SSL Boosts Local Business Ranking

Google has made it very clear that sites that are secure (have SSL certificates), will rank better than sites that are not secure, all other things being equal.

https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal.html

Past need for secure websites

Up until now, we have limited SSL to sites that are E-Commerce, where security is paramount.  Most of our sites that represent local businesses do not collect sensitive data, and are not ecommerce sites, therefore we have not implemented SSL broadly.

New secure website paradigm

We are now moving all clients to SSL, everyone that hosts with us, and has a maintenance agreement with StudioHOF will have a secure site.  This used to carry a price tag of $100 or more per website per year.   The SSL certificate is now included in your monthly support at no additional charge to you.

StudioHOF focussses on driving new business to Small and mid sized (SMB) businesses.   We are very local in focus.  While we are located in St. Petersburg/Tampa, we don’t limit “local internet marketing” to our area.  If you serve a local market, whether that is in Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh, or Tampa, you are the type client we are best at supporting.

Getting an edge is highly competitive search

Our experience is that most local websites, your digital marketing competitors, are NOT secure websites.  They have no need to be, and setting up SSL is both expensive and awkward.  This means that your having SSL for free gives you an immediate leg up on the competition.