Schema redirects for https migration
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Hi, we are migrating our website to https. We have a lot of 301s in htaccess that we need to keep, changing the destiny to the https version of the site. At the same time, we need to make new 301 redirects from the http url´s to https url´s
Our question is Could we combine this redirects in htaccess with a Schema redirect with 301 code? (Is it the same to use schema redirecs as using redirects in htaccess?)This would be the situation:
Htaccess redirects:
A http url ->301-> B http url -> (we change this in htaccess and use:)-> A http url ->301->B https url
Schema redirect:
B http url ->301-> B https url
Thanks!
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I can't answer your question, but a word of warning:
If you're moving a large site to https://, your rankings will drop for 2-8 weeks depending on the size of your site. We did this for an ecommerce site with 60,000 SKUs, and our rankings tanked for 6 weeks. It's "normal", but Google won't tell you how badly your site will get slammed. Be prepared.
A few very important suggestions:
- Make sure that you set up http:// and https:// properties in Google Search Console.
- Create a thorough and complete .xml sitemap(s) using the http:// prefix. Submit the sitemap to the https:// GSC property. This will help Google find and map the redirects more quickly. Keep an eye on search console for the count of http and https pages indexed. Ideally, the http count should go to zero.
- Make sure your redirects are set up correctly in your .htaccess file (Apache). There are several sites that will do 301 traces (google "301 tracer"). Keep the redirects at 2 hops or less. Make sure that redirects are 301. 302 is the .htaccess default, so make sure you call out "301".
- There are several redirects that need to occur:
- http to https
- non-www to www or vice-versa
- URLs with a trailing slash to without a trailing slash or vice-versa.
When you make the cutover, test all combinations of the above redirects - there are 6 different combinations of the above bullets to test. (http with and without a trailing slash are 2, and with and without www for example)