Adding https version of website: how best to redirect

[BlueprintMarketing]

Also James telling somebody to add HSTS with preload is extremely dangerous unless they know without a doubt that their redirects are set up properly it will keep them in the browser improperly for up to six months your advice is to simply add H STS with preload and it was abundantly clear that this person knew that the four URLs were what was to choose from. I included the completed 2 to 5-page references for a complete package.

"After a period of time  - and rankings seem ok . - you can implement oscp stapling and some server wide HSTS.   and submit to teh preload directory. "

For the record do not employ HSTS with preload until you have determined that all your subdomains if you have any, are going to have HSTS in addition that all your redirects are completely perfect and the way you want them. I would check using a tool called screaming frog Seo spider or my personal favorite deepcrawl.com

**Your rankings could be just fine and it would not necessarily show that you have a redirect chain permanently embedded for six months in your set up in less you check it first. **

"OCSP stapling is an alternative approach to the original Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) for determining whether an SSL certificate is valid or not. It does this by allowing the web server to query the OCSP responder (a certificate authority’s server dat listens for OCSP requests) and then caches the response__. This allows the web server to check the validity of its certificates and eliminates the need for the client to contact the certificate authority"

OCSP can and should be implemented at the time of employing the SSL certificate

Tom

[BlueprintMarketing]

Honestly, the way you set up a 301 is much more dependent on the server like Apache and Nginx then it is on a CMS

if you are looking for one I would recommend using WordPress or Drupal for a CMS  If you're thinking of switching  WordPress is much more user-friendly slightly quicker and many many more developers are available to help with it.

Tom

[BlueprintMarketing]

See

Aleyda Solis The HTTP to HTTPs Migration Checklist in Google Docs to Share, Copy & Download & the SEMrush guide

1. https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/search-engine-optimization/http-https-migration-checklist-google-docs/
2. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XB26X_wFoBBlQEqecj7HB79hQ7DTLIPo97SS5irwsK8/edit#gid=1975121463
3. https://www.semrush.com/blog/http-to-https-a-complete-guide-to-securing-your-website-semrushchat/

Hope this helps,

Tom

[bhsiao]

Thank you

[bhsiao]

I may have made a mess for myself. I turned on the ssl a couple of weeks ago (2-3) but didn't do the other things first. Should i remove the ssl from my site until I go through the checklist? I am starting to panic, hoping i have not gotten myself into big trouble.

My internal links, ads, canonical urls all still use http.

[BlueprintMarketing]

Definitely don’t panic and you’re not in trouble. What I would do for his run a search and replace on the URL‘s if you’re running a non CMS site  find a search & replace CLI or script that works with the code you’re site was made with if you’re hosting company is  managing the site ask them for help

run the search & replace to fix the URL‘s

one way is to just add CloudFlare.com for free and use the felxable cert

if your on a CMS like  wordpress you can use a plugin like better search & replace

[BlueprintMarketing]

If it’s hand coded use a text editor & search for http replac with https if using Dreamweaver it has a full site wide search and replace.

[bhsiao]

So you recommend just going forward with the https switch even though I have not done all the things on the checklist?

[BlueprintMarketing]

Did you allready 301 the site to https?

if so I would updat the URLs &  then follow the instructions

if https is in google index I would fix it with a search & replace or CloudFlare (the 1 thing on the list is this url https://raventools.com/blog/free-ssl-http2/ use it if it’s something you want to have do the work

[bhsiao]

I have not already 301'd the site to https. But either url works since I turned on the ssl at my host.

I will check into the Cloudflare.

[BlueprintMarketing]

I see you added the certificate but you didn’t force https

flow the guide and make sure it  all 4 URLs point to the (redirects) to https://www

you can do it in no time with cloudflare then check it with

https://varvy.com/tools/redirects/

hope that helps,

tom