Transition to HTTP/2. What are the benefits for SEO?

HTTP/2 is an updated version of the widely used HTTP network protocol. In this article, we'll look at how switching to HTTP/2 can impact SEO and what benefits it brings to your site.

Website performance is one of the factors that directly affects behavioral characteristics, which in turn can affect the website’s position in search results. Although loading speed is not the main ranking factor, it cannot be ignored.

Switching to HTTP/2 can significantly improve site speed, making it more user-friendly. This will directly affect behavioral indicators such as time spent on the site, number of pages viewed, and others, which in turn can affect SEO.

Let's look at the main advantages of switching to HTTP/2:

  • Using HTTP/2 simplifies the process of crawling a site by search bots. For large sites, this is especially important, as it allows you to save crawling budget - search robots will be able to efficiently process a larger number of pages.
  • In some cases, switching to HTTP/2 allows you to avoid using a CDN. The HTTP/2 protocol can transfer large files quickly if the bandwidth is large enough. However, in some cases, disabling the CDN may not be practical.
  • HTTP/2 helps solve loading latency problems by reducing the time it takes to send requests. This helps to increase the speed of the site as a whole.
  • The move to the new protocol also resolves some issues with Core Web Vitals, an important set of metrics for SEO. With HTTP/2, users' browsers can fetch important resources faster, making page rendering faster and smoother.
  • Switching to HTTP/2 eliminates traffic from bots using older protocols such as HTTP/1. This helps to exclude unreliable behavioral data, but it is worth considering that you can accidentally restrict access to real users using older versions of browsers.
  • Using HTTP/2 simplifies the process of crawling a site by search bots. For large sites, this is especially important, as it allows you to save crawling budget - search robots will be able to efficiently process a larger number of pages.
  • In some cases, switching to HTTP/2 allows you to avoid using a CDN. The HTTP/2 protocol can transfer large files quickly if the bandwidth is large enough. However, in some cases, disabling the CDN may not be practical.
  • HTTP/2 helps solve loading latency problems by reducing the time it takes to send requests. This helps to increase the speed of the site as a whole.
  • The move to the new protocol also resolves some issues with Core Web Vitals, an important set of metrics for SEO. With HTTP/2, users' browsers can fetch important resources faster, making page rendering faster and smoother.
  • Switching to HTTP/2 eliminates traffic from bots using older protocols such as HTTP/1. This helps to exclude unreliable behavioral data, but it is worth considering that you can accidentally restrict access to real users using older versions of browsers.

While moving to HTTP/2 may seem like an obvious improvement, whether it makes sense depends on the specifics of your site, server, and infrastructure. Therefore, before switching, it is recommended to carefully weigh all the pros and cons, consult with technical specialists and evaluate the possible risks and benefits.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the SEO studio "SEO COMPUTER" for any question by email info@seo.computer.

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