SSL for expired domain

[PassiveFK]

If I get a worthy expired domain which was previously simple h t t p. Now I have a very specific question.

These days getting SSL is a SEO factor, so if I go for the SSL will my backlinks to root domain hurt or it won't affect the potential juice I am after?

 

[MatthewGraham]

If you want to go for HTTPS, make sure your redirects are set up correctly and you should be fine. Think about the logic behind it from Google's end. They want to you to use HTTPS and surely are aware that that's going to require redirecting HTTP pages to HTTPS. If sites were essentially getting penalties for switching, no one would do it, which would completely contradict Google's stated goal of encouraging everyone to add those certs.

At the same time, SSL's negligible at best in terms of improving SERP rankings, so if you're just adding it for a SERP boost and would prefer to go with the HTTP version, you're going to be fine without it. It's not a magic bullet that's going to skyrocket your rankings. Really, it's more useful in terms of conversion rate than anything else.

 

[PassiveFK]

If you want to go for HT TPS, make sure your redirects are set up correctly and you should be fine. Think about the logic behind it from Google's end. They want to you to use HT TPS and surely are aware that that's going to require redirecting HT TP pages to HT TPS. If sites were essentially getting penalties for switching, no one would do it, which would completely contradict Google's stated goal of encouraging everyone to add those certs.

At the same time, SSL's negligible at best in terms of improving SERP rankings, so if you're just adding it for a SERP boost and would prefer to go with the HT TP version, you're going to be fine without it. It's not a magic bullet that's going to skyrocket your rankings. Really, it's more useful in terms of conversion rate than anything else.

Thank you for the detailed answer. so what i understood you cannot have both I mean expired domain and SSL?

So in your opinion which one should we go for in terms of SEO if we have to chose one. Expired domain with quality RD but non SSL or new domain with SSL ?

 

[MatthewGraham]

Thank you for the detailed answer. so what i understood you cannot have both I mean expired domain and SSL?

So in your opinion which one should we go for in terms of SEO if we have to chose one. Expired domain with quality RD but non SSL or new domain with SSL ?

Maybe something about the post I made there was unclear. You can definitely have both.

But to answer your question anyway, a quality expired domain is definitely way more useful than SSL in terms SERP boosts. SSL does nothing or almost nothing to the SERPs, at least directly.

 

[PassiveFK]

Okay sorry I misread your post. So if we want to have SSL on expired domain how would backlinks be redirected If they are on external sites referring to root.

sorry for the noobness.

 

[MatthewGraham]

Okay sorry I misread your post. So if we want to have SSL on expired domain how would backlinks be redirected If they are on external sites referring to root.

sorry for the noobness.

You'd just update the .htaccess file on your site so that any time someone visits an http page it redirects to the https equivalent. The backlinks would still be pointed at the http version. You're letting Google et. al. know that the homepage is now at a new location (301 = Permanently Moved) and to act as if the backlinks were pointed at the new version instead. The backlinks themselves continue to point at the http version; you're telling Google to pretend that they're pointed directly at the new location.

The actual redirect path looks like this:
Article with Backlinks -----> http://yoursite.com --[301]--> https://yoursite.com

 

[PassiveFK]

Thank you that sorts it out.