Understanding the HTTPS Report
Understanding the HTTPS Report
In an increasingly digital world, the security and privacy of your website users are paramount. This is why Google strongly recommends adopting HTTPS for your website. It not only safeguards your users but also positively influences your search engine rankings. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the HTTPS report, a powerful tool that helps you track and enhance your website’s security status.
Unraveling the HTTPS Report
The Significance of HTTPS
Before we dive into the HTTPS report, let’s understand why HTTPS is crucial. HTTPS, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, ensures that the data exchanged between a user’s browser and your website is encrypted and secure. This is particularly important when sensitive information, such as login credentials or payment details, is being transmitted. Google recognizes the significance of HTTPS and encourages its use by favoring the indexing of HTTPS versions of web pages.
Report Availability
The HTTPS report is accessible exclusively for Domain properties and HTTPS URL-prefix properties. It offers insights into the indexing status of URLs on your website, distinguishing between HTTP and HTTPS.
What to Analyze in the HTTPS Report
Indexed URLs Count
The report primarily presents you with two counts: indexed HTTPS URLs and indexed HTTP URLs. Ideally, your website should exclusively comprise HTTPS URLs, ensuring maximum security for your visitors. However, if you spot HTTP URLs listed in this report, it’s a clear indication that improvements are needed to provide an optimal user experience.
HTTPS Crawling Issues
If your website primarily consists of HTTP URLs, you might encounter a substantial number of “HTTPS crawling issue” errors, alongside a multitude of “Other issues” errors. In such cases, Google might cease its attempts to crawl corresponding HTTPS pages after encountering several 404 responses during the crawling process.
Alternate HTTPS Versions
The report does not consider alternate HTTPS versions of an HTTP page that don’t share the same URL structure. To ensure seamless indexing, it’s essential that your HTTPS URLs match the structure of their HTTP counterparts.
Addressing HTTPS Issues
Where to Begin
When addressing issues related to HTTPS, it’s essential to prioritize other issues before tackling HTTPS-specific concerns. Fixing these general issues can often resolve HTTPS-related problems as well.
Identifying Affected Pages
For URLs with issues, delve deeper by clicking into specific issues to access a list of affected pages. It’s advisable to start with issues that impact the most pages.
Error Resolution
Each error listed in the table comes with guidance on how to rectify it:
1. HTTP Marked with Canonical Tag
If an HTTP page has a <link rel="canonical"> tag, indicating it as canonical, ensure that the HTTPS version is declared as the canonical page. You can use the URL Inspection tool to search for this tag.
2. HTTPS Has Invalid Certificate
An invalid SSL certificate affects the entire site. Update your HTTPS certificate to ensure browsers can access your secure pages without issues.
3. Sitemap Points to HTTP
If a sitemap on your site directs to an HTTP URL marked as canonical, update your sitemaps to reference the HTTPS version of your pages.
4. HTTPS Has Redirect
When an HTTPS URL redirects to an HTTP URL, you should either remove the redirect or redirect to an HTTPS page.
5. HTTPS URL is Roboted
If an HTTPS URL is present but blocked from crawling by a robots.txt rule, resolve this issue.
6. HTTPS Not Evaluated
Several conditions can lead to the “HTTPS not evaluated” error, each requiring specific actions for resolution. Refer to the detailed error descriptions for guidance.
7. Other Issues
For any errors not covered in the list, investigate the issue further and take appropriate corrective measures.
Transient Errors
Keep in mind that some errors may be transient and resolve themselves over time. Google may have crawled the HTTP page before the HTTPS counterpart was posted or crawled. Therefore, it’s possible to see certain issues self-correct without any manual intervention.
Fixing Missing HTTPS URLs
Creating HTTPS Versions
If you lack an HTTPS version of an HTTP URL, it’s imperative to create one. This is a fundamental step in enhancing the security and reliability of your website.
Informing Google
If you already have an HTTPS version, make sure Google is aware of it. This can be accomplished by:
- Create HTTPS URLs: Ensure you have an HTTPS version of each HTTP URL.
- Wait for Evaluation: If your site has recently been crawled, give it some time. Google may take a day or more to evaluate the HTTPS status of your URLs.
- Review your https issues from google search console, sslshopper or ssllabs.
In Conclusion
The HTTPS report is an invaluable tool for maintaining the security and integrity of your website. By addressing HTTPS-related issues and ensuring your site is primarily composed of HTTPS URLs, you not only protect your users but also align with Google’s preferences. A secure website is not just a best practice; it’s a fundamental element of today’s digital landscape.
