Proper HTTPS Migration: Preserving Traffic and Rankings

Even with the apparent simplicity of switching protocols — issuing a certificate and setting up a redirect — many projects see a drop in traffic after migration due to mixed content, redirect chains, and duplicate pages. We have performed over 200 migrations and know every pitfall. For example, on one project with 50,000 pages, the client lost 20% of traffic because the database still contained links to HTTP resources. Fixing the mixed content took only 4 hours — and traffic returned.

Why HTTPS Migration Is Critical for SEO

Search engines prioritize HTTPS sites. Browsers mark HTTP as insecure, reducing trust and increasing bounce rate. After migration, it is important to update data in Google Search Console and Yandex Webmaster immediately; otherwise, indexing may temporarily drop. Based on our experience, 90% of sites after proper migration achieve an A+ rating on SSL Labs, which positively impacts Core Web Vitals and rankings.

SSL Certificate: Free or Paid?

Let's Encrypt — free, automatically renewed, sufficient for most sites. The savings from using Let's Encrypt compared to paid certificates can amount to thousands of rubles per year. However, for e-commerce stores and corporate portals, an OV certificate from Sectigo or DigiCert is recommended.

# Certbot on Ubuntu
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d mysite.com -d www.mysite.com

# Auto-renewal (already set up by Certbot)
sudo systemctl enable certbot.timer

Paid certificates (Sectigo, DigiCert) are needed for EV validation and wildcard for multiple levels.

Let's Encrypt is 10 times cheaper than paid certificates with comparable security, but requires automatic renewal every 90 days.

Nginx: HTTPS + HTTP→HTTPS Redirect

# HTTP → HTTPS redirect
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name mysite.com www.mysite.com;
    return 301 https://mysite.com$request_uri;  # without www
}

# HTTPS
server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name mysite.com;

    ssl_certificate     /etc/letsencrypt/live/mysite.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/mysite.com/privkey.pem;

    # Modern TLS configuration (Mozilla SSL Config Generator)
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;

    # HSTS (only add after verifying HTTPS works!)
    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;

    # ...rest of configuration...
}

What Is HSTS and Why Do You Need It?

HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) is a header that forces the browser to always use HTTPS when visiting the site, even if the user enters http://. It prevents Man-in-the-Middle attacks and reduces the risk of mixed content. Configuring HSTS is one of the last steps after fully verifying HTTPS, because if an error remains, the browser will not allow HTTP access. Ensure all resources load over HTTPS, and only then add the header.

How to Fix Mixed Content After Migration

After migration, the browser blocks HTTP resources on an HTTPS page. Search for:

# Scan for mixed content
npx mixed-content-scanner https://mysite.com

# Or in Chrome DevTools: Console → filter "Mixed Content"

For WordPress, use the Better Search Replace plugin to replace http:// with https:// in the database.

For other CMS:

-- PostgreSQL
UPDATE posts SET content = replace(content, 'http://mysite.com', 'https://mysite.com');
UPDATE posts SET content = replace(content, 'http://old-cdn.com', 'https://new-cdn.com');

Typical Problems and Their Solutions

Migration Process: Step by Step

1. Audit current server and CMS configuration — check existing redirects, mixed content, duplicates.
2. Issue and install SSL certificate (free or paid) — with automatic renewal setup.
3. Configure 301 redirects from HTTP to HTTPS and from www to non-www (or vice versa).
4. Fix mixed content in the database and templates — using SQL queries or plugins.
5. Update sitemap and submit to search engines via Google Search Console and Yandex Webmaster.
6. Test on SSL Labs — rating A or A+ — and check for errors in Chrome DevTools.
7. Enable HSTS after verifying all pages.

Post-Migration Checklist

• [ ] All pages open over HTTPS
• [ ] HTTP redirects to HTTPS (301)
• [ ] www redirects to non-www (or vice versa)
• [ ] Canonical tags point to HTTPS
• [ ] Sitemap contains HTTPS URLs
• [ ] No mixed content warnings
• [ ] HSTS header is present
• [ ] SSL Labs rating A or A+

What's Included in the Work

• Audit of current server and CMS configuration
• SSL certificate issuance and installation
• 301 redirect setup
• Mixed content removal
• Sitemap update and submission to search engines
• Testing on SSL Labs and error checking
• Certificate maintenance instructions

Timeline and Pricing

HTTPS migration for a standard site takes 4–8 hours. Complex projects with custom CMS may require up to 2 days. Pricing is calculated individually based on the scope of work and certificates used. Contact us for a precise estimate. Our engineers are certified and work with Nginx, Apache, IIS, and all popular CMS. Get a consultation right now — we will suggest the optimal migration plan.

Web Application Security: HTTPS, CSP, XSS, CSRF, WAF, DDoS Protection

A website breach rarely looks like in movies. More often it's: a bot finds an unprotected /admin/export endpoint, downloads the customer database, and closes the connection. Or: through an outdated WordPress plugin, a web shell is uploaded, and the server starts sending spam. Or quieter: an XSS in a comment field allows stealing admin session cookies, unnoticed for months. We have analyzed dozens of such cases — each vulnerability could have been fixed at the development or audit stage.

Web application security is not a single setting. It's layers of protection, each closing a separate class of attacks. Order an audit — we'll assess the project and deliver a turnkey plan within 2–4 weeks.

How do we ensure comprehensive web application security?

HTTPS and Proper TLS Configuration

HTTPS is the minimum mandatory level. But having an SSL certificate and having a properly configured TLS are different things.

In Nginx/Apache configuration we check:

• Protocols: only TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3, SSLv3 and TLS 1.0/1.1 are disabled
• Cipher suites: prefer ECDHE (Forward Secrecy), remove NULL, RC4, DES, 3DES
• HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload) — browser will never make insecure requests
• OCSP Stapling — speeds up certificate revocation check
• Redirect 301 from HTTP to HTTPS — both in server config and code (double redirect causes SEO weight loss)

Check: SSL Labs (ssllabs.com/ssltest) should show A or A+. If B, the configuration is weak.

Let's Encrypt + Certbot for production is standard. Automatic renewal via certbot renew in cron. Wildcard certificates for subdomains via DNS-01 challenge.

Content Security Policy: The Most Powerful and Complex Protection

CSP is an HTTP header that tells the browser which sources are allowed to load resources. A properly configured CSP completely blocks most XSS attacks, even if the vulnerability exists in the code.

The problem: breaking the site with an incorrect CSP is easy. default-src 'none' — and fonts, images, JS stop working. So we start with Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only — CSP logs violations but does not block anything. We monitor reports for 2–4 weeks, refine the policy, then switch to enforcement mode.

Example of a real policy for a site with Google Analytics, Google Fonts, and Stripe:

Content-Security-Policy:
  default-src 'self';
  script-src 'self' https://www.googletagmanager.com https://js.stripe.com 'nonce-{random}';
  style-src 'self' https://fonts.googleapis.com 'unsafe-inline';
  font-src 'self' https://fonts.gstatic.com;
  frame-src https://js.stripe.com;
  img-src 'self' data: https://www.google-analytics.com;
  connect-src 'self' https://api.stripe.com https://www.google-analytics.com;
  report-uri /csp-report;

nonce — a random string generated server-side per request. Inline scripts with the correct nonce are allowed; without nonce, they are blocked. This completely breaks XSS via <script>alert(1)</script>.

'unsafe-inline' in style-src is a compromise for inline styles. It's better to remove it by moving all styles to CSS files, but that requires refactoring.

Why XSS Remains the Most Common Vulnerability?

XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) — injection of JS code through user input. According to OWASP, XSS is in the top 3 web application vulnerabilities. Three types:

Protection: never insert user input into HTML without escaping. In PHP — htmlspecialchars() with ENT_QUOTES. In Laravel Blade templates — {{ $var }} is safe, {!! $var !!} is dangerous. In React — {variable} is safe, dangerouslySetInnerHTML is dangerous. For Rich Text — use htmlpurifier on PHP or DOMPurify in the browser.

CSRF: Protecting Forms and APIs

CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) — an attacker forces the victim's browser to send a request on their behalf. Example: a user is logged into a bank, opens a malicious page, which makes fetch('https://bank.ru/transfer?to=evil&amount=50000') — if the bank is unprotected, money is transferred.

CSRF tokens — standard protection for forms: the server generates a random token, stores it in the session, and inserts it as a hidden field in the form. On POST request, the token is verified. The attacker does not know the token. Laravel does this automatically with @csrf.

SameSite cookies — modern protection: SameSite=Strict or SameSite=Lax prevents the browser from sending cookies in cross-site requests. Works in all modern browsers.

API without sessions (JWT, Bearer tokens) — CSRF is irrelevant if the token is not stored in a cookie (but in the Authorization header or localStorage). However, localStorage is vulnerable to XSS — so for sensitive data, HttpOnly cookies with SameSite are preferable.

WAF and DDoS Protection

WAF (Web Application Firewall) filters HTTP traffic for attacks: SQL injection, XSS, path traversal, known exploit patterns. Options:

• Cloudflare WAF — cloud-based, OWASP Top 10 rules out of the box, custom rules via expressions. Managed Rules automatically block new threats.
• ModSecurity (Nginx/Apache) — self-hosted, OWASP Core Rule Set (CRS). Flexible but requires tuning and monitoring of false positives.
• AWS WAF — for infrastructure on AWS, integrates with CloudFront and ALB.

DDoS protection. Cloudflare at L3/L4/L7 is the de facto standard for most sites. Automatic mitigation of volumetric attacks, Under Attack Mode during active attacks. For critical infrastructure — Cloudflare Magic Transit or specialized solutions (Qrator, StormWall for the Russian market).

Rate Limiting at the application level — an additional layer. Laravel ThrottleRequests middleware: 60 requests per minute per IP for general endpoints, 5 for /login and /password/reset. Redis as a counter store — mandatory for horizontally scalable systems (otherwise limits are not synchronized between servers).

Other Mandatory Measures

Security headers. Besides CSP: X-Frame-Options: DENY (clickjacking protection), X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff (MIME sniffing), Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin, Permissions-Policy (restrict browser API access: camera, microphone, geolocation).

SQL injection. Prepared statements everywhere. No concatenation of user input into SQL strings. ORM (Eloquent, Doctrine) protects by default. $wpdb->prepare() in WordPress is mandatory.

Dependency updates. composer audit and npm audit in CI/CD pipeline. Dependabot or Renovate for automatic PRs with updates. Critical CVEs — patch within 24 hours.

Secrets and configuration. .env — never in Git. Secrets in production — via CI/CD environment variables (GitHub Secrets, GitLab CI Variables) or HashiCorp Vault. Leak detection: git-secrets, truffleHog in pre-commit hooks.

How We Work

1. Audit — code scanning, configuration review, dependency analysis, manual business logic verification.
2. Planning — vulnerability remediation plan, stack selection (CSP, WAF, rate limiting).
3. Implementation — TLS setup, CSP configuration, headers, Rate Limiting, WAF.
4. Testing — re-penetration test, load testing, false positive check.
5. Deployment and Monitoring — enable production CSP, set up alerts, train the team.

What's Included

• Report with found vulnerabilities and recommendations (PDF + code snippets)
• Ready TLS configuration (Nginx/Apache)
• CSP policy with Report-Only and production versions
• WAF and Rate Limiting setup
• Dependency update plan
• Access to monitoring tools (Sentry, Datadog)
• 30 days of post-audit support (consultations, fixes)

Timeline and Cost

The budget is calculated individually — contact us for a project evaluation.