Authentication, Data Integrity and Encryption- these are the three specific areas that explain why Google is now encouraging HTTPS migration on websites.

Websites that will employ HTTPS do not only prevent wiretapping and other malicious activities but will now rank higher in Google as a result of the search engine’s long time effort to work with a more secured internet environment.

If you run a business website, compromising the privacy of your site is the least thing that you want to do knowing that there is an enormous amount of information and business intelligence that you need to protect.

On a recent blog post, Google explained that the HTTPS encryption will not only benefit webmasters through higher ranking but it can also help them to make internet a safer channel for information and communication.

"Beyond our own stuff, we're also working to make the internet safer more broadly. A big part of that is making sure that websites people access from Google are secure. For instance, we have created resources to help webmasters prevent and fix security breaches on their sites."

 What is HTTPS?

HTTPS is an acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. If you wonder what is its difference with “http”, which is a primary communications protocol that allows web browsing and linking, HTTPS works with Secure Socket Layers (SSL) that indicates safe and secured internet transactions.

Before Google considered HTTPS as a ranking signal for websites, HTTPS has been used mostly by financial institutions and government sites that require highly secured and private web sessions.

How to check if Your Business Website Site is secured?

The first thing that you need to know is where to find the added security layer on your website or the “https” text or padlock icon.

The secured technology protocol “https”, appears as the first element on the URL (address) of the site found on the address bar (top section). This icon is usually used by web browsers such as Internet Explorer (IP) and Mozilla Firefox.

Another indicator that you are entering a secured site is a padlock icon usually found before the web address or URL.

These icons also serve as a warning device to web users who are about to make any ecommerce transaction on a certain site.

How can HTTPS Migration affect your Business Website and its Ranking?

Since Google stated that HTTPS is a ranking factor, SEO marketers and webmasters have felt the pressure to encrypt their own sites to HTTPS.

The good news about this transition is that Google will provide detailed instructions and tips on the proper encryption to make it easier to website owners and developers to understand the entire process.

Real Time Ranking Signal

Compared to Penguin and Panda algorithms, HTTPS ranking signal is real time. Meaning, once Google indexes your new URL as a secured site under HTTPS, you will immediately see a tiny boost on your ranking. It may not be as high as having high-quality content on your site, but, it can still affect your overall ranking algorithm.

As what the Google team stated:

"For now it's only a very lightweight signal - affecting fewer than one percent of global queries, and carrying less weight than other signals such as high-quality content - while we give webmasters time to switch to HTTPS.  But over time, we may decide to strengthen it, because we'd like to encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web."

Google Boosts Ranking in a Per-URL Basis

Google’s HTTPS ranking signal will be on a per-URL basis. If you did not yet completed your website migration to HTTPS, Google will only acknowledge the pages with HTTPS URL when boosting your web rank.

The clear lesson here is, security is the main priority of Google when it promoted HTTPS as a ranking signal. If your site just wants to test out its benefits in terms of ranking, make sure you fully installed its encryption.

HTTPS Ranking Is a Standalone Signal

If you think that HTTPS ranking signal is just a part of Google Panda or other available algorithms nowadays, this is completely FALSE.

HTTPS ranking signal is an independent algorithm that works as a live algorithm that runs real-time (as mentioned earlier)

SSL Errors

Google also reiterated that SSL errors in Webmaster tools or search results are totally not related with the latest changes.

How can The Northern Office Get You There?

At The Northern Office,  security is also our priority.  We do not only build and design websites that can suit your target market but we defend your website from persistent threats, targeted attacks, malicious links, compromised websites and more with a proactive security protocol.

• Frequent on-site and off-site backups – We employ server-based, onsite, and offsite backups to guarantee a 100% data recovery in case of emergency.
• Infrastructure IP Penetration Testing- We evaluate the status of your IT systems and networks to check its compatibility before implementing new security procedures and system update.
• IP Security Monitoring- This is critical to ensure that your IT security policies are applied effectively to protect your site from any form of online threat.
• On Demand Web Application Assessment- Risk prevention is our key to keep our websites fully protected. We perform comprehensive and impartial evaluation of various applications before we apply and integrate them on our IT infrastructure.

Call us today at (+6345) 499.1082 or check our site to view the complete list of products we offer http://www.thenorthernoffice.com/

The digital revolution has changed the business world. A recent study estimates that over 90% of marketers rely on social media to promote their products and services with the help of online advertising tools. Most of you think that writing an article which is used for advertising purposes is as easy as 1-2-3 but the truth is content marketing can be one of the biggest challenges any writer or internet marketer can face. Counting on enticing and shareable articles at the same time can be exhausting at some point knowing that you need to consistently keep an eye on what topic is hot or is a flop in the internet community. But, do you need to do it alone? Of course you won’t have to. Readers can also be good contributors of unique and enticing content. Here are some ways on how to make content marketing somewhat easier:

• Online Polls

Your followers have their own insights and opinions about your brand and all you need to do is ask them. Online polls or surveys can help you gain valuable insights on their overall impression about your content (and brand, service or product) which can lead you to better content management.

• Offer a Lending Hand to Your Fans

Building an effective content engagement relationship between a company and its consumers is not hard if you know how to return the favour. Posting an online survey is a favour you will ask from your followers to get their valuable insights about your website, but, what will they get from it? Take a look on the user profile of your followers and try to figure out their needs based on the products and services you can provide. If you are an owner of a clothing line, why not suggest a few tips to your younger audience on how to find the best prom/school dance dress?

• Delegate a Portion of the Job to Your Avid Followers

Improving your site’s reputation and likeability can be more powerful if there are fans or consumers who collaborate with you. Most of the social media pages nowadays encourage their followers to submit photos, videos or even stories on how they enjoy their products and services. This content marketing approach can be more effective if it goes along with a promo or contest.

• Create More Challenging Content

Challenge your followers by asking them random questions or polls that help them (and you) gain informative and useful answers that are also worth sharing. Just make sure that your choice of topics is still aligned with what your brand or company can offer. The gist of this article is how to continuously entice your audience to contribute, discuss and interact through more powerful subjects or course of topics that will help you promote your website through earned media rather than paid media.

This examination of the importance of why content must be good quality, original, attractively presented and accessible, demonstrates exactly what The Northern Office has been doing for its clients for nearly 10 years.  We would like to hear from you! Call us at +63 (0)45 499 1082 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Step up and be ahead of the online competition with our cost-effective online marketing solutions! We can build your website for as low as 15,000PHP!    

(Press release) Clark, Philippines, July 2014 - The Northern Office Innovative Marketing (TNO), one of the country’s leading providers of web marketing support to local and international clients recently expanded its management team with the addition of a new Managing Partner, Hamish Moore.

Hamish joins TNO after spending the last 30 years acquiring extensive marketing and managerial experience in a number of industries and across several countries. He started his working life as an Environmental Scientist but soon moved on to join Tennent Caledonian Breweries, the Scottish division of Bass Plc, at that time one of the world’s biggest brewers.

After 15 years at the company, including his final 3 spent as Marketing Director of their China operation, he joined JTI (Japan Tobacco International) where he held a number of senior management positions in Central Asia and Europe before taking on the Regional General Manager’s role for the Philippines, Australasia and Singapore, based in Manila in 2004. His awareness of environmental issues and a desire to remain in the Philippines led him to leave JTI in 2008 and establish a commercial and environmental consultancy where he worked on a variety of projects with a broad range of companies, organizations and partners. Amongst those was a water purification technology company for whom he recruited TNO to build their web presence.

TNO founder and COO, John Morgan, commented “We worked with Hamish as a client for a year and were impressed with his ideas and work style so the progression to him joining us was an easy one”. With the presence of Hamish on the TNO’s management team, the company aims to serve a wider array of customers not only in Asia but further afield. With the joint expertise of owner, John and his new partner, the company is set to deliver great products and services across a spectrum of online marketing areas.

The Northern Office Innovative Marketing was established 8 years ago and has a current client portfolio of over 30 companies, businesses and organizations covering a wide range of industries & sectors including commercial B2B: construction, hospitality, logistics, mining, IT; retailing B2C: automotive parts, online shopping, hotels & resorts and NGO Informational sites across the world.

To know more about our web marketing services, visit our website at www.thenorthernoffice.com, or contact us at +63 (0)45 499 1082 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The internet is considered as the marketplace of the future. More than just being an effective channel for current events and information, the internet also serves as a gateway that connects customers to businesses and vice versa. With more than 2.5 billion internet users worldwide, there is a huge opportunity for any online marketer to become successful. The only problem is, how you can do it and who will help you to achieve a real online success. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Optimization (SMO) and any online marketing effort points in the same direction- Page Rank.

Google Page Rank is influenced by the amount of traffic that your website generates. Page Rank (PR) is not a sole effort of the website but your social media accounts also contribute to web traffic and often coined as off-page optimization.

Easy Influx of Money The internet is the fastest source of information.  If you are a buyer who needs a certain product, the internet is the best solution to helping you find the potential companies that can offer you the product you want. If your company is not seen right on the first page, there is a much lower chance of you getting your products and services promoted to your target market. Profit always depends on the rate of sale to your new and returning customers.

Trustworthiness and Customer Loyalty Web users usually have this common notion that websites found on top of search results are more likely to be trusted than those on the lower pages. Well, this makes sense when it comes to Google/ Yahoo Trust Rank.  This method is applied by search engines to determine the trust level of a particular site that they want to rank higher on their pages. Customers find it easier to trust your products and services if they will see you on the top page knowing that Google or Yahoo did not bring you on the top spot without good reason.

More Links and Site Connections Sites with higher page rank are often considered as authority sites.  More people will click and visit your site and this creates a good opportunity to get more sponsors and add extra monetary value to your company/brand. And most importantly, if you have a higher PR, it will only take few minutes before your content gets indexed by Google.  Meaning, any update on your site will be easily seen on search engine results pages and this will lead to more search clicks and link visits. Do you want to see your website on the TOP spot?

The Northern Office can build and design your website according to your target market. We are a one-stop shop when it comes to your internet marketing needs. Call us today at +63 (045) 499-1082 or e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..