Is it a good idea to migrate from HTTP to HTTPS and changing URL structure at the same time?

by 17 replies
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There are several reports of migration to HTTPS (using 301 redirects and HSTS) without an impact to rankings (no fluctations)

Since that seems like changing URL structure I'm thinking to migrate Cost of Living in Berlin. Prices Updated Sep 2016

to more friendly URLs like https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Berlin
and
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...-United-States

But google kind of do not recommend changing URL structure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL4sdTcUJzo#t=1301
(they say fluctuations are possible)

Are there some recent tests (user cases) which shows that it might not a good idea to migrate URL structure and only do HTTP to HTTPS URL change?

SeoMoz to Moz migration showed that 301 change of domains and URLs went very smoothly.
#search engine optimization #changing #http #https #migration #structure #time #url
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  • Unless you have a valid reason for doing so, like your company changed its name and it is a well known brand, I'm not sure what the point is in doing this.

    As far as HTTP vs. HTTPS goes, it's a waste of time and won't help your pages rank any better. The only sites that need secure pages are ones that collect private information or, to be more specific, only the pages of a site that collect information that needs to be secure.

    Not sure if this was a real question of just a way of planting links to your site all over the place. If it was, that is also a waste of time because all links from this forum are nofollowed.
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    • Right, but I thought supposedly HTTPS were supposed to be better in google's eyes now?
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  • The answer to your query is -- PROPER REDIRECTION.

    Moving to HTTPS is not a bad idea. If properly redirected, there should be no impact on search. The shift to a pretty link is also a smart move for the long run. However, make sure each old URL is properly redirected to the new one.
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    • I agree with this. It's all about proper 301 redirection. It would take time for Google to "understand' and incorporate all of your changes but in the long run, it should normalize.

      However, it's advisable to make drastic changes in stages - i.e. not at the same time. HTTP to HTTPS migration and URL structure changes are both pretty major changes so I would do one, wait a while to normalize, before doing the other. Just my 2 cents.
  • First of all it has nothing to do with rankings okay!
    Now, the reason why the other websites are shifting their URL from HTTP to HTTPS is the collection of their data or information in which must be protected by encrypting the file in a way that is very hard to crack.
    Some people are using it to rank their site in which is not TRUE at all.
  • Last year Google called on webmasters to switch their sites over to secure HTTPS. They even called HTTPS a .
    Although not a super-strong correlation, I do think that HTTPS correlated with higher rankings on Google’s first page.
    Does this mean you should make the switch to HTTPS today? Obviously, the decision is yours. But switching your site to HTTPS is a serious project that can cause serious technical headaches.
    Before you make the plunge to HTTPS, check out these guidelines from Google.

    Because the association between HTTPS and ranking wasn’t especially strong — and the fact that switching to HTTPS is a resource-intensive project — I don’t recommend switching to HTTPS solely for SEO. But if you’re launching a new site, you want to have HTTPS in place on day one.

    Listen What the Big G says

    "HTTPS sites receive a small ranking boost, but don't expect a visible change. Google uses HTTPS as a positive ranking signal. This signal is one amongst many others, and currently carries less weight than high-quality site content; you should not expect a major SEO advantage for moving to HTTPS in the short term. In the longer term, Google may increase the strength of the HTTPS boost."
  • Dave, the question is real (I'm not a spam bot, lol).

    Opinions look mixed to me.

    I understand that HTTPS is a very minor ranking factor, so it's questionable to do a migration or not, unless you deal with a private information of users.

    I understand that rarely websites have seen an improvement for URL changes (in the short run at least).

    The problem is that this website has a better user behavior than the competition (according to Alexa and higher domain rank according to OpenSiteExplorer) but recently the competition ranks better, so I'd like to fix possible cause (which I don't know but could only guess).
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    • It's not "rarely". It's never. Nobody has reported improved rankings (publicly verifiable) after making the switch. Nobody.

      I would not base anything on Alexa or OpenSiteExplorer. Alexa's data is alway inaccurate. OSE is awful at finding links compared to other products out there.

      Even if Alexa was accurate, user behavior really is not a ranking factor. The only "user behavior" that I would say is a ranking factor is when someone clicks on a listing in a SERP, hits the back button in their browser, and then picks another listing. That could be a sign to Google that they did not find what they were looking for in the first listing.
  • We have moved to https and have not seen any effect in traffic. For an online shop it is quite important to put customer protection first. So if people buy products on your site, then move to https anyway.
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    • Banned


      You're forum sig. link/site is using shopify so they're handling the money transaction.

      Not sure what you're trying to secure on your own site. What's left?
  • Frankly I think Google put that out there more for the future than now. Its presently a small factor - too small to mess with your entire site. Plus as we have seen here in this forum before it takes some experience and skill in server tech to do it right
  • Yup. Many (most?) people here are involved with smaller sites that use 3rd party payment processors, like PayPal - they don't have their own merchant account and aren't having credit card information passed around. Third party payment processors like PayPal are already secured - when a site visitor checks out of a site they're sent off to PayPal where they enter financial information.

    Every site doesn't gain anything by using https.
  • One other thing to consider when thinking about HTTPS is that starting 2017, Google Chrome will give a warning every time someone tries to access your site, telling that the site is not secure. That might (probably) turn people away from your site, and you may want to avoid that.
    • [2] replies

    • You have a source for that?

      I have not seen that.

      If it is an intrusive warning, like a popup message that you have to click to continue, I bet it will turn people away from Chrome.
    • I think this is not correct. Afaik, one of unstable or beta versions of Chrome had a instead of "Info" or "Secure" icons left to the link, a "Warning" icon that this site is not using a secure connection. Not a big deal after all. Why would they show a "Warning" icon if the website is info website about dogs (which doesn't take credit card ;-)?
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  • We did it and nothing very bad happened but we haven't seen an increase in rankings within first 2 months. Maybe now we have an improvement but it is too early to tell and it could be algorithm shift rather than 3 months old change.

    For another website where we did only http to https migation with simple 301, we've seen an small improvement within a week.
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