Mueller Explains How to Migrate from HTTP to HTTPS

Earlier in the year, Google introduced its Lightning Talks video series to replace in-person conferences.

Four of the company’s advocates — John Mueller, John Brown, Martin Splitt, and Daniel Waisberg — would cover Search topics. These include structured data, links, javascript, search console, among others.

In the latest Google Lightning Talks episode, Mueller has provided a brief introduction to HTTPS. It includes:

• How HTTPS works
• Why you should use HTTPS
• How to migrate from HTTP to HTTPS
• Common questions about HTTPS

Here’s a quick look at each section of the video.

What is HTTPS?

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) refers to a secure connection between websites and users. According to Mueller, it protects websites from unwanted activities.

4 Reasons Why Site Owners Should Use HTTPS

1. Website Security

Site owners use HTTPS primarily for security. In the video, Mueller pointed out that the secure connection provides three things — authentication, data integrity, and encryption.

1. Authentication: With a secure connection, users can be confident that they’re engaging directly with a website and not an intermediary
2. Data integrity: It refers to HTTPS’ ability to prevent data tampering. That way, users can see content as the site owners intended.
3. Encryption: HTTPS ensures the safe exchange of information between a website and its users.

The Google advocate noted that these three pillars of HTTPS are essential for a secure and trustworthy modern web.

2. Web Browser Requirement

Since HTTPS is a fundamental element of the modern web, browsers require it to access several features. These include geolocation, camera, push notifications, caching, Progressive web apps (PWA), to name a few.

3. Red “Not Secure” Label in Address Bar

The red “Not Secure” label in the browser’s address bar provides another reason to use HTTPS. Its label tells site visitors that the connection is insecure.

4. Slight Ranking Boost

According to Mueller, Google gives sites that have HTTPS a little ranking boost in search results.

However, the webmaster trend analyst pointed out that the ranking boost is “quite small.” In other words, an HTTP page can have a better ranking than an HTTPS page if its content is more relevant to the query.

How to Migrate from HTTP to HTTPS

Mueller began by stating that HTTP URLs are different from their HTTP counterparts. As such, migrating from one to the other entails redirecting all the HTTP URL to an HTTPS equivalent.

The Google advocate breaks down the migration process into the following steps:

• Set up your HTTPS site
• Verify ownership in Google Search Console
• Test the HTTPS site extensively
• Redirect all HTTP URLs to HTTPS URLs
• Monitor the migration in Google Search Console

An optional step involves setting up HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS).

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