It may seem strange at first glance how security can be related to search engine positions, but when an attack on a site is successful, the negative results quickly become apparent. This area can be very easily ignored with the attitude of "no one will attack my site" and the like, but there are more and more hacked sites every year.
The reasons for an attack can range from lack of website maintenance to poor hosting to the installation of unreliable add-ons with security vulnerabilities. An example is the WordPress platform, for which there are regular updates, including security, so it is always advisable to have a site on the latest version of the platform. Also, a number of add-ons that can be installed on this platform have regular upgrades, including again those related to security.
To build a house safe and resistant to external influences, it is necessary to lay a good foundation, the same rule can be applied to the construction of a website. Only a technically well-designed website can succeed with users.
It is important to take the time to build and run a secure website. It is the difference between a secure website and an insecure website. The result of a secure website is an improved conversion rate for your customers.
Google has a number of ranking factors that they use to determine where a website will rank. One of them is how secure your website is. They invest heavily in making sure their services, including Gmail and Google Drive, are as secure as possible. And they expect the same from your website.
The security of your website is important. If you are not careful, your search engine rankings can take a hit. Search engine specialists can be too complacent when it comes to search engine optimization. Marketers often do not realize what SEO is and fall into an idea of what SEO should be. The industry has long questioned the lasting impact of website hacks on organic search results.
The most important thing to know about cybersecurity is the GDPR, a game-changing regulation. It is forcing companies to rethink how they handle their customers' data and online security. Many brands are trying to understand what they need to do.
The truth is that some companies have yet to understand the importance of security on their websites. Some think it's a different skill set than SEO or digital marketing. But it should not be.
When was the last time your website security was discussed during your SEO audit or strategy meeting? Was it ever? A security breach can be devastating for any business, but it can also be a huge opportunity to stand out. Cybersecurity is often neglected when discussing a long-term digital marketing plan, but it could very well be the differentiating factor that leads to success.
Secure Sockets Layer or SSL is the name for encrypting data from readable text into encrypted text that can only be read by those who have the key to decrypt that data, allowing for secure communications over computer networks. In other words: If your website is protected by SSL, those who would try to steal data from it cannot do so because without a key they cannot decrypt the meaning of the data.
Specifically, SSL allows you to send sensitive data securely over the internet because once the data is entered, it is first encrypted and then forwarded. Here we come to the main purpose of SSL, which is to protect users' sensitive personal and financial data.
To switch from HTTP to HTTPS, you need to have an SSL certificate (Secure Socket Layer certificate) installed on your website. 
The types of SSL certificates differ according to the level of security, i.e. how much they protect the website and its users. Accordingly, we distinguish three types of SSL certificates:
DV (Domain Validation) - an inexpensive certificate that is issued very quickly, i.e. usually a few minutes after purchase, and whose advantage is that the company does not need to provide proof of its existence. This type of certificate only verifies the ownership of the domain, while the security is indicated by a padlock logo next to the https tag.
OV (Organization Validation) - this certificate is of medium price and is issued after a few days as the certification authority verifies the company's data. Accordingly, it reveals information about the company to the website visitors, which can increase the trust of customers.
EV (Extended Validation) - the most expensive, but also the most reliable SSL technology. The certificate has a waiting period of ten days, as the certification authority performs a detailed analysis of the company's data, and is recommended for companies where payment by credit cards is possible. In addition to the https tag next to the logo, a green bar will be activated to identify it.
Once you have installed and configured your SSL certificate, Google Chrome will display a green light. It then establishes a secure connection between the browser and the server. What this means for you is that even if a hacker can intercept your data, they will not be able to decrypt it. Security has a huge direct impact on data protection.
When we do SEO, we find that responsiveness and reliability are top priorities. People expect to be able to browse your website on any device, at any time, without delay.
Also, consumers like to think that all businesses respect their privacy. They value their own data and are concerned about how companies use the data they collect.
Hacks or attempted hacks can slow down Googlebot, which is one of the most important tools in Google's web crawler. If a hacker breaks into your website, you may also see reports from your web server about missing pages.
On the other hand, there are many more things that can hurt your SEO due to a security flaw:
1) Blacklisting
Spammers can place malicious links on your unprotected website and cause you to be blacklisted in search engines. This can result in your website being flagged as spam. Worse, you may not even notice when this happens.
2) Trust
Google's new "Not Safe" warning is a worrying red flag for your customers. Customers who see the "Not Safe" label will not want to shop on your site. They will simply leave and you will have an extremely high bounce rate.
3) Crawling errors
Google's bots crawl websites, but they do not always work. Google bots are an important tool for vulnerability scanning, domain mining, data theft, and other nefarious activities. But they are not perfect: they get overloaded and do not work as well as they should. To fix this problem, you should limit the number of times a server is accessed with malicious intent.
4) SEO spam
There is a new and scary phenomenon called SEO Poisoning. It is a type of internet scam that ruins the reputation of people, companies and NGOs. Be vigilant - there should always be better safeguards to prevent this kind of crime on your websites.
The first and most important thing is - go to HTTPS. You need to make sure you have a proper certificate so Google can read it. 
And that's just the beginning. HTTPS only secures the connection and encrypts the data that is sent. This means that the communication between your server and the web browser a visitor is using is secure and data cannot be stolen.
After that, it's also important to keep your software and plugins and themes secure and up to date.
Conclusion
Website security affects SEO rankings as users are more likely to leave a site that is not secure, and Google considers this as a signal that the site is not trustworthy and thus reduces its ranking. But this is just one of the many factors that affect website rankings, and there are other factors such as backlinks, content, on-page optimization, etc. that also play a role.
You can use the strategies mentioned above to improve your site security and the security of your site, and this will definitely improve your SEO rankings.
However, don't expect a magic bullet where you implement these strategies and your ranking skyrockets. The most important thing you can do to make sure that your website is secure is to hire a professional web developer to create a bulletproof website.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article, if you did please share it with your friends and colleagues and help spread the word about the importance of website security.
