# HTTP to HTTPS migration

Category: [Relaunch & Migration](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/relaunch-migration/) › [Types of migration](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/relaunch-migration/types-of-migration/)

An **HTTP to HTTPS migration** moves a website from unencrypted HTTP to HTTPS. Search engines treat `http://` and `https://` versions as different URLs, so every URL changes and the old ones need a permanent redirect.

## What does the migration involve?
The migration needs a TLS certificate, permanent redirects from HTTP to HTTPS and updated references in canonicals, sitemaps and hreflang. The individual checks are listed in the checklist below.

Google states that the Change of Address tool is not needed for HTTP to HTTPS moves on the same domain. That tool is for moves between domains or subdomains.

## Does HTTPS affect rankings?
Google's Search Central Blog called HTTPS a "very lightweight signal" for ranking in 2014, carrying less weight than signals such as high-quality content. web.dev describes HTTPS as a positive search quality indicator (article from 2015). The current page experience documentation lists "Are your pages served in a secure fashion?" as a self-check question and states that, beyond Core Web Vitals, other page experience aspects don't directly help a site rank higher. A migration alone therefore does not reliably change positions, and short-term fluctuations can occur while Google processes the move.

## Example
An Apache rule that redirects all HTTP requests:

```apache
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]
```

## Checklist
The items follow web.dev ("Enabling HTTPS on your servers") and Google's site-move documentation.

- A TLS certificate from a certificate authority is installed on the server.
- Every HTTP URL redirects to its HTTPS version with a server-side 301.
- Canonical tags, XML sitemaps and hreflang annotations name the HTTPS URLs.
- Internal links are relative or protocol-independent, so no mixed content (HTTP resources on an HTTPS page) appears.
- The `Strict-Transport-Security` (HSTS) header is set only when the setup is stable, because web.dev warns that it blocks access if certificate validation fails.
- Cookies carry the Secure flag.
- The server configuration is tested with a tool such as the Qualys SSL Server Test that web.dev mentions.
- Practical experience: the HTTPS version of the site is set up in Search Console and monitored.

## Related terms

- [HTTPS](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/https/index.md)
- [HSTS](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/hsts/index.md)
- [Mixed content](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/mixed-content/index.md)
- [301 redirect](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/301-redirect/index.md)
- [Canonical tag](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/canonical-tag/index.md)
- [Website migration](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/website-migration/index.md)
- [Domain migration](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/domain-migration/index.md)

## Sources

- [Site moves with URL changes – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes)
- [Enabling HTTPS on your servers – web.dev](https://web.dev/articles/enable-https)
- [HTTPS as a ranking signal – Google Search Central Blog (August 2014)](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal)
- [Understanding page experience in Google Search results – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/page-experience)
- [Change of Address tool – Search Console Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9370220)

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Last updated: October 8, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/http-to-https-migration/