Google Search Console treats http://yourdomain.com and https://yourdomain.com as completely separate properties, each with its own data — migrating to HTTPS without adding the new property means losing visibility into how the migration is actually performing in search.
Steps
- Add the
https://version of your domain as a new property in Search Console (or use a Domain property, which covers both automatically). - Submit a fresh XML sitemap referencing https:// URLs.
- Use the URL Inspection tool on a few key pages to confirm Google is correctly seeing the redirect and indexing the new URLs.
- Monitor the Coverage report over the following weeks for any unexpected drop in indexed pages, which would indicate a redirect issue Google is encountering that you haven't caught manually.
A temporary dip in reported traffic right after migration is normal while Google reprocesses URLs — a sustained drop over several weeks is the actual signal to investigate the redirect chain more closely.
Why a Domain property avoids managing separate http and https properties
A Domain-type property in Search Console automatically aggregates data across http://, https://, www, and non-www variants of your domain into one unified view, removing the need to separately add, monitor, and compare an old and new property the way a traditional URL-prefix property would require.
What the URL Inspection tool actually confirms versus assumes
URL Inspection shows Google's own live view of a specific URL, including whether it's correctly redirecting, what canonical URL Google has selected, and its current indexing status — checking a handful of key pages directly through this tool gives concrete confirmation rather than assuming the migration succeeded based on your own testing alone.
What to do if Search Console shows a sharp drop in indexed pages after migration
A sharp, sudden drop in indexed page count shortly after migration is worth investigating immediately through the Coverage report's specific error details, rather than assuming it's normal recrawl fluctuation — a genuine redirect misconfiguration affecting many pages produces exactly this kind of visible, measurable indexing drop.
What the Change of Address tool does and when it actually applies
Search Console's Change of Address tool is specifically designed for a full domain change (moving to an entirely different domain name), not a protocol-only change from http to https on the same domain — for a pure HTTPS migration, adding the https:// property and submitting a fresh sitemap is the correct approach rather than this tool.
How to interpret a temporary spike in crawl errors during the transition
A brief spike in reported crawl errors immediately after migration, as search engines encounter old http:// URLs now redirecting, is generally expected and self-resolving as the recrawl process completes — a sustained, non-declining error count over several weeks is what actually warrants investigation.
Why verifying ownership of the new property sometimes requires a fresh verification method
Even if you'd previously verified the http:// property, Search Console requires separate verification for the https:// property (unless using a Domain property, which covers both) — a fresh verification via DNS record, HTML file, or meta tag is a normal, expected step rather than a sign something went wrong.
A closing recommendation for ongoing monitoring beyond the initial migration
Beyond the immediate post-migration check, periodically reviewing Search Console's coverage and performance reports as an ongoing habit, not just during migration, helps catch any future issue early regardless of its underlying cause.
What Bing Webmaster Tools requires as a parallel step to Google Search Console
Bing Webmaster Tools requires its own separate property verification and sitemap submission for your https:// domain, following largely the same principle as Google Search Console but through Microsoft's independent tool — worth completing alongside Google's tools for full search engine coverage.
How this guide's steps apply the same way regardless of your specific CMS or platform
The core principle, adding the https:// property and submitting a fresh sitemap, applies identically regardless of whether your site runs WordPress, a custom application, or a static site generator, since Search Console operates independently of your specific underlying technology.