To improve web security, From July 2018, Google’s Chrome browser started marking all non-HTTPS sites as “Not Secure”. Therefore HTTP to HTTPS Migration is very important.
In addition, HTTPS websites get higher rank in Google Search. Because it’s also a Google ranking factor.
If you are still using HTTP on your site and looking for an article to move from HTTP to HTTPS, then you are in the right place.
Today, in this article, I will tell you how to move a WordPress website from HTTP to HTTPS/SSL without affect SEO.
If you do not know what is SSL or HTTPS, do not worry. I will tell you about it in detail.
What is HTTPS?
HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) that creates a secure connection between users’ browsers and your server. This prevents hackers and middleman from accessing your website.
HTTPS is a great way to keep browsing Safe and Secure. This includes things like login details of your banking website, credit card information and even login information of your WordPress site.
Why do you need HTTPS?
There are several reasons for the use of HTTPS on the website:
1. Website Security
This is the biggest reason to move your WordPress website from HTTP to HTTPS.
When you switch WordPress from HTTP to HTTPS, all the data on the site are encrypted during the transfer, which is very difficult to read.
Banking and eCommerce sites that ask for personal information and credit card information must be HTTPS. It prevents user’s personal data from being hacked.
HTTPS is extremely important to secure the connection between the website and the browser. This way you can prevent hackers and or a middle man from gaining access to your website.
2. SEO
Google has officially said that HTTPS is a ranking factor and HTTPS site will get better ranking in search results. You can read this on Google Webmaster Central Blog – HTTPS as a ranking signal
3. Makes good impression on user
There are many users who visit a website, they first check the lock sign or green address bar in their browser.
HTTPS makes your business trustworthy and reliable.
4. Chrome Warnings
July 24th 2018, Chrome 68 and above versions are marking all non-HTTPS sites as “Not Secure”. That’s why HTTPS is very important!
5. Improves Your Site Performance
HTTP/2 plays an important role in speed up your WordPress website. But to enable HTTP/2, you must first migrate your site from HTTP to HTTPS.
Top SSL Providers to Get HTTPS
There are lots of SSL Providers companies in the market. Below I have listed some top providers.
1. Let’s Encrypt
Let’s Encrypt is a free and reliable SSL certificate provider that allows you to install HTTPS on your blog at zero cost for a lifetime. Let’s Encrypt is valid for 3 months and after that, you have to renew it, which is free. You can enable automatic renew setting.
2. Cloudflare
Cloudflare is a CDN service that provides the HTTPS certificate for a lifetime in free. Here’s a guide – How to Setup CloudFlare Flexible SSL in WordPress Site
3. Comodo
Comodo is a top class HTTPS providers. It offers you a free SSL certificate for 90 days. After this, you have to renew it.
4. SSL For Free
SSL For Free is also a good website for getting HTTPS in free. It provides free HTTPS for Lifetime and you never have to pay for it.
In addition, you can purchase an SSL certificate for your site from GoDaddy, Network Solutions etc.
Requirements for using HTTPS on a WordPress
There is not a lot of things needed to install HTTPS / SSL on the WordPress site. You must have just an SSL certificate.
Some WordPress hosting companies provide free SSL certificates.
After getting the SSL certificate, you have to ask your hosting provider to install it.
Note: Make a full backup of your site before transferring from HTTP to HTTPS so that if you get something wrong then you can restore the working version again. Here’s a guide – How To Backup WordPress Websites or Blogs
Once you have installed an SSL certificate on your WordPress site, the next thing you need to do – redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS permanently.
Redirect from HTTP to HTTPS
You can easily redirect all your HTTP traffic to HTTPS. Here I will show you two methods. You can use any method.
Method 1: Setting up HTTPS using the plugin
This is the easiest method and recommends for all new bloggers.
First of all, install and Activate Really Simple SSL Plugin in your site.
The plugin automatically detects your settings and configures your website to run over https.
- Check SSL certificate
- Sets a redirect from HTTP to HTTPS.
- Looks for the HTTP URLs in your content and tries to fix them.
After activating the plugin, click on Settings >> SSL. Then click on Go ahead, activate SSL.
It will automatically detect the installed SSL certificate on your site and redirect all your HTTP URLs to HTTPS.
Congratulations! Your website has moved to HTTPS.
After clicking the “Go ahead, activate SSL” button, you may have to log in to your site again.
If your site is showing mixed content warnings, read this article – How to fix mixed content or insecure content
Method 2: Setting up HTTPS Manually in WordPress
Because the plugin affects the performance of your site. So you do not want to install the plugin on your site, you can use this method. This method is a bit technical.
Login to your WordPress site and then click on Settings >> General. Change your WordPress and site address (URL) from http: // to https: // and click the Save Changes button.
WordPress will log out you, you have to login again in your site.
Now to set up a redirect from HTTP to HTTPS, you need to add the following code to your .htaccess file.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>RewriteEngine OnRewriteCond %{HTTPS} offRewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]</IfModule>
In the next step, you will need to add the following code above the “That’s all, stop editing!” line in your wp-config.php file to force SSL / HTTPs in WordPress admin.
define('FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', true);
Congratulations! Your WordPress site has migrated from HTTP to HTTPS. Now you just need to fix mixed content errors.
How to fix Mixed Content Error after moving from HTTP to HTTPS
To fix the Mixed content error, you can edit all the URLs in your database that are still on HTTP.
You can use the Better Search Replace plugin for this. After installing and activating the plugin, click Tools >> Better Search Replace.
In the ‘Search for’ box enter your website URL with http and in the ‘Replace with’ box enter your website URL with https. Then select all your database tables and click the Run Search/Replace button.
This plugin will replace all your HTTP URLs with HTTPS.
Note: Run as dry run? option Keep unchecked.
Submit your HTTPS site to Google Search Console
After moving your website to HTTPS, submit it again and verify in Google Search Console tool.
Click ‘Add Property’ in the top bar of Google Search Console.
Now enter your website URL (HTTPS version) and click on the Continue button.
Now, you need to verify your website. If you use the Yoast SEO plugin on your site, then the HTML tag is the easiest method. Just go to the Webmaster tools (SEO >> General> Webmaster Tools) and paste the HTML tag.
After saving it, return to Google Search Console and click on the ‘Verify’ button.
Add a Sitemap for your HTTPS version
On the Google Search Console dashboard, click on the ‘Sitemaps’ option located in the left column, then paste the last part of your sitemap URL (sitemap_index.xml) and click on the Submit button.
Final thought
SSL is an encryption protocol that secures a connection between the user’s browser and server. And prevents users’ personal data from being hacked. Google also uses it as a ranking factor. So moving from the HTTP to HTTPS is very important.
Here I told you how to properly move WordPress from HTTP to HTTPS.
If you are a beginner, then I recommend you to set up HTTPS using the first method – Really Simple SSL Plugin. The plugin will take care of everything including the mixed content errors.
I hope this article helped you move your WordPress website from HTTP to HTTPS.
We’re done, and it’s now your turn! Find this article helpful? Don’t forget to share!
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