A static HTML site (no CMS, no server-side application) is the simplest possible HTTPS migration case — there's no database content to search-and-replace and no application settings to update, just the certificate and a server-level redirect.
The whole process
- Install the certificate on whatever's serving the files (a traditional web server, or increasingly, a static hosting platform like Netlify, Vercel, or GitHub Pages, which typically handle this automatically).
- Add a server-level redirect (Apache .htaccess or Nginx server block) from http:// to https://.
- Check your HTML files for hardcoded http:// links to your own domain — a simple find-and-replace across your source files handles this, since there's no database layer involved.
If you're hosting on a modern static platform rather than managing your own server, HTTPS and its redirect are very likely already handled automatically — check the platform-specific guides in this category for the exact setting to confirm.
Why static sites are the simplest possible migration case
With no database layer and no server-side application logic, a static site's migration involves only the certificate, the server-level redirect, and a straightforward find-and-replace across your source HTML files — the entire category of database search-and-replace complexity that CMS platforms require simply doesn't apply here.
What changes if you're hosting on a modern static platform instead of your own server
Static hosting platforms like Netlify, Vercel, or GitHub Pages typically handle certificate issuance and the redirect automatically as covered in their dedicated guides in this category, meaning a static site hosted on one of these platforms often requires no manual redirect configuration at all beyond confirming the platform's default settings are enabled.
Why static sites benefit disproportionately from modern hosting platforms
A static site has essentially nothing to lose by moving to a modern static hosting platform with automatic HTTPS, since there's no server-side application logic to migrate — the simplicity that makes static sites easy to secure on any server also makes them exceptionally easy to move to a platform that handles HTTPS entirely automatically.
What a build process adds if your static site uses a generator like Jekyll or Hugo
Static site generators typically compile source files into final HTML during a build step — confirming the generator's own configuration (a base URL or site URL setting) correctly specifies https:// ensures every generated page, not just manually written ones, produces correctly protocoled internal links.
How static site generators typically handle base URL configuration for HTTPS
Most static site generators expose a single, central configuration value for the site's base URL that propagates through every templated link, feed, and sitemap the generator produces — updating this one value correctly cascades the change throughout the entire generated site automatically.
Why static sites are particularly well suited to automated deployment pipelines with HTTPS built in
A static site's build-and-deploy process pairs naturally with a CI/CD pipeline that automatically deploys to a platform with built-in HTTPS handling, meaning the entire chain from code change to a securely served update can be fully automated with no manual certificate or redirect steps at any stage.
A final word on static sites as the lowest-friction migration case on this entire site
Of every platform and scenario covered across this category, a static HTML site represents the simplest, lowest-risk migration case — no database, no application logic, and often a modern hosting platform handling HTTPS automatically, leaving remarkably little that can actually go wrong.
What build tools like Webpack or Vite change about this simple picture, if anything
A static site built using a bundler like Webpack or Vite still produces plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript output files identical in nature to a hand-written static site — the build tool affects your development workflow, not the fundamentally simple HTTPS configuration needed for the resulting static output.
How this guide applies to a site built with plain HTML versus a static site generator
Whether your static site is hand-written HTML or generated by a tool like Jekyll or Hugo, the final deployed output is the same kind of static file set — the HTTPS and redirect configuration covered in this guide applies identically regardless of how the files were originally produced.