Will switching to https affect my SEO ranking and traffic?

[hoangvu]

Hello, I have a site around 5000 pages indexed on Google search. I don't know or never done this in the past hence how it will happen if I change my website from http to https, will it affect my SEO ranking and traffic?
If so, how to solve this problem without losing traffic and keyword positions on SERPs?

 

[SEOPub]

If you manage the change with proper redirects, the change should not have a negative impact on your rankings.

That being said, a lot can go wrong. Unless you really need https for your site, I would not do it.

 

[ericplotz1]

Hello, I have a site around 5000 pages indexed on Google search. I don't know or never done this in the past hence how it will happen if I change my website from http to https, will it affect my SEO ranking and traffic?
If so, how to solve this problem without losing traffic and keyword positions on SERPs?

My answer in this thread will be helpful for you.

Redirect and make sure you setup GWT the right way.

 

[hoangvu]

If you manage the change with proper redirects, the change should not have a negative impact on your rankings.

That being said, a lot can go wrong. Unless you really need https for your site, I would not do it.

What are proper redirects should I do?

My answer in this thread will be helpful for you.

Redirect and make sure you setup GWT the right way.

Thanks I got it

I actually experienced this exact same issue.

Did you verify all URLS in Webmaster tools? Meaning:

https://www.domainname.com
www.domainname.com
http://www.domainname.com

Then, in webmaster tools make sure you set the preferred domain name to the

https://www.domainname.com

Because the http: was the old domain, it is my experience that you will lose the SEO value unless you list all of the domains in WMT or redirects URLs to the new version.

I usually experience ranking bouncing around for a couple weeks after on-site optimizations, domain changes, or any other changes made to the site.

When I first started SEO, I had to learn to swallow hard and wait a coupe weeks after making changes.

After set the preferred domain name, I should set up a permanent 301 redirect via .htaccess? how?

 

[Localnode]

Google is now ranking websites with [URLnf="http://searchengineland.com/google-starts-giving-ranking-boost-secure-httpsssl-sites-199446"]SSL's higher[/URLnf].
They also announced some [URLnf="http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/default-non-secure-flag-for-http-coming-to-chrome?utm_content=buffera03e7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer"]changes[/URLnf] to Chrome.

After set the preferred domain name, I should set up a permanent 301 redirect via .htaccess? how?

It's quite easy. This code assumes you use Linux and have Apache as your web server.

Add this to your .htaccess file:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]
</IfModule>

If you want to have www included in the redirect it is as follows:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.(.*)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]   
</IfModule>

This assumes you're hosting on Linux, and the web server is either Apache or Litespeed. Windows hosting is a bit different, as is Nginx.

 

[shimizuyoko]

Not really. Nothing can put it's influences on your page's rank when you have the proper redirect, and that is a 301 redirect that makes everything normally set for your new address.

 

[JoseBarreiro]

Hello, I have a site around 5000 pages indexed on Google search. I don't know or never done this in the past hence how it will happen if I change my website from http to https, will it affect my SEO ranking and traffic?
If so, how to solve this problem without losing traffic and keyword positions on SERPs?

Hi,

Yes, there will be fluctuation in ranking when you will change your website from http to https. So what you should do is, you can do the proper redirection of the pages and use the canonical tags. And after some time your ranking will be back.