Frequently Asked Question

SSL Conversion: Google Analytics/Webmaster Tools and URL Exclusions
Last Updated 6 years ago


If you have been converted to HTTPS, and are looking in Google Analytics/Webmaster Tools and see URL redirects under Exclusions, please don't be alarmed! 

But you do need to make sure that you have made the changes for your domain to HTTPS from HTTP. If not, you will need to do that so Google doesn't keep trying your site with HTTP://   

Here's how: https://really-simple-ssl.com/knowledge-base/how-to-setup-google-analytics-and-google-search-consolewebmaster-tools/

It's possible that the exclusions are a result of one security change we make as part of the conversion. That is to turn off Indexing of non-WP folders. 

If Indexing is enabled (the default) when someone tries to navigate to your raw uploads folders, they see a list of all your images and other files, and all are able to be directly downloaded. This is both a significant security flaw and a way for the nefarious to scrape your site's content. 

Leaving indexing on provides no SEO benefit. (There's a lot of bad info out there, and this rumor was one of those bits.)

In this, Google's indexing isn't all that smart, and they'll occasionally scan your individual WP files and report 50X errors. This is dumb, has never worked, and is the equivalent of someone whispering directly at your leg too quietly for you to hear, and getting annoyed that you're not walking. :/


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