SSL and how to do it ! 
Author: Peter H.
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I know it’s a little vague, but this is the first time anyone has asked me for SSL. I will explain what I have done and what has happened.
- Purchase SSL certificate (Done)
- Install and activate on the server (Done)
- Test by going to https://coxbench-hall.co.uk (Done) which loads the site with SSL
- Search the site in Google and when I click the link it takes me to the unsecured site http://coxbench-hall.co.uk
I may be a little thick but what am I doing wrong or is it as simple as changing the URL in website x5 before I upload…. I’m going to try that
Posted on the
Hello Peter,
You haven't done anything wrong. The Google search result is cached (I just checked). At the very least you will need to give Google a little time to update their pool of search results, and they will need to recrawl your website before noticing anything has changed.
However, even that does not guarantee success.
There are a couple of things you can do to 'force' the issue:
1. Visit Google Search Console and set your 'preferred domain' as the https version (https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34592?hl=en)
2. Create a 301 redirect in the .htaccess file on your web server to enforce connections via SSL only. Here is a useful utility to create the necessary code for the .htaccess file - https://www.aleydasolis.com/htaccess-redirects-generator/https-vs-http/
Kind regards,
Paul
Search the WebSite X5 Help Center
Author
Hi Paul thanks for the quick reply after visiting the 1st link there is no option anymore to choose the preferred Url (New search console loaded) then I went to the second link and copied the code into the .htaccess file and that did not work either.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} !^443$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
</IfModule>
The site has over 600 links to it via http://coxbench-hall.co.uk
All very confusing
Peter
Yes, you are right, it seems there has been a recent change to the 'preferred domain' method (https://searchengineland.com/google-search-console-drops-preferred-domain-setting-318356)
The article goes on to suggest that a 301 redirect will be sufficient.
You shouldn't have to edit the code at all. You do have to make sure that Mod Rewrite is active on your server though. Your webhost will be able to advise.
Also ensure that the .htaccess file is in the root directory of your WebSite X5 project.
There are different ways of doing the 301 redirect. You can try this alternative code:
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteRule .* https://%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [R,L]
Author
Thanks Paul the file contains some X5 text that says not to remove do i put the code in front of that or after ?
thanks for your help much appreciated.
It does not really matter in this instance, Peter.
I would put redirects near the start of the file, personally, but it will work either way.
Use cloudflare - free.
Gives you https, and gives you content delivery network free too.
I've been using the free version for 20 sites no problems....
Adrian