How to transfer site to https without loss of traffic

First, you need to perform a series of preparatory work:

Replace all absolute links within the internal linking with relative links. This will eliminate unnecessary problems with the availability of site elements and re-indexing of search robots after the transfer.

Correct links for attachments with media content. If the files are located on your site - URLs are converted to relative ones, as in the previous paragraph. And if on a third-party portal, then the links change only if that content is available via the https protocol.

Check the connection settings of external scripts. If absolute links are used, they must be changed by writing relative paths.

These three stages are the most time-consuming, since it takes a lot of time to implement them. But in order to transfer a site from http to https, they must be completed without fail.

After the preparatory phase, it is time to move on to the main work. Configure https on the site like this:

Choose and buy an SSL certificate. They come in different types, so build on the needs and financial opportunities:

Ordinary. Apply to a single domain. Issued in 5-10 minutes, since only the domain is verified to the person who requested the certificate.

Extended Validation. After purchasing a certificate, a green lock and the name of the organization appear in the address bar. For most users, this is a guarantee of the reliability of the site. To obtain this certificate, you must confirm the access rights to the domain, provide documents on the state registration of the company. Additionally, the company name is checked in the Whois data, test calls are made to the main phones of the organization, etc.

Install the SSL certificate on the server. This procedure usually takes a couple of minutes. After all, it is performed in an intuitive control panel provided by the hosting company. If difficulties arise, seek technical support for help or hire an experienced programmer to transfer the site to https without losing traffic.

Check the availability of the web property. Make sure it opens at two URLs: with http and https at the beginning of the address bar. Then configure so that when you open the http version of the user, it automatically switches to https secure protocol.

If the site is unavailable at one of the addresses, or the redirection is not carried out, it means that errors were made during configuration. Or there are problems on the host side. 

By the way, all who use the services of the hosting company CityHost, just need to buy an SSL certificate - and the web resource will immediately be available via https. You only need to slightly adjust the site engine and change the addresses in mySQL.