Best method of redirecting http to https on homepage

[PeterAlexLeigh]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to redirect all http requests to https for a site's homepage. It only needs to be for the homepage, not site wide.

What's the best method of doing this without losing pagerank or ranking?

I'm using IIS7.5 so I've been looking at a URL Rewrite or possibly this ASP.Net solution;

http://www.xdevsoftware.com/blog/post/Redirect-from-Http-to-Https-in-ASPNET.aspx

Or is a simple 301 or 302 (for some reason Microsoft's site says to do a 302 re-direct, though I'm not sure if this is great from an SEO perspective?) re-direct from http version to the https version the best method?

Also if the solution retained the URL query string that would be even better!

Any help appreciated! Thanks

[Naghirniac]

Shelly,

There are tree methods, all with their benefits and difficulties. They are: Redirect via a landing page, Redirect via a custom error and Redirect via URL manipulation.

You can take a look at this detailed post: http://www.iis-aid.com/articles/how_to_guides/three_methods_redirect_http_https

[PeterAlexLeigh]

Naghirniac - thanks for your answer.

Granted, but which is the best for SEO?

I'm thinking, surely I can just do a simple 301?

[Naghirniac]

For SEO the 301 is the best and simple solution

[Dr-Pete]

301 is probably best here. There are two tricks here, though, and it can get messy:

(1) You'll need to link to the HTTPS version in your internal links as well.

(2) If you use relative links (like "/about.aspx"), then all the navigation links from your secure home-page will cause Google to crawl the rest of the site with HTTPS, possibly creating mass dupe content.

Practically, there's a fair amount of risk in just securing your home-page, and it goes beyond the home-page itself. I'd proceed with caution and really evaluate the pros and cons.

[PeterAlexLeigh]

Ooo, doesn't sound great.

Do you think if I was to do this it would be better to convert the whole site to HTTPS and enforce it site wide?

(I actually posted a private question on this as well hoping you'd answer it, but you've done it here! - can I close the private one??)

Thanks

[Dr-Pete]

Are you securing a lead-gen form? One thing to test first - have you done an A/B test of the in-page form vs. a large call-to-action button? I've seen testing go both ways. Sometimes, the in-page form drives more leads, but sometimes a clear call-to-action to a separate form is better (really seems to depend on the form and the industry). If the call-to-action works just as well, it would be much easier to secure the stand-along form than your home-page.

Going secure full-site would help solve some problems, although you do need full-site 301-redirects then, and you've got to make sure your servers can handle it (https: needs additional overhead). It's really tough to tell without knowing the nature/scope of the site.

I'd be happy to close the private question, but if you want to dive into details there, it might not be a bad idea. Seeing the site would really help, since this is a tricky issue.