Old Back Links Point to Http not new Https

[helmetb]

Hi

I have many link point to my old http address and now my site is https , I do have force ssl on through a plugin is there anything to worry about here with regards to seo.

Many Thanks

 

[ServWise]

HTTP and HTTPS are protocols, your address is the same and Google will not penalise you. If anything Google will prefer your https based URLs as part of its effort to make all websites secure and prefer secure ones over non-secure.

 

[helmetb]

Is it worth the effort to change the old http backlinks over to https

 

[fisicx]

Is it worth the effort to change the old http backlinks over to https

No.

Just make sure you server is configured to redirect http to https

 

[Ewan Kennedy]

I agree. Google has announced in the last couple of years that 100% of the ranking benefit of links are passed by a 301 redirect. Prior to Google's announcement, it was reckoned that only about 90% of the benefit of the links was preserved by a redirect.

There's no benefit to be had by changing the links targets to https.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Is it worth the effort to change the old http backlinks over to https

If you are able to, yes.

 

[rf-harris]

If you are able to, yes.

Why put so much effort to change the links when they are hardly gong to make any difference with a redirect in place.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Why put so much effort to change the links when they are hardly gong to make any difference with a redirect in place.

He doesn't say how much effort it is going to take.

Now I will ask you, why introduce a hop in the connection unless it is necessary?

 

[Ewan Kennedy]

Even if one wanted to, it would be very unusual for one to be able to change the address of all the links because one would not normally have access to them.

Therefore, with the large number of links that helmetb says are in place, it is simply not practicable.

It is best practice to have the redirect and to force SSL as helmetb says he has done.

With those two things in place, there is zero benefit from changing the back links to point at https so it is a complete waste of time embarking on that exercise.

If anyone believes otherwise, please explain what benefit you perceive might be obtained. It is certainly not a ranking benefit.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Even if one wanted to, it would be very unusual for one to be able to change the address of all the links because one would not normally have access to them.

Therefore, with the large number of links that helmetb says are in place, it is simply not practicable.

It is best practice to have the redirect and to force SSL as helmetb says he has done.

With those two things in place, there is zero benefit from changing the back links to point at https so it is a complete waste of time embarking on that exercise.

If anyone believes otherwise, please explain what benefit you perceive might be obtained. It is certainly not a ranking benefit.

You are adding a lot of assumptions and also missing the first basic principal of a link and that is to get you to your destination. Adding redirects where they can be avoided is a numbskull error of the highest degree.

Of course, if changing those links is going to be a hassle then it is likely not worth the bother. But, as I say, that is your assumption and not something the OP has mentioned. I, of course, have made the obvious error of reading what the OP said. Fool me.

 

[Ewan Kennedy]

You are adding a lot of assumptions and also missing the first basic principal of a link and that is to get you to your destination. Adding redirects where they can be avoided is a numbskull error of the highest degree.

Of course, if changing those links is going to be a hassle then it is likely not worth the bother. But, as I say, that is your assumption and not something the OP has mentioned. I, of course, have made the obvious error of reading what the OP said. Fool me.

I read the question very carefully, in which helmetb stated there were many links. The more links that exist, the bigger the challenge is likely to be so the more time there is to be wasted on an exercise that will produce zero benefit.

There could be links in social media accounts, browser bookmarks, local directories and countless other kinds of web pages. It is unlikely that they can all be accessed so it is unlikely they can all be changed to https.

Given those circumstances it would be necessary to set up a redirect which will ensure that the user (or bot) will reach the correct destination.

I note your defensive tone and am sorry if I said something to offend you.

 

[fisicx]

There could be links in social media accounts, browser bookmarks, local directories and countless other kinds of web pages. It is unlikely that they can all be accessed so it is unlikely they can all be changed to https.

However, the question was regards SEO. Most of those links you refer to have no SEO value to makes no difference if they are updated or not.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

I read the question very carefully, in which helmetb stated there were many links. The more links that exist, the bigger the challenge is likely to be so the more time there is to be wasted on an exercise that will produce zero benefit.

There could be links in social media accounts, browser bookmarks, local directories and countless other kinds of web pages. It is unlikely that they can all be accessed so it is unlikely they can all be changed to https.

Given those circumstances it would be necessary to set up a redirect which will ensure that the user (or bot) will reach the correct destination.

I note your defensive tone and am sorry if I said something to offend you.

So more assumptions then? Don't worry about offending me, I'm not selling anything.

 

[Ewan Kennedy]

I haven't made any assumptions. To recognise a possibility, in the absence of more more specific information about the nature of the links, is not making an assumption. I haven't assumed anything about which links are in place, only that there are apparently many.

Even if there is only a remote possibility of links pointing at the http address and which can't be updated, a redirect should be put in place.

Since Google's announcement last November about nofollow links, it's not quite so cut and dried which links have SEO value and which don't.

It's safer just to put a redirect in place. That's what the folks at Moz.com recommend.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

The re

That's what the folks at Moz.com recommend.

Enough said.

 

[fisicx]

That's what the folks at Moz.com recommend.

Ah yes, good old moz. Well known for getting it totally wrong.

Almost as bad as the misinformation Google spews out.

 

[Naheed Mir]

Hi helmetb

Redirecting a website from HTTP to HTTPs did not affect on the ranking from SEO Point off. As Google considers both of backlinks with HTTPs and without HTPP. They both have equal importance in the search console of Google. So don't worry. It will not affect the ranking of your website in different search engines.