HTTPS migration.... tips and suggestions

[willbon]

Hi all

Further to the overwhelming 'Yes... migrate from http to https' thread... just wondering if anyone had any top tips on how to do it?

.. what's the best method of migrating sites to https?.... and which level of SSL certificate do you consider the most cost effective?...

There seems to be a load of suggested 'tools' for database 'rewriting'.... anyone had any good / bad experiences with any?.. any 'top tips' to consider?

SSL certificates.... which is best?... something cheap... or will a little more spend be better for SEO?
seems to be many different types... from a 'rapid' solution to 'extended'... I'm guessing either the simple or 'domain' type SSL certs are OK for simple 'brochure' style websites (no e-commerce)

e.g.'s
Daily... https://www.daily.co.uk/ssl-certificates/index.html
GoDaddy.... https://uk.godaddy.com/web-security/ssl-certificate

Then the transfer....

e.g.'s..
https://woorkup.com/http-to-https/
https://kinsta.com/blog/http-to-https/


Anyone got any great suggestions or tips for https migration?...

Thanks Acorners... a great resource as always!

 

[dee]

Are you using a CMS ? There are a few good options for wordpress that make it easy. Like wise what host do you use ? Usually hosting provider makes it relatively straight forward and will install for you.

 

[willbon]

I'm using a standard wordpress install with 'paid for' theme ... and with the lovely Heart Internet...

I'm thinking I have to 'reload' the site after installing SSL with http replaced by https in all cases... like a database search and replace?

Is that correct?

 

[dee]

ive been using this for wordpress

https://wordpress.org/plugins/ssl-insecure-content-fixer/

Its fab. And doesnt seem to bloat the load times or anything. Another good check once your up and running.

https://www.whynopadlock.com/

Also.... dont forget to change http to https in wordpress>general settings for your blog setup.

 

[willbon]

Thanks Dee... some great resources there... I'll check them out!

 

[mibut]

https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-ssl/ takes care of everything for you

 

[willbon]

Thanks mibut....

I was looking at this as the solution... I'm glad someone else has some positive experience with it...

Thanks!

 

[willbon]

Update

Just to finish this thread... thanks for the input on this...

I can confirm that with a small WP site the 'really simple ssl' plugin above worked a treat and within the hour, the SSL cert activated and the site is now https...

result!.. and really easy!

Thanks!

 

[tocku]

I posted a similar list in the other SSL thread, but includes a few things that I've done beyond the immediate technical task of the switchover. Some/many of these things might be done at CMS or plugin level.

Before

• audit cross-domain links for SSL
• audit impact of change - your site's address is changing
• plan when to make switchover (weekend? morning? when is traffic lower?)

During

• changing hard-coded URLs from http to https (e.g. media embeds, analytics etc)
• 301 redirect all http traffic to https
• review site for mixed content errors, other errors
• update any API output
• update XML sitemaps

After

• annotate change in Google Analytics (may help you identify positive/negative effects)
• monitor server logs for 404s (not Google Analytics - won't pick up on images, JS etc)
• update email sig links to https
• add and verify https site to Google Search Console & Bing webmaster tools (+ any other, such as Baidu if you target China), submit new XML sitemaps
• change adwords/FB ad target URLs
• request that linking sites change link address to https

 

[RobM]

As pointed out by various people.
1) Click a button.
That's it - you're done