A few questions about SSL :)

zionbar

zionbar

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Hey guys

So I have a competitor that always outranks me and the only difference between our sites is that his has SSL and mine dont.

I want to install SSL but am afraid to lose current rankings in SERPS. its already installed on my server i just need to redirect now.

Do I need to redirect each page of my site that has http:// to https:// in order to not lose rankings? do I need to change address via google webmaster tools? the site is on wordpress is there a quick way to do it?

thanks in advance.
 
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Yes. If it's linux host then just add a .htaccess file with a 301 from http to https with full path redirect. Search google you can get a htaccess template easily for this.
 
bartosimpsonio said:
Yes. If it's linux host then just add a .htaccess file with a 301 from http to https with full path redirect. Search google you can get a htaccess template easily for this.
Click to expand...
I got the template bro yes its simple as you say, but how do i make sure i keep my rankings? is that all I can do simply redirect? do I need to update https://domain.com in webmasters tools or nah?
 
Billy Batts said:
You really don't need to edit the .htaccess file.

Once you have the SSL installed you just install this plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-ssl/ and it should all be automatic.
Click to expand...

thanks, yeah saw this plugin it seems awesome, i can do either one htacess or the plugin..

How bad will my rankings get hurt, is it like a new URL ? thats what im trying to figure out really... because of some backlinks and shit
 
zionbar said:
thanks, yeah saw this plugin it seems awesome, i can do either one htacess or the plugin..

How bad will my rankings get hurt, is it like a new URL ? thats what im trying to figure out really... because of some backlinks and shit
Click to expand...
yeah I have done both but now too lazy to either DL the .htaccess file or edit it on myphp.

As far as I know it won't effect ranking but I could be wrong but you do need to add the new url into your webmaster tools
 
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zionbar said:
I got the template bro yes its simple as you say, but how do i make sure i keep my rankings? is that all I can do simply redirect? do I need to update https://domain.com in webmasters tools or nah?
Click to expand...

Yeah, after updating the .htaccess to redirect http to https, add the https version to your GMT and fetch the new sitemap as well. The http to https transition on Google's index won't happen overnight. Give it a couple of weeks to completely index all your non-http urls in https.
 
appreciate all the replies guys, i was gonna just stay with http but its not an option I literally see people with shittier content outranking me without backlinks. its definitely this crappy SSL ... fucking google...
 
zionbar said:
appreciate all the replies guys, i was gonna just stay with http but its not an option I literally see people with shittier content outranking me without backlinks. its definitely this crappy SSL ... fucking google...
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Also when you done all this, let google recrawl your site to speed up the process.
 
zionbar said:
thanks, yeah saw this plugin it seems awesome, i can do either one htacess or the plugin..

How bad will my rankings get hurt, is it like a new URL ? thats what im trying to figure out really... because of some backlinks and shit
Click to expand...

If you do it right it won't get hurt. Just as the http's disappear the https take their place on serps.
 
Activate the SSL now. Yes the SERP will drop but its only for a while. Soon or later Google will force all site using https, and when time is coming you are already on it.
 
Traffic / Ranking drop after installing SSL is quite common, it's just like any other redirection, Google takes time to pick up everything in order. Just make sure that there are no errors in your SSL Certificate and nor errors when it comes to redirections, because though your traffic will come back to normal overtime, such issues can permanently hamper your rankings.
 
On your WP admin panel, go to settings -> general. There you can change your URL from http to https when your SSL certificate for the domain is activated.
 
thanks for all the tips you guys, I did it on all my sites, I knew its a 'must have' as soon as i saw competitors outrank me with shittier content, just tried to make sure i do it right so i wont mess things up,
appreciate the help
 
You don't loose position, be calm, i di this about six montha ago, and everything is the same.
 
You won't lose rankings, and you can get a SSL for free from most providers now. Just do it.
 
zionbar said:
I got the template bro yes its simple as you say, but how do i make sure i keep my rankings? is that all I can do simply redirect? do I need to update https://domain.com in webmasters tools or nah?
Click to expand...
After you do the redirection, add the https version to webmaster tool and update as many of your links to https and you should be good.

Billy Batts said:
You really don't need to edit the .htaccess file.

Once you have the SSL installed you just install this plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-ssl/ and it should all be automatic.
Click to expand...
It is always better to redirect at the server level, redirecting through wordpress is an unnecessary load on the server.
 
zionbar said:
Hey guys

So I have a competitor that always outranks me and the only difference between our sites is that his has SSL and mine dont.

I want to install SSL but am afraid to lose current rankings in SERPS. its already installed on my server i just need to redirect now.

Do I need to redirect each page of my site that has http:// to https:// in order to not lose rankings? do I need to change address via google webmaster tools? the site is on wordpress is there a quick way to do it?

thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Host on Digital Ocean and then use Cloudflare DNS. From there you can redirect all http requests to https
 
thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]
thanks, this is exactly what is happening with one of my old sites that i am afraid to put an ssl on
 
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