The Importance of HTTP Headers for SEO

In the field of search engine optimization, important aspects such as web server settings are often forgotten. The focus is usually on site content, external links and behavioral factors. However, a site’s position in search engines is significantly affected by its loading speed, which, in turn, depends on the correct server settings.

Web server settings that affect site loading speed

Let's look at the key parameters that affect the loading speed and display of the page in the browser. It is worth remembering that not all users have access to a fast Internet connection, and congestion in networks or nodes can slow down data transfer. To optimize page loading, it is important to consider all available ways to improve server response time.

• Protocol version HTTP/1.1 or HTTP/2.
• Content compression Content-Encoding.
• ETag caching in combination with Cache-Control: max-age.

Using the HTTP/2 protocol, the page loads faster because the browser makes one connection for all files. Unlike HTTP/1.1, where a separate connection is created for each resource (images, styles, scripts), which increases loading time.

Text data can be compressed to reduce its size, which also speeds up loading.

Without proper caching settings, the browser will re-download all files every time you open each page, even though they have already been downloaded.

Correct use of Last-Modified is important for caching to work correctly. Mistakes in setting this date can cause indexing problems, especially if the update date does not correctly reflect changes to the site.

Web server security settings

In addition to the fact that correct server settings increase speed, they also play an important role in site security. A website that does not have an SSL certificate will rank lower in search results compared to a website that uses strong data encryption.

SSL certificates come in different types depending on the level of security:

• Self-Signed Certificate - a self-signed certificate that does not have a certification authority.
• SGC is a certificate for older browsers with a high level of encryption.
• SAN/UCC - multi-domain certificate.
• Code Signing - for signing software.
• Wildcard SSL Certificate - certificate for a domain and all subdomains.
• Domain Validation (DV SSL) - checking only the domain.
• Organization Validation (OV SSL) - checks the organization, but does not display a green line in the address bar.
• Extended Validation (EV SSL) - with extended verification of the organization, displayed in the address bar in green.

An Extended Validation SSL certificate is the best choice for sites that conduct business or process personal data.

Despite the presence of a certificate, it is worth remembering a possible problem with “mixed content” when site resources are loaded using the http protocol instead of https. This may cause the browser to mark the site as unsafe. To prevent this, the Strict-Transport-Security header is used, which forces the browser to use the HTTPS protocol.

Automatically check web server settings

To check whether the web server headers are configured correctly, you can use special services that will give recommendations on how to correct errors. These tools check for HTTP/2 support, If-None-Match setting, and other parameters that affect the site.

If you have any questions or want to get advice on setting up a server and improving SEO, you can contact the SEO studio "SEO COMPUTER" for any question by email info@seo.computer.

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