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Some months ago I migrated to HTTPS after which my site has continued to lose Mozrank.

I am using really simple SSL plugin for setting https://. However, I have enabled it without letting it edit .htaccess.

Is this in any manner affecting the drop in Mozrank or SEO in any manner?

Stephen Ostermiller
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Abhijeet Pratap
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1 Answers1

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Moz rank while quite useful, isn't considering completely reliable. There are domains that have faked their Moz domain and page trust authority.

If you're losing Moz rank, it doesn't necessarily mean that you will also lose your rank in Google search results.

http to https usually requires 301 redirects, and 301 redirects have been known to transfer almost all of the link juice from the previous address. Reputable sources say that 301 redirects pass between 90%-99% of the link juice. The loss of link juice could be causing the loss in Moz rank. But it's recommended that sites upgrade to https. So despite the link juice loss, the https upgrade should boost your rankings. Thus the upgrade should outweigh the link juice loss.

Michael d
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  • I have not set a .htaccess redirect but am using really simple ssl plugin which sets a wordpress redirect. htaccess redirect had caused a redirect loop. Will this matter in terms of seo? – Abhijeet Pratap Apr 02 '18 at 15:27
  • I looked it up on a few sites. Really simple ssl plugin for wordpress should 301 redirect to the https. That should be the correct way to perform the redirect – Michael d Apr 02 '18 at 15:34
  • Thanks for the help! So the plugin method is also sound. I do not need to worry about setting it in .htccess? – Abhijeet Pratap Apr 02 '18 at 16:16
  • Test out both the http and https versions of your site. Make sure the http version redirects to https. You can also use a header status checker by searching for on on Google. Check the header status of your http address. Make sure that it is 301 redirecting to https. If it is 302 redirecting then the new https urls aren't setup for permanent. I don't think you'll need to tamper with the htaccess. your simple ssl plugin should handle it. – Michael d Apr 02 '18 at 16:20
  • Yes, I checked. https version is 200 and http version is 301 -> 200. 1 redirect. – Abhijeet Pratap Apr 02 '18 at 16:32
  • Works as expected then – Michael d Apr 02 '18 at 16:37
  • I just read that there may be traffic loss from 301 redirecting http to https. The moderator of this site Stephen Ostermiller recommends using rel=canonical tags instead. It may not be too late to switch it back if you want to go that route. https://webmasters.stackexchange.com/questions/103607/are-drops-in-google-ranking-common-after-switching-to-https – Michael d Apr 02 '18 at 20:00