Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS is one of the most impactful improvements you can make for security, SEO, and user trust. Google has used HTTPS as a ranking signal since 2014, and as of 2026, all major browsers mark non-HTTPS sites as "Not Secure." This guide walks you through the complete migration process — from obtaining your certificate to configuring HSTS and monitoring the transition.

Before You Start: Pre-Migration Checklist

Step 1: Obtain an SSL Certificate

Choose your certificate based on your needs:

See our guide on automating SSL renewal for detailed Certbot setup instructions.

Step 2: Install and Configure HTTPS on Your Server

# Nginx — basic HTTPS server block

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    # Modern SSL settings (TLS 1.2+)
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;
    ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256;

    # HSTS (add after testing - see Step 5)
    # add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;

    root /var/www/html;
    index index.html;
}

Step 3: Set Up 301 Redirects (HTTP → HTTPS)

301 redirects tell search engines permanently that your content has moved to HTTPS. This transfers your SEO link equity. Do not use 302 (temporary) redirects — they do not pass link equity.

# Nginx redirect (add as a separate server block)

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://yourdomain.com$request_uri;
}

# Apache (.htaccess)
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Also redirect www to non-www (or vice versa) to avoid duplicate content. Pick one canonical form and redirect the other.

Step 4: Fix Internal Links and Mixed Content

Update all internal links, image sources, script tags, and stylesheet links from http:// to https://. See our guide on fixing mixed content warnings for complete instructions.

Step 5: Implement HSTS

HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) tells browsers to always use HTTPS for your domain — even if the user types http://. This prevents SSL-stripping attacks and eliminates the single HTTP redirect your users make on first visit.

Start with a short max-age — start with max-age=300 (5 minutes) and test thoroughly. Once confident, increase to max-age=31536000 (1 year). A misconfigured HSTS header can lock users out of your site if you revert to HTTP.

# Start with short max-age for testing
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=300

# Production (after testing)
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload

Step 6: Update Google Search Console and Analytics

Post-Migration: What to Monitor

After migrating, use our free SSL Certificate Checker and Security Headers Checker to verify your certificate is valid and HSTS is correctly configured.