I moved my site from HTTP to HTTPS and traffic dropped by 30% — will it come back or is it permanent?

I had the same situation. I thought Google accepted the SSL cert immediately but it didn't crawl very fast. like my traffic all came back after 2-3 weeks. Don't worry, the crawler is probably indexing slowly.

are there http://www urls? if ssl cert isn't just for www www/non-www can cause issues. check redirects bro.

Edit: asked below, I wrote the answer in the second message.

HTTPS Migration Checklist: - Is 301 Redirect (HTTP → HTTPS) set up? - Is HTTPS property added in Search Console? - Does Sitemap.xml contain HTTPS URLs? - Are internal links HTTPS? - Are CSS/JS/Image resources HTTPS (no mixed content)? - Are DNS and CNAME records correct? - Is HSTS header set?

Edit: asked below, I wrote the answer in the second message.

A 20-40% traffic drop after HTTPS migration is common, but it should return within 2-4 weeks. If a month has passed and it's still down, there's a technical issue. Main causes: missing redirects (50%), mixed content (30%), SSL certificate issue (20%).

Quick fix: 1) Add HTTPS version as a separate property in Search Console. 2) Set up 301 redirect from HTTP to HTTPS (in htaccess: RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.site.com/$1 [R=301,L]). 3) Update sitemap and resubmit. 4) Wait 2 weeks, check traffic.

Unless Google sees the HTTPS migration as a 'new site', your traffic loss should be temporary. But you need to inform Google about this migration. Technically: 1) Register HTTPS domain in Search Console. 2) Use the Change of Address tool (if available). 3) Delete the old sitemap from Search Console.

Im writing this so you dont make the same mistake. Internal linking is the cheapest and most neglected task.

Correct me if Im wrong.

I agree.

I'm a small business, let me explain from my side. Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Let me share my experience. Trying to do this alone is the most expensive way.

Good luck with that.

I was thinking the same thing. Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

Don't trust anyone who gives guarantees; there are no guarantees in this business. If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

Quick summary for newcomers: Internal linking is the cheapest and most neglected task.

Start with a small trial; don't commit to everything at once. If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

This is exactly what we experienced. Merge instead of deleting; deleted content doesn't come back.

The answer varies greatly by industry; there is no one-size-fits-all rule. If I were you, I'd go this route.

Heres how it went for us... Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval.

My perspective changed after experiencing that. Speed is a threshold issue; if you're already fast, making it faster changes nothing.

Mistakes made on the traffic drop after https migration side are usually reversible but expensive. This is my opinion, I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.

Following. Any comment made without a control group is just a guess.

Hope this helps.

Let me speak from the other side; I'm on the supplier side. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

Here's how it went for us. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

A page with low traffic might be reaching the right people. Look at where sales come from.