HTTPS and Google Serps

[Webzcas]

Hi all, long time no post. I hope Andy it is okay to post this here, as I believe, my own experience which is ongoing and that of others, will be beneficial to the community as a whole.

This past week I bought and installed an SSL Certificate for my oldest site. Anyhow, after configuring the site to use the certificate, sorting out all the 301 redirects and other 'backend stuff', I started to see on Friday evening my serps in google take a nose dive, ala Tom Daly style.

So instead of moping and pulling out what remaining hairs I have left on my head, I decided to turn this into a positive experience. Hence I have started a video diary of the whole experience. Starting with the entry I recorded today for my YouTube channel.

Which you can view below.

I am really interested in getting any feedback from any webmaster that has gone through this process of converting their site to use https. Hopefully this diary of videos I will be putting together will become a good learning resource for webmasters yet to go through what is currently a painful process.

 

[bonustreak]

Very informative and interesting video Dave thanks for sharing and I hope it all works out for you.. I think once all the redirects settle you will see the SERPS come back up.. Crossing my fingers for you!

 

[edgarf76]

good post. Like Bonusstreak said once everything redirects it should work back for you. The Mozcast was high this week and there has been a lot of changes in the SERPS this past week anyway. Good Luck!

 

[RyanWeb]

Interesting, looking forward to your follow up videos..

Also, while 301 helps with this (there is note of some page authority loss if you rely only on 301 in terms of backlinks), have you updated your backlinks (such as the one here in your sig, on your twitter account and others around the net) to the new https address? As per Google, when you 301 a site to a new address, you should manually update as many backlinks to the new address as possible. That could help G see your "new" https site as the site of authority and help bring your rankings back faster..

 

[Webzcas]

Hi Ryan,

Agreed. Most of the sites' main authoritative back links are relative ie. without the http protocol. Just the url starting with www.

Indeed this is best practice for all sites,using relative links and not absolute paths for your links.

 

[RyanWeb]

Hi Ryan,

Agreed. Most of the sites' main authoritative back links are relative ie. without the http protocol. Just the url starting with www.

Indeed this is best practice for all sites,using relative links and not absolute paths for your links.

Aw nice, I guess that was smart.. I used absolute paths for all of mine, so I guess I would have a bit more work to do.. Keep us posted on how things turn out, always an interesting subject

 

[Guard Dog]

Great video. I certainly hope everything is just taking time and will [at the very least] get back to previous rankings. I would think https would help gain a little to be honest, but will watch the next in the video series.

 

[ARZ]

Thanks for the video.

Personally I would expect the HTTPS will help you in the SERP, I was thinking about it too, but at this time it is not nesessary on aff site from my point of view. Google itself announced a small SERP boost when upgrading to HTTPS and I hope the results will go back where they were before upgrade. Maybe google just needs a bit more time to realise the change. Good luck!

 

[Webzcas]

Brief update on this. I am starting to see my rankings return to where they were before I installed SSL on my site. Video to follow.....

 

[Webzcas]

Quick Update Video. But things looking promising

 

[ARZ]

Glad to hear it, I´m happy it went fine in the final, otherwise it would be pointless for affs

Thank you for sharing this info with us.

 

[RyanWeb]

Sounds like positive news... Hope it keeps going in that direction! Am in the process or launching a new site, and have been thinking I should implement https from the start.. Thanks for the update!

 

[ARZ]

If you have the opportunity to start a brand new site with HTTPS, seems like a good choice

 

[Webzcas]

Final video in the series:

 

[inspiration]

You have some more work to IMO than you normally would expect.

Your backlinks point to the original http not https on big portals like Online Casino City etc.

If you have these changed you will see a drop again but it will come back quicker.

The https is not the best solution if you have it on WP.

The quality links pointing to your site are of much more value than this "SEO" transition and this redirect is not great if you want to fight the negative seo (links).

Just my 2 cents.

 

[AussieDave]

The https is not the best solution if you have it on WP.

Please explain why?

For the record, I changed over to SSL a few months back on 1 of my WP sites. Which btw it's just not a matter of adding your SSL keys to cPanel, you need to add htaccess http > https redirects to image folder etc. Anyway like webzcas, I experienced a slight drop in serps for a week or so, then they bounced back again with better placements.

Given ALL WP sites have a login area, most have a comment section and some have a contact form, and the fact Google now grades SSL as one of their scores, it would seem wise to install SSL on WP...

 

[Webzcas]

You have some more work to IMO than you normally would expect.

Your backlinks point to the original http not https on big portals like Online Casino City etc.

If you have these changed you will see a drop again but it will come back quicker.

The https is not the best solution if you have it on WP.

The quality links pointing to your site are of much more value than this "SEO" transition and this redirect is not great if you want to fight the negative seo (links).

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the feedback, I do appreciate it.

With regards the high value links, yes I agree with you and I plan to ask Michael to change the link on Online Casino City from the absolute path of http --> https. But you need not do this on ALL links. Just a handful of high value links. Why? Because the 301 redirect tells google and other search engines, that 'hey my site has moved here, please pass the juice'.

However, with regards your opinion on using SSL certificates on sites using a CMS such as wordpress, I completely disagree with you and believe you are misinforming the community.

Bet4You has pretty much nailed it. ( It was also Bet4You that advised me to go down the SSL route - Thanks Bud ) Whether you like it or not, SSL with HTTPS and ultimately HSTS is the way the internet is moving towards. It's good practice to do it sooner, rather than later. As long as your site regardless of what CMS system or not in some cases, you may use is configured so it serves pages quickly and efficiently, you won't have any negative traction on your overall serps. But that is my opinion and so far my site is proving this to be the case.

The big issue I have, which I allude to in the third video, is the issue of Negative SEO. Which I am actively working on at the moment.

 

[AussieDave]

The big issue I have, which I allude to in the third video, is the issue of Negative SEO.

That's one BIG issue right there. I'm looking forward to your take, suggestions and any other insights you have, in the upcoming vid
I've disavowed a heap of dirty links a few weeks back, all pointing back to DOCH home page (must have pissed a casino or aff program off)...

 

[Webzcas]

That's one BIG issue right there. I'm looking forward to your take, suggestions and any other insights you have, in the upcoming vid
I've disavowed a heap of dirty links a few weeks back, all pointing back to DOCH home page (must have pissed a casino or aff program off)...

Just as likely an affiliate or affiliates as well. I am guessing that is where a lot of my toxic links originated from. Obviously don't like your rankings. Take it as a compliment

 

[inspiration]

Imo it is worth the effort if you have invested a lot in your money sites. If you can increase the load time then you have gained an advantage above your competitors. I wish you all the best with your site.