De-indexing and SSL question

fabx

Few days ago Google indexed hundreds of my directories by mistake (error with plugins/host), my traffic dropped as a consequence.

Anyway I fixed that and submitted a URL removal request. Now just waiting things to go back to normality.

Meantime I was supposed to move my website to HTTPS this week.

Question:

Should I wait until this indexing error has been fixed or I may as well go ahead with the SSL move?

BlueprintMarketing

Good question. In all honesty, I think it's safe to go forward with an HTTPS migration.

A "URL removal request"

A simple move to https two different things that can be done at the same time.

if you have a certain set up please let me know I can give you better instructions on how to completely migrate over to HTTPS. Here are some of the basics below.

if you're using WordPress

Search & Replace in Files

To begin, search for instances of your domain pointing to HTTP URLs of your site.

Use the regex for **“www” **and without “www” URL cases and search for

http:\/\/(www\.)?yourdomain\.com

always search and replace your database if you have one.

remember to implement redirects

NGINX

Add the following to your Nginx config.

<code class=" language-nginx">server {
    listen 80;
    server_name domain.com www.domain.com;
    return 301 https://domain.com$request_uri;
}</code>

Apache

Add the following to your .htaccess file.

<code class=" language-apacheconf">RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]</code>

6. Update your robots.txt File#

Update any hard-coded links or blocking rules you might have in your robots.txt that might still be pointing to HTTP directories or files

Update your robots.txt file
Update your disavow file if you have one
update Google search console

if you want a very quick easy way to implement HTTPS, redirects as well as certificates I recommend Cloudflare The free version should do it.

https://www.cloudflare.com/

I hope this helps,
Tom

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fabx

Hi Tom,
yes I have WordPress, I have read a few guides online about it.

for the search and replace part, I found a plugin called Better Search Replace: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-add-ssl-and-https-in-wordpress/

the instructions in the search engine journal article do the search-replace manually. The plugin should be better, have you tried it?

Good question. In all honesty, I think it's safe to go forward with an HTTPS migration.

I am a bit worried. I asked this question to many people in many forums and nobody replies. Which makes me wonder if it's something really bad. It would be nice to have additional opinions.

BlueprintMarketing

I respect your want to get this right

“A few days ago, Google indexed hundreds of my directories by mistake (error with plugins/host); my traffic dropped as a consequence.

_ Anyway, I fixed that and submitted a URL removal request. Now just waiting for things to go back to normality.” _

in my opinion, you can see the change happen to the https URLs & you want to be sure that https will not let your unwanted directory back in Google's index.

I think unless you can show me your site better Search & replace will be more comfortable & faster.

Yes, I have used better search & replace many times; it’s a great tool.

Make sure you back up your site before you do a search & replace.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-search-replace/

I think you should be able to see everything needed and more from this great how-to the person who made it is a friend & they don't just show you how to do this on Kinsta they show you how to use Apache & Nginx as well.

It covers everything you might want to think about managed wordpress hosting if this is something you don't feel comfortable doing.

https://kinsta.com/blog/http-to-https/

I would look at Pagely, Pantheon Servebolt & Kinsta.

If it helps, I am ranked in the top 10 or 11 for assisting people on Moz. Unless you only blocked the HTTP version of your directories, then you will have the same results with https.

Would you allow me to see the domain?
Who is your hosting company?

Respectfully,

Tom Zickell

BlueprintMarketing

PS I agree it would be nice to hear from more people I am sure you will by tomorrow.

BlueprintMarketing

Let me know if you can let me see the domain?

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