Have you noticed a significant change in the index status in Google Webmaster Tools? Don’t worry, there was an update today. Google announced today that Webmaster Tools will start showing the index status for websites that are using HTTPS, hypertext transfer protocol over secure socket layer.
This updated feature will allow us to better monitor the different sections of our websites. As of today, there is now a line in the index status section of Webmaster Tools that shows 3/9/2014 as the date this update occurred. Although the update was rolled out today, March 9th was when Google started gathering information about our sites for this change.
If you are using HTTPS, sub-domains or sub-directories, this updated will allow you to check how those areas are indexed. To see this updated data, make sure that all variances of your website are verified. This means both the www and non-www versions of your site, HTTP and HTTPS as well as any sub-directories or sub-domains.
I think this update will be very useful in help monitor and diagnose any indexing issues a site may have.
In their post, Google mentions that they would like to see more webmasters move from HTTP to HTTPS in the future. Is this a sign of things to come? Will websites with HTTPS protocol be favored in search results?
