The process of transferring a website from Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to Secure Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) has lots of benefits. The trend of being online is growing every day. In this online world, your website should be enough secure to protect website data from cyberattacks.
Checkpoint research reported a 38% cyberattacks increase in 2022 globally. Also, consumers don’t share their credit card info on online sites until they feel secure. They frequently make transactions only on the trusted website
The best way to protect your website is to shift from HTTP to HTTPS. Previously, all the websites on the internet started with HTTP that used to respond to user’s searches.
But now, HTTPS is mandatory to run a website. The process of migration from HTTP to HTTPS is quite simple.
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Let’s discuss.
What is HTTPS?
HTTPS is a secure hypertext transfer protocol used to run a website securely on the internet. This adds an extra layer of security on already running websites on HTTP.
HTTP is used to provide data or website info based on the user search. This protocol runs on top of the other network layer.
The secure application protocol encrypts the website info when the user searches any website on the internet. Encryption helps to protect your data from getting accessed by third-party attackers.
The website URL starts from “https://” and is represented by a lock sign on the search engine. This lock sign is a mark of website security from third-party users.
Why Should Migrate a Website From HTTP to HTTPS?
There are many reasons for migrating a website to HTTPS. Google strictly penalizes websites that do not start with the “https://” tag. Google blocks that website from being accessed by the user.
Let’s discuss the reason
Security
The most obvious reason for HTTPS is the security of websites from cyberattacks. A website has lots of information including payment info, content, user data, etc. Hackers can use this information to harm someone’s life.
HTTPS does not guarantee 100% website security but it is a first step. You have to follow a comprehensive approach to protect your website and its database in any condition.
IBM research found that the average cost of a data breach has increased by 15% over the past three years to 2023 globally, nearing $4.45 million.
HTTPS security has six different HTTPS security certificates or SSL certificates include
- Wildcard SSL certificates
- Multi-Domain SSL certificates (MDC)
- Domain Validated certificates (DV SSL)
- Extended Validation certificates (EV SSL)
- Unified Communications Certificates (UCC)
- Organization Validated certificates (OV SSL)
These SSL certificates depend on the security you want. But one should be available on your website.
This one certificate offers encryption of the whole website and ensures two-end communication between users and the website.
Search Engine Ranking or SEO
HTTPS 100% affects your SEO, you can’t rank on Google without it. Still, if someone directly searches your website, Google will show a blank screen with “Site is Not secure” messages. This drastically affects website trust and results in a higher bounce rate.
If you are aware of Google’s algorithm, then it includes things like website trust, website authority, bounce rate, customer engagement, and frequency of users. There are other things also included but trust is important. To build Trust as per Google,
- The website should be secure from any cyberattacks
- Content should be uploaded regularly by experts
- Other security measures should include
SSL certificates are at the top of the list. Don’t start a website SEO without SSL.
Credibility Trust
To sell anything online, you have to win the trust of the customer. No one can sell a product without trust. HTTPS and other security measures are important for the security of a website. This includes DDoS protection, firewalls, and others.
If your website does not have HTTPS then Google marks a red sign on the URL. This breaks the customer’s trust and affects sales.
Meets PCI/DSS requirements
The websites that accept payment online are mandatory to install SSL certification. You can accept any payment from the website if you do not meet any requirements Payment Card Industry Security Standard Council.
Steps to migrate website From HTTP to HTTPS?
We can also say it installation of an SSL certificate on your website. Currently, most of the managed hosting provider offers SSL certificates completely free. Within a click, you can shift your website from http to https instantly.
But make sure they are not secure as genuine SSL.
Today, we are discussing a genuine method of installing SSL from scratch. This includes steps like
Step 1. Buying an SSL Certificate
If a website sells something online, they don’t go for a Free SSL certificate. Go to your website provider and search for an SSL certificate to buy Serverpoet Tech solution offers three types of SSL certificates.
There are a variety of SSL certificates available, but it is important to choose a perfect SSL certificate. For example,
- Businesses and organizations can opt for an organization validation certificate.
- Extended Validation (EV) Certificate for e-commerce sites and other sensitive platforms
- A Wildcard SSL Certificate is useful for securing multiple subdomains
- For the Office Communications Server go for a Unified Communications Certificate (UCC)
- Software developers and publishers can opt for a Code Signing Certificate
- SSL/TLS Certificate for Email (S/MIME) is used for Secure email communication
The purpose of the website is to highly influence the type of SSL certificate you buy. If you are still confused about choosing an SSL certificate, contact the Serverpoet team.
Step 2. Checking Website Compatibility
Your website compatibility is important to ensure that your website will keep running after migration. You have to check your DNS settings and the function running on the website. Make sure all of your pages are suitable to run in the same protocol.
The difficulty of website migration on HTTPS depends on the available website pages and subdomains. A small website can migrate easily within a few minutes.
If your website previously used Cloudflare for an SSL certificate, must remove it. Other external services should be compatible with the HTTPS website protocol.
Also, this involves editing your server’s configuration files (e.g., Apache’s .htaccess or Nginx configuration files).
Step 3: Enable HTTPS
After ensuring all the things are compatible to migrate HTTPS, it’s time to enable HTTPS on your website.
You need to install an SSL certificate in your website database. Whether you can add it manually by uploading codes or enable it through the hosting provider.
You have to test it after SSL installation, for that leave HTTP and HTTPS running in parallel for about 5-10 minutes. If no broken is found, you can conclude the migration.
Step 4: Update Website Links and Set up 301 Redirection
Your website is previously running on HTTP and now you are migrating it to HTTPS. So, you will find your previously used internal links are still on “HTTP” which you need to replace with “HTTPS”.
Don’t forget to Implement server-side 301 redirects to automatically redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS. This is quite helpful to redirect users that come from external URLs with HTTP tags.
You should change internal links including links to pages, resources like images, scripts, and stylesheets, and any APIs your site uses. Also, notify any third-party services you use (such as analytics, CDNs, and external APIs) of the change to HTTPS.
Updating all the internal and external links is important to avoid redundant redirecting.
Step 5: Update the robot.txt file with the Search Console
A search console is an application that uses URLs and code to read the pages. You may notice some variation in collected data by the search console in the case of both HTTP and HTTPS.
You have to set up a new Google search console with an HTTPS URL.
Make sure your XML sitemap should also be new with all the HTTPS URLs. This helps the console to track the data that you will now start receiving on the “HTTPS” URL.
Step 6: Renew SSL on Time
After completing website migration from HTTP to HTTPS, you should renew it on time. Choose your SSL certificate plans wisely. Most of the time the renewal prices of service provider companies are higher than the main buying price.
You can set auto renewal for the SSL certificate. Serverpoet also offers consultation to find out which plan is best for you.
Find Which SSL Certificate Plan To Choose
We feel secure after installing a free SSL certificate. But we do not know how it will make an impact on our website. SSL certificate is important but websites with sensitive information require better security and a strong SSL certificate.
For that, you can get help from the Serverpoet team to select an SSL certificate for your website based on your requirements. If you also want to migrate your website from HTTP to HTTPS, our server experts offer complete help.
Also, check out Serverpoet’s pricing for SSL certificates.
We are offering three different plans to make your website including positive, wildcraft, and EV SSL. We also offer a free SSL certificate with our hosting.
Conclusion
Shifting a website from HTTP to HTTPS is quite important to secure your website, improve trust, and get ranks on Google. There are other multiple benefits of HTTPS protocol. The migration from HTTP to HTTPS will not take more than 15 minutes. Most hosting provider offers SSL certificate services as their own. You just need to select the right plan for the SSL certificate. Our experts will help to choose the right SSL plan.
FAQs
No, an SSL certificate or HTTPS protocol is a really important security measure for SEO perspective and secure data transmission. The HTTPS protocol encrypts website info from being shared with a third party. This ensures a two-end communication between users and the website. For comprehensive security, you have to implement additional security measures like regular updates, strong passwords, and security plugins.
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is useful to encrypt data transmission between a user’s browser and a website’s server. It uses SSL/TLS protocols to create a secure and encrypted connection. This encryption safeguards sensitive information such as login credentials and payment details from potential tampering during transmission.
Free SSL certificates only provide basic encryption. They are suitable for many small websites, but not good for websites with sensitive information. The sensitive info website includes businesses, e-commerce, applications, gaming, banking, etc. They required higher-level certificates (e.g., Extended Validation certificates) for better security.
Whether you use a plugin or control panel to implement a 301 redirect. The 301 redirection ensures all traffic is redirected from HTTP to HTTPS. In Apache, add the redirect rule to your .htaccess file. In Nginx, update your server block configuration. For other platforms, consult your server’s documentation for specific instructions.
If your website is on an Apache server, you can use mod_rewrite or configure virtual hosts. In Nginx, adjust server blocks. In IIS, use the URL Rewrite module. You can also get help from the web server’s documentation for specific instructions.
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