Moving From HTTP to HTTPS on WordPress
Switched Designparc.com from HTTP to HTTPS on WordPress
0) MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR DATABASE AND WORDPRESS FILES! Okay, carry on…
1) I used SiteGround hosting’s super-easy-to-use cPanel option to install Let’s Encrypt (which offers free SSL/TLS certificates). Apparently, not all web hosts offer Let’s Encrypt with their hosting packages – which is a bummer. Luckily, SiteGround (affiliate link) does!
2) Installed Really Simple SSL plugin to help eliminate the mixed-content warning. This is a tricky step, as mixed-content can be a pain-in-the-ass to eliminate.
3) Below is the code I added to my .htaccess file c/o Moving to HTTPS on WordPress (thanks to the ever-awesome CSS-Tricks.com). Read all the way through the “Moving to HTTPS on WordPress” article.
# Force HTTPS: https://css-tricks.com/moving-to-https-on-wordpress/
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]
4) I used SEO Book’s Server Header Checker to make sure all instances are properly re-directing to https://www.designparc.com/:
non-www (http://domain.com) and non-https (http://www.domain.com) should both correctly respond with:
SERVER RESPONSE: HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
SERVER RESPONSE: HTTP/1.1 200 OK
5) I used a SSL Checker to double-checked that the encryption is actually using SHA-2 (and NOT SHA-1). SHAAAAAAAAAAAAA.com is a great tool for this. And what a fun URL.
6) Finally, I gotta update my Google Search Console listing for designparc.com, to track the new HTTPS URL.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
