Moving website from HTTP to fully HTTPS and SEO implications

Question

Alright, you think that this might be one of the most asked question on the internet, and you're tired reading the exact same answers. So let's focus on one of the most common answer, and forget about the others.

One of the common answer is:

"The https-site and the http-site are two completely different sites; it’s a little bit like having a www version of the site and a non-www version. Make sure you have 301 redirects from the http URLs to the https ones." (source: http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/seo-for-https-with-s-like-secure)

So here's my question:

Why are people saying that https and http are two different websites? How different is https://www.mydomain.com from http://www.mydomain.com?

The URI is the same and the content is the same. Only the protocol changes.

Why would the protocol have any impact on SEO? Whether or not the content is encrypted from point A to point B, why would that matter SEO wise?

Thanks for your help!

-H

Answer 1

Http and https could technically be two different sites. You could configure your server to server completely different content. They have two different urls (the difference being that s).

That being said, almost all webmasters with both http and https serve nearly identical content whether the site is secure or not. Google recognizes this and allows you to run both at the same time without having to fear duplicate content penalties.

If you are moving from one one to another, you should treat it similarly to other url changes.

• Put 301 redirects in place so that each page gets properly redirected to the same content at its new url
• Register both versions in Google Webmaster Tools

I have not personally done this switch, but it should be doable without problems. I have made other types of sitewide url changes without problems in the last couple years.

The other alternative would be to run both http and https at the same time and switch users over more gradually. As they log in, for example.