Welcome to my blog! In today’s post, I will be providing a detailed tutorial on how to switch your website’s protocol from HTTP to HTTPS in Google Analytics. As a website owner, it is essential to prioritize the protection of your users’ information and create a secure browsing environment. Moving from HTTP to HTTPS is an effective measure to achieve this goal. Let’s get started!
What is HTTPS?
Before we get into the technical details, let me briefly explain what HTTPS is. HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, and it is the secure version of HTTP. It uses SSL/TLS protocols to encrypt and authenticate data transmitted between a web server and a user’s browser. The encryption ensures that the data cannot be intercepted or manipulated by malicious actors, providing a secure connection and protecting sensitive information.
Step 1: Obtain an SSL Certificate
The first step in changing from HTTP to HTTPS is to obtain an SSL certificate. This certificate is issued by a trusted Certificate Authority and verifies the authenticity of your website. There are various types of SSL certificates available, such as domain validation (DV), organization validation (OV), and extended validation (EV). The type you choose depends on your specific needs and the level of trust you want to establish with your users.
To obtain an SSL certificate, you can either purchase one from a trusted certificate provider or use a free certificate authority like Let’s Encrypt. Once you have obtained the certificate, you will need to install it on your web server.
Step 2: Update Your Website’s URLs
After obtaining and installing the SSL certificate, the next step is to update your website’s URLs from HTTP to HTTPS. This involves making changes to your website’s code and configuration files. Here are a few areas where you need to update the URLs:
- Update all internal links within your website
- Update any hardcoded URLs in your website’s code
- Update any URLs in your CSS and JavaScript files
- Update any external links pointing to your website
- Update any canonical URLs
By updating your website’s URLs, you ensure that all traffic is redirected to the secure HTTPS version of your website.
Step 3: Configure Google Analytics
Now that your website is serving pages over HTTPS, you need to update the protocol in your Google Analytics settings. Here’s how you can do it:
- Login to your Google Analytics account
- Click on the Admin tab
- In the Property column, click on Tracking Info, and then Tracking Code
- Locate the tracking code snippet on your website
- Replace “http://” with “https://” in the tracking code snippet
- Save the changes
By updating the tracking code snippet, Google Analytics will now collect data from the secure HTTPS version of your website.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully changed the protocol in Google Analytics from HTTP to HTTPS. By securing your website with HTTPS, you enhance the trustworthiness of your site and protect your users’ data. Remember to regularly monitor your website’s analytics to ensure everything is functioning correctly. If you encounter any issues during the process, don’t hesitate to seek help from your web hosting provider or a professional web developer. Stay secure and happy browsing!