Heeding the signals: applying Web best practices when Google recommends

Abstract

Google is the single largest driver of traffic to library websites and digital repositories, and librarians would do well to listen when the search giant reveals information about its practices or makes recommendations. Recently, Google announced that it would begin to favor websites that use the secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) in its search results rankings. HTTPS encrypts data transmission and one of Google’s stated reasons for this change is to help make the Web safer and minimize data theft. Similar announcements by Google have sometimes been ignored by librarians, to the peril of the visibility and use of library products and services on the Web.