HTTPS Migration: Google Search Console Now Warns You When Something Goes Wrong

As we reported a few weeks ago, Google Chrome now flags HTTP sites as “Not secure,” which pushes site owners to move their sites from HTTP to HTTPS. But an HTTPS migration carries real SEO risk if it’s rushed. The good news: to help you avoid disaster (broken links, incorrect redirects, and so on), Google Search Console now warns you when it detects errors.

HTTP < HTTPS

Google wants to offer its users a more secure web. To get there, the search giant is determined to make HTTPS the standard.

Secure sites have been marked with a padlock for years, but Google has always made it clear it wanted to go further. That’s why, starting in January 2017, Chrome began labeling HTTP pages that collect sensitive information, such as passwords or credit card numbers, as “Not secure.”

A few weeks ago, in July 2018, Google took the next step: Chrome now shows the same label on every HTTP site, without exception, from the most complex to the simplest.

If you needed one more reason to switch to HTTPS, this is it!

Google Search Console to the Rescue

As mentioned above, a few errors can slip into the process and disrupt the transition. These errors can be costly, because they can hurt your organic search performance. A move to HTTPS is a site migration in its own right, with many of the same risks as a website redesign.

Aware of the problem, Google has added a new feature to Search Console: it can now detect a range of issues caused by an HTTPS migration and notify you about them. That should limit the damage. (Our Google Search Console guide covers the reports worth checking today.)

301 Redirects, and Nothing Else!

For a successful migration, Google’s John Mueller recently advised using 301 redirects rather than 303 or other redirect types. 301 redirects send Google the right signals, which makes the switch easier and faster.

Not sure how to migrate to HTTPS, or worried about getting tangled up in redirects? Référenceur, a French-speaking SEO agency from Belgium and Luxembourg, helps U.S. businesses with site migrations remotely, through video calls and shared screens. Get a free assessment.