Page 51 - Payout Magazine Online Volume 9.1

How to Convert an HTTP Website
to HTTPS
With a little preparation, and in a few
simple steps, you can easily convert an HTTP
website to one that’s secured.
Preparation
The things you need to be aware of before
you begin are below.
� The website you wish to convert should
be sales ready. Converting a website to
HTTPS just before a busy season or peak
time isn’t a good idea.
� The host of your website should be capable
of the HTTPS protocol. You’ll also want
to see if there are any limitations, extra
configurations involved, or additional costs. start by finding any and all links that weren’t
� Communicate to any relevant staff or team
members that the conversion will be made
and when.
� Set aside the time and environment you
need to accomplish the task.
Acquiring an SSL Certificate
Until recently, secure socket layer (SSL)
certificates could be expensive. Thanks to
newer certificate authorities like Let’s Encrypt,
it’s much easier and less expensive to secure a
website using HTTPS protocol.
Most hosting companies sell SSL
certificates and many will configure them
correctly for you as well. It’s important to do
your homework and ensure that you acquire
an SSL certificate that covers your URL as
both yoursite.com and www.yoursite.com. If it
should appear that your website will require
any special type of SSL certificate, you may
want to seek the services of a professional or
get help from a representative at your hosting
company.
Configuring the SSL Certificate
with the Hosting
If your website host doesn’t set up SSL
certificates for you, or you elect to do it
yourself, you’ll need to generate keys from
the certificate seller and paste them into the
website hosting controls at the appropriate
place. Get help from support at your website
host if needed because it’s important to get
these settings correct.
Once the SSL certificate is properly
configured with your website, there will be
no error or warning messages about invalid
certificates when visiting any HTTPS pages.
It’s recommended that you clear your cache
fully (a Private Browsing window isn’t enough)
to view the changes. To be absolutely sure the
installation was successful, have a third party
check an HTTPS page of the website that no
one has landed on before.
Converting All Links
Having a content management system
(CMS) like WordPress can make this step
immensely easier. Even with a CMS site,
generated by the CMS which will include
links to CDN, images, JavaScript, pages, and
anything else your website utilizes.
Change all links to relative paths. As
opposed to “http://www.yoursite.com/
photographs”, use “/photographs”. When
relative links are used, they will automatically
work with HTTPS protocol where full link paths
use HTTP which will have to be changed for
each link to HTTPS. Ensure the links start with
/ each time.
You can test as much as you like by
refreshing your cache and going to a page
where there are links you want to check. Check
each link and ensure that everything works on
HTTP and HTTPS.
If you’re using a CMS like Joomla, Drupal,
or WordPress, how to change the links will vary
per platform. Be sure to check any caching
plugins or utilities used if you run into trouble. your site received are redirected to an HTTPS
- Magento:
Magento: Analyze your CMS pages, posts,
blocks, template files and more and watch
for any links that need to be updated. Even
where the links were generated by the CMS,
understand that they still could be incorrect.
Check all of them. Magento users will then
want to login to the backend and navigate to
System -> Configuration -> Web -> Secure and
verify the settings found there are correct and
up to date. Base URL (ending with a slash):
HTTPS URL, such as https://yoursite.com/
Use Secure URLs in Frontend: Yes Use Secure
URLs in Admin: Yes
- WordPress:Really Simple SSL
WordPress: In WordPress, you’ll make the
change in Settings -> General Settings ->
changing both WordPress Address (URL) and
Site Address (URL) to your URL with HTTPS
at the beginning. The use of a plugin like Really
Simple SSL can do most of the work for you.
- Comb for Errors:
Comb for Errors: It’s important to review
each link on each page of your website to
ensure they work correctly. Using Inspect
Element tools in most popular web browsers
like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari can make your
job even easier. You’ll receive errors where
there are incorrect HTTP linked files. You can
also review the source code for each page and
search for “HTTP:” and it will reveal links you
need to fix.
Redirects
For Apache-based sites, all incoming
traffic is directed from older links in Google or
outdated links on third-party sites. Redirects
can be established for all HTTP requests to
be HTTPS and it’s easy to set up using an
.htaccess file.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_
HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]
Once the above code is saved into your
.htaccess file, thoroughly test the website for
functionality and to ensure that any requests
URL.
Takeaway
While converting a website from HTTP
to HTTPS can be a lengthy, tedious process,
there’s a lot of help available to you. There are
great guides to help with the process from
beginning to end. For free or for a low fee, and
a one-time conversion process, you can have
an HTTPS website to put you in good standing
with Google and earn the trust of your visitors
and customers.
PayOutMagazine 51