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We are migrating from HTTP to HTTPS. We left our old sitemap as it is and uploaded the new sitemap with HTTPS pages with new name.

I read it at Google’s Search Console Help: Move a site with URL changes: 4. Monitor the traffic.

Is this a right practice?

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  • I recommend leaving HTTP still running concurrently for a year and using canonical tags to move traffic to HTTPS. According to multiple reports here, redirecting right away can lead to temporary (months) ranking drops and traffic loss. See my answer to "Are drops in Google ranking common after switching to https?" – Stephen Ostermiller♦ Apr 26 '18 at 10:08
  • I hadn't seen that advice from Google before. Based on that, we may need another answer to Should I change the URLs in the XML sitemap after 301 redirecting them? – Stephen Ostermiller♦ Apr 26 '18 at 10:12
  • @StephenOstermiller If one has already forced SSL and seen the traffic drop, would you recommend removing the forced redirect. – StephenCollins Apr 26 '18 at 19:37
  • @StephenCollins I'm not sure if it would help, but I don't think it would hurt to allow HTTP again and use canonical tags. From what I've seen in my search console data it takes Google a while to believe that URLs have really moved. It took Google a year before its reports of "Google chose different canonical than user" dwindled to near nothing. At least when HTTP is still there, Google has the option of preferring it if it really wants to rather than just de-ranking the HTTPS page. – Stephen Ostermiller♦ Apr 26 '18 at 20:44

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