When you move your site to ssl, you have to adjust your settings in Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools/Search Console accordingly. It’s not much work, but it’s important you fix it. In short, you need to set your primary domain in both Webmaster Tools as in Google analytics to your https domain. I’ll discuss Search Console first, but it really doesn’t matter in which order you do it.
Webmaster Tools / Search Console
In Google Search Console (Google Webmaster Tools), you should add the https variant, and you should set it to your preferred domain as well. You should add all variants of your domain:
- http://domain.com
- http://www.domain.com
- https://domain.com
- https://www.domain.com
If you don’t know how to add a new property, follow these instructions from Google.
As you will have for properties for each site, you can also create a set, in which you bundle all properties for one domain. To create a set, click the “create a set” button to the right of the red “create property” button.
The preferred domain should match the one in the general settings of WordPress, the site url. To set as your preferred domain, do the following:
- On the Search Console Home page, click the site you want.
- Click the gear icon, and then click Site Settings.
- In the Preferred domain section, select the option you want.
Google Analytics
After you move to SSL, you should change your domain in Google Analytics to https. This way, GA starts registering your hits again. I would recommend using the .htaccess redirect if you’re on apache. GA might not register hits if the site is not redirecting properly to https.
The language on the screenshots is not English, but it will look the same in English.
To update the GA settings, in Google Analytics, first go to your website dashboard, and click the cogwheel at the bottom, “Admin” .
Now there are two urls that need to be changed. For tracking, only the url under “view settings” appears to be important, but I would change both anyway. So first, click “property settings”, and change the default url. Then click “view settings” and change the website url.
Now, change the protocol to https for both url’s
That’s it! Your site is now correctly configured for SSL.
If Really Simple SSL fixed your issues and/or saved you time, you might consider buying the premium plugin to support the continuing development of the plugin. You’ll get some great additional features, like HTTP strict Transport Security, the SSL certificate expiration warning and premium support.
122 Comments
Noumaan
I think users don’t need to add preferred URL in Google Search Console (webmaster tools) any more. Also I can’t find the option to select https variant. Indexing HTTPS pages by default
Rogier Lankhorst
Reading that article, I’d agree that Google does it’s ranking of http and https automatically, but in Google Search Console, you are encouraged to 1) add all versions of your site, and 2) set a preferred domain. See also this article of Google https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34592?hl=en. To select the https variant, add it first as site, then set it as preferred domain.
Kathy Fisher
If I previously added my site to Google Search console as http, so I have to make an entirely new entry in Google Search console to add it as https?
Thank you!
Rogier Lankhorst
Yes, you add it as a separate property. It seems a bit strange, but that’s how Google like’s it 🙂
Palash Madakwar
I hate that, now I have 4 properties in search console for just one website.
Rogier Lankhorst
New in search console is that you can group properties, which is a great improvement.
Jaison
How can I group properties ..I could not find that option.Please explain
Mark Wolters
Hi Jaison,
you can find information on grouping properties and how to do it here:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6338828?hl=en
Good luck!
Mark
Richie
why are we encouraged to do this – does it help seo?
Mark Wolters
Hi Richie,
this is mainly done because it is a best practice defined by Google. This way Google knows what your main domain is and setting up the multiple domains ensures you don’t miss any hits on your website which came through another domain than your primary.
Mark
Carrol
You have to change to ssl link in Google Webmaster or stats are not recorded,
Erin Pavlicek
Thank you so much, Rogier! This was a fantastic article, super easy, and very helpful! So grateful to you for all your work and services!
Barbara DiLucchio
Hi Rogier,
Does it matter whether I change the domain to https in Google Analytics first or Search Console first? Looking at the screen shots it looks like search console was done first but I want to be sure.
Thanks very much,
Barbara
Rogier Lankhorst
No, the order doesn’t matter.
Felix
I was change to https by let’s encrypt, but when I browse to my website, it does not appear blue locks. Pls help me. Tks.
Rogier Lankhorst
Comments here should be related to this article. Please post specific support questions on the forums, or send me a mail. As to your question: you probably still have mixed content. To fix, follow these steps: https://really-simple-ssl.com/knowledge-base/how-to-track-down-mixed-content-or-insecure-content/
Katia
Rogier,
Even though I didn’t change this yet in Google Analytics, it does still count views on my website. One question I do have is, if I change http to https in GA, will I loose the historical analytics of the http address?
Thanks for your help.
Katia
Rogier Lankhorst
Hi Katia,
On the sites I did the migration for, the historical data is kept after the change to https. Even if your hits are still registered, it’s better to let Google know what your primary url is.
Leana
Hello,
At the Google Search Console, I only got to enter the first variant of my site’s name and now I don’t understand how to verify it or how t enter the other versions. Such as http://www..etc or https:… I’m not understanding the Google Analytics portion of how to proceed with the real simple SSL plug in? Please help?
Thank you
Rogier Lankhorst
You can just add a new property in Google Search Console. I’ve added a link to Google instructions how to do this to the article. As for Google Analytics, if you follow the steps described in the article, you should be fine. Is there anything in these steps that is not clear?
Saul C.
Thanks for the article! One question: Do we have to add a new property in Google Analytics with https instead? Or is making the switch from http to https as you described here all we need to do? I followed the article, and in analytics it still shows at the top http://mydomain.com instead of https. Is this normal? I have it set to https as you showed here but just want to clarify that this is all I need to do, or if I should add another property in analytics. Your clarification will be appreciated!!
-Saul
Rogier Lankhorst
It sounds like you’ve done it right. Is it possible the name of your property is “http://domain.com”? the name doesn’t have to contain the protocol, it’s just a descriptive name.
Hanif Adnan
Hello, i already add all 4 variant URL to Webmaster and those are verified. But…i don’t know how to set one of the https domains as “preferred domain”. Can you help please ?
Rogier Lankhorst
I’ve updated the article with instructions how to set a domain as preferred domain.
Thomas Baruah
Thanks for this amazing Plugin and Tips also 😀
Martine Loeffen
Hi there!
Thanks for a great plugin!
One question tho: after reactivating the plugin in WP 4.7.1, the “SSL activated! Don’t forget to change your settings in Google Analytics en Webmaster tools. More info.” message in my admin section has lost it’s x to close it.
I’m very happy it’s all working, but I’d like to get rid of the message 😉 Saving the settings didn’t help.
Any tips welcome, tia!
Martine
Rogier Lankhorst
Hi,
I have tested it with the latest beta release from WordPress, and it works without problems. In some cases the x is hidden behind the “help” dropdown.
Satruk
its true if using ssl/https, we can using histats?
Rogier Lankhorst
I don’t really know histats, but I wouldn’t know why not.
Jonathan
Awesome, thank you! 🙂
mike
Nice plug in. Thanks for explanation on how to update console and analytics.
Fernand
Amazing piece of information right here. Thank you so much!
John Taylor
Erg bedank Rogier, er zijn veel mensen dier dit vergeten.
Grt.
John.
Isa Joe
Thanks Rogier for this wonderful plugin, just followed the link via the plugin and i gained alot of knowledge regarding the SSL certificate and verification on google. Going to google webmaster tools to ensure everything is verified.
Marques
First of all, thanks a lot for making such a wonderful plugin. I used clouflare free ssl & then installed your plugin. Everything is working fine as of now. So, do I need to change anything in Htaccess file?
Rogier Lankhorst
I checked your redirect on the http domain, it is already 301 redirected. So you’re fine.
Nick
Hi Rogier,
Seems my site is SSL Safe on the backend (dashboard) but not on the front end?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Rogier Lankhorst
I can see a 301 redirect to https, and a nice secure lock on your site. Looks fine to me!
Denilson de Andrade Pereira
I understood that I must create property all my URLs in case 4. Well, my site had as main URL http: // www on it was my site map and my international follow up. Now my main URL is https: // www and here is my question. Do I have to leave the map site in the new URL and do the international follow-up configuration only for https: // www?
Rogier Lankhorst
Yes, I would reset all these to your new url, that’s the best.
Denilson de Andrade Pereira
After switching to https I see my website disappearing from Google searches.
Rogier Lankhorst
Websites that have a 301 redirect (you can check here: http://www.redirect-checker.org/)
normally are back in Google in a few days.
Denilson de Andrade Pereira
Hello! I tested in Redirect Checker and received this information Error: in URLs found how should I proceed? Help me please. I find it strange because in my .htaccess file a 301 redirect is created after installing Really Simple SSSL
Rogier Lankhorst
Can you mail me the domain at rogier (at) really-simple-ssl.com?
Denilson de Andrade Pereira
Sent with subject: My domains.
Denilson de Andrade Pereira
Hello Rogier! My sites are already normalizing and increasing in Google searches. Already started to have an increase of more than 50%. Thank you very much.
Rogier Lankhorst
Glad to hear that 🙂
Maurizio Mau
Hi and thanks for your plugin, work well, easily installed SSL, but now i lose over 50% of my traffic, and some keyword drop, any suggestion to fix ?
I would not go back.
Best Regards
Rogier Lankhorst
If you have a 301 redirect, your traffic and ranking should normally be back in a few days, as all ranking will get transferred to the new domain. You can check this on http://www.redirect-checker.org/
Muhammad Kholiq
How to Fix website are ready in google console??
Rogier Lankhorst
You can just add the https://www.domain.com and https://domain.com properties to the existing ones.
Rubin
Hello Rogier,
Thank you for your explanation.
You also say that we should set the preferered domain. However, we can’t choose the https version. See screenshot:
http://imgur.com/9aDhXzU
So should I just pick domain.com without https as the preferered domain?
Rogier Lankhorst
Yes, you’re right. Just choose the domain that reflects your home_url in WordPress. So if your site is https://domain.com, choose domain.com as preferred domain.
Marc
Thank you for this article and this plugin. That plugin was recommended by GoDaddy when I migrated 5 domains under SSL and it worked successfully.
eslam desouky
After switching to https I see my website disappearing from Google searches.
only appear in google usa
note : i didnot put ant international target but i found that this site put to preferd domain www.
now i changed to non preferd domains
any advise ?
Rogier Lankhorst
In my experience a site will drop from rankings for a few days after moving to SSL. Then it’s back again.
eslam desouky
thanks i found that when it was on http i was making preferd for www
after upgrading to https i kept it with the www and that was the big mistake for my experience because google was targiting http://www.domain.com even after upgrading
then i made 2 sites https://www.domain.com and https://domain.com
then i removed the targiting to non www or any in just 24h i found my site again the first page like always
Car Tracker - gpskar
very very nice… thank you
rukhs
Hi,
I found it working cool but all my facebook shares and pins are gone from post. I am afraid all that vanish as it all done to http:// ?
I have checked through http://www.redirect-checker.org/index.php as it said everything is fine. Can you guide me little bit, don’t want to loose my sharing stats, as it is very good for new visitors.
Rogier Lankhorst
To recover your facebook likes you have to do a patch: https://really-simple-ssl.com/knowledge-base/how-to-recover-facebook-likes-after-moving-to-httpsssl/
Gillian McAven
Really simple SSL worked immediately! I had previously tried to get a result with just using plugin Insecure content fixer…that didnt work at all. so this is fantastic Then in the search console I followed your above instructions to add another property for the https version. I also changed the protocol in analytics. It seemed to generate another duplicate verification number…I thought it would be different…but I uploaded that, just overwrote the file. Then I could not set the preferred version to https. it now says I have to reverify the http version but not sure how to regenerate that again … and then just to complicate matters, (I do have a multi-site) in my yoast, I tried to generate a new sitemap but it went to a 404 page. umm. Any ideas would be gratefully accepted. Oh and you will see pageIDs in my site because the theme HeatMap got stuck and I could not activate the template I wanted, using postname permalink. But that is another issue so just ignore that.. thanks!
Rogier Lankhorst
To verify your site you can in most cases just click “verify” in Google analytics. As you already have done so before, you will still have the html file on your site. As for the 404, try re-saving the permalinks in settings/permalinks, or just retry it in Yoast.
BJ Wright
We have all 4 variants submitted into Search Console (http://, https://, http://www, https://www). My question is specific to selecting the preferred domain. Within my preferred profile (https://), I will select my preferred domain as mysite.com. But in the case of the other 3 profiles, does this mean i need to use the ‘Don’t set a preferred domain’. Even though it’s not differentiated within Search Console to use the https:// version of our site.
At the moment I have all 4 profiles setting the preferred domain as mysite.com and I just wasn’t sure if I need to change this given which profile it stems from? Or if this even matters?
Rogier Lankhorst
I would set the preferred domain for all properties, just to make sure.
Ibrahim
Thank You so much you solved my problem .Very easy and good article.
Yiannis
Thank you very much Rogier,
very nice article and replies on comments, both helped me set up this correctly and save some or alot of time 🙂
RS Pandey
Very sincerely Thanks Rogier Lankhorst for such an elaborate and easy to implement article on the subject. It helped me a lot in a successful migration from http to https.
Donna McBroom-Theriot
When I go to the search console it tells me to download a file after I’ve put my domain in. Where do I upload the file in Workpress?
Rogier Lankhorst
You can just put it in the root of your site, where you see the wp-config.php file as well.
Donna McBroom-Theriot
I do not know where to find that.
Rogier Lankhorst
You need to connect to your site using FTP, then you can look for the folder where the wordpress files are, like wp-config.php, wp-content, etc. That is the web root.
Donna McBroom-Theriot
Thanks. This is greek to me. I’m totally lost.
Rogier Lankhorst
See this site for more information on connecting with FTP. Otherwise you can contact support of your hosting company.
https://codex.wordpress.org/Using_FileZilla
Diana
Thanks for the article, it was exactly what I was looking for!
Duke
i have added all 4 variations for examp;le, 1- https://www,domain.com 2- https://domain.com, 3- http://www.domain.com and 4- http://domain.com. Kindly assist me, on which propertly i have to set my preffered domain? Thanks.
Rogier Lankhorst
It’s best to choose the domain used when you load the website. This is configured in settings/general.
Jan Liška
Thank you so much for your great plugin Really Simple SSL and for this article. I’m using the plugin on my two domains (my main web about photography and also at a photo blog website). Both – this article and your plugin – saved me so much time! Thanks a lot for such a great job! 🙂
mike
English screenshots would be good 🙂
Rogier Lankhorst
I’ll try to create some English ones 😉
Stefan Sprick
Hi Rogier,
Just one question about the Plugin Redirect. I use a http://www.domain.de. So it takes two Redirects from http:// to https:// to https://www.domain.de. Is there any way to fix this to one redirect? So the http:// directly goes to https://www.
Sincerely,
Stefan
Rogier Lankhorst
Hi Stefan,
You can add another .htaccess redirect, which redirectings from http to https://www directly. You can use this article:
https://really-simple-ssl.com/knowledge-base/redirect-non-www-to-www-domains-in-htaccess/
Stefan Sprick
Hey Roger,
Do i have to simply put the second code below the normal https redirection or do i have to just use the code alone?
Stefan
Rogier Lankhorst
If you put it at the top of the .htaccess, it will work best.
Stefan Sprick
Okay thanks Rogier, it worked perfect.
Sincerely,
Stefan
Karin Jonkers
Hi Rogier,
How about the different verification codes? I have verified the https property with a meta tag and put this code in the Yoast plugin. This is ok. I cannot set the prefered domain yet, so I guess I need to add the other properties too.
Question:
When I create the other properties, I need to verify these again (so 4 verification codes??). In the Yoast plugin I can add just one verification code, or not? Should I add all verification codes to the head section in WordPress? Can you please help? I really don’t know how to fix this. Thanks a lot for your help and the plugin. Karin
Rogier Lankhorst
You can use the same verification code for all properties on one website, so if you verified one, the rest can be added quickly.
Karin Jonkers
Thanks Rogier. Sometimes things are so easy, just clicking on ‘verify.’
Stalyn
Thanks for the heads up.
The Blogger World
Really helpfull article Thank you so much.
Vasiliy
Hi Rogier!
On your screenshots from GA you change View settings, but not Property ones.
Should I change to ‘https’ in Property Settings too? Or is View enough?
Rogier Lankhorst
Hi Vasily, I think it’s best to change both of them.
Marcus Rockey
Thanks for the analytics walk through. Would have forgotten that step otherwise.
Marcus
Angela Beasley
Thanks for this information!
Debbie
HI!
Thanks for helping us 🙂 Can you check my site if im doing the right thing? Is it supposed to be redirecting to different sites?
i checked my site via pingdom and this is one of the reports
Remove the following redirect chain if possible
thank you.
Rogier Lankhorst
Hi Debbie,
Those results are all resources that are loaded by your site. You have some ads loading, these URLs contain redirects. There’s nothing you can do about that, apart from removing the ads.
Yosh
Hi Rogier,
Thanks for your info, very helpful.
I have a question for you. I see you change the protocol to https in Google Analytics/View Settings/Website’s URL. How about this in Google Analytics/Property Settings/Default URL? Do you also change from http:// to https:// there?
Rogier Lankhorst
I think it is best to change that one also, so I have updated the screenshots and instructions to match. Thanks for the feedback.
rohit agstam
i add https version of my site in web master but it not verify that i tried alot both meta tag codes are same for http and https but http version is verified bit now htpps in not verifying error The connection to your server timed out. what to do now
Mark Wolters
Hi,
it seems your site is working fine over https://. Do you use any caching plugins? You could try clearing and/or disabling those. You could also try to use one of the other methods listed on https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35179?hl=en to verify ownership.
If you keep experiencing problems I would suggest to contact Google about this.
Mark
Iadranca Crisan
Hi there,
I recently added https and https://www properties in Console and my admin advised me to delete old ones, http and http://www, so I deleted them… and I have second thoughts, especially because I have issues when posting articles on my Facebook page.
After deleting the 2 old properties (http and http://www), can I add them again?
Thnak you
Mark Wolters
Hi,
Yes, you should be able to add them again.
Mark
Ali
The contact form on this site isn’t working and this page is linked by the notification so I’ll post here. Since the last update your plugin’s notification in the admin area won’t go away that says, “SSL activated! Don’t forget to change your settings in Google Analytics en Webmaster tools. More info.”
Rogier Lankhorst
Hi Ali, possibly your problem on the contact page is caused by Google Recaptcha, but the support form should always work. I don’t see this behaviour you describe on the sites I manage. Sometimes the dismissal does not work when another plugin causes a javascript error. If you check the developer console in your browser, do you see any errors?
John Paulding
Few things; It’s a multisite so that fix isn’t very efficient. Yours is one of two plugins out of several that have this problem. The other is wp-spamshield but several other plugins, I can click and it goes away for good so there’s something there. Lastly, it’s a bit of an unnecessary, proactive message.
While I appreciate the effort, and I don’t mean to sounds rude, but what business is it of yours whether I keep google up to date? Especially since your plugin isn’t an seo plugin. WP-spamshield, same thing. Warning about a bug in the wp core. Nothing to do with spam. One good thing about plugins like yours and Scott’s is that they stayed out of the way and did their jobs. We like that. No longer the case maybe? Having messages the pop up that keep popping up after dismissal for admins is not the best thing on a multisite.
Rogier Lankhorst
I have added a multisite script:
https://really-simple-ssl.com/knowledge-base/ssl-activated-message-not-going-away/
As for your question why this message is there: this message has been added simply to lower the number of questions I get from people who did not do this, and see their hits drop, and ask me how Really Simple SSL has caused this. This saves me a lot of time. Which means it clearly answers a question for a lot of people.
Probably the other dismissals work with a submit, which I’m planning to add. A submit does not depend on javascript. I can’t reproduce it on any site, so it must be something specific on your site.
Aashirvad Kumar
Moving from HTTP to HTTPS is it really effect the search consol/webmaster tool and AdSense?
Rogier Lankhorst
I don’t know about AdSense, but it affects analytics, and Google recommends to add all 4 variations to the Search Console.
Aashirvad Kumar
Thank you sir, I will work on it.
Aykut
I use it on two sites.
Thank you
TonyW
Thanks Roger!
I had changed over to SSL and saw a decrease in impressions and did lots of searches to try and figure out what I did wrong. I found your article to extremely helpful…Thanks for the article!
haaldop
sir my domain is showing result’s with https or without https in google search engine so can any one help me how to fix this issue. I want to show the results with out https. Please some one help me
Mark Wolters
Hi,
could you please explain what you want to achieve?
Mark
Webbing Diseño Barcelona
Many thanks for this explanation! I could appreciate a decrease in WMT, but not that much in Google Analytics, does it has the same effect in both (not changing to https)? Because in Analytics still counting some visits..
Rogier Lankhorst
How the visits are counted seems to depend largely on the request url => a https request might not get counted when GA is set as http.
Indianmovieplanet
Great tutorial , Can you please make another tutorial of making free SSL certificates using cloudflare or any other networks?
Rogier Lankhorst
I’ve added it to my todo list. 🙂
Vidyadhar
Do I need to change my /sitemap_index.xml of wordpress site once really simple plug in installed. I am using free Yoast plug in for site map links. after installing really simple plug in and cloud fare free plug in, site map contains htpp links in google webmaster. I have added https://gokarnapuja.com/ as new property in google webmaster. But my website shows https. correctly.
Rogier Lankhorst
Yoast should regenerate the sitemap when you visit the settings page from yoast. That should fix the http links in the sitemap.
Salman khan
Hello i have activated SSL on my website but, when i open my website without Https it will open normally and when i just open it with https. It also load normally.
Please suggest me where i have to do changes so it will open with https and do i need to change my sitemaps also??
thank you
Rogier Lankhorst
Probably your issue is solved when you enable the .htaccess redirect in settings/ssl
Akashwebsolution
Great Post,
But Can you please tell me, using a free SSL for website is safe?
Because i just asked some of bloggers they says free SSL is not Safe.
Please tell me
Thank you
Rogier Lankhorst
You mean like let’s encrypt? Sure, let’s encrypt is safe.