Losing referrer data on http link that redirects to an https site when on an https site. Is this typical or is something else going on here?
-
I am trying to resolve a referral data issue. Our client noticed that their referrals from one of their sites to another had dropped to almost nothing from being their top referrer. The referring site SiteA which is an HTTPs site, held a link to SiteB, which is also an HTTPs site, so there should be no loss, however the link to SiteB on SiteA had the HTTP protocol. When we changed the link to the HTTPs protocol, the referrals started flowing in.
Is this typical? If the 301 redirect is properly in place for SiteB, why would we lose the referral data?
-
Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking to confirm. And thanks for the tip on HSTS, I'll look into that!
-
Referrer data is stripped when the referral is coming from HTTPS to HTTP. That's a security measure that Google has had in place for some time. Because the link is hitting the HTTP first, it is negotiating its initial connection over an unsecure channel, so the referrer is being stripped. (The incoming connection is being initiated over HTTP before it is ever able to detect and process the redirect.)
So yea, expected behavior. One way around the issue that I'm pretty sure would work is if you implement HSTS for the receiving site. That forces the initial connection over HTTPS regardless of the incoming request's protocol.
Hope that helps?
Paul
-
I mean the automatic referrer data that gets us information like what website someone was referred from/clicked from which in GA would show up under the acquisition referrals report. We are not using UTM parameters to designate this traffic. In this case I think the server and browser should be able to communicate that data without dropping it because of the redirect (I know it would get dropped if we were actually going from https to http, but because of the redirect we are going from https to https), but that's not what's happening. The data gets dropped unless we change the link (which redirects to https) from http to https. It's an easy fix obviously, but I'm interested to know why this is happening so we can advise clients on how these issues can be avoided in the future.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to change domains in Google Analytics without losing the data
Hi there, We recently changed our domain from .COM to .NET so that all our subdomains from external pages matched. Right now in Google Console we have our new .NET website being tracked, but in GA we are still tracking .COM. It is also causing issues with MOZ crawling our site because of the .COM/.NET discrepancy. My question is what is the best way to change our Google Analytics from .COM to .NET without losing historical data and what considerations do we need to change before implementing this? Our team was concerned that just downloading the old data would be too vast and it we wouldn't be able to continue manipulating it dynamically in GA. Thanks!!
Reporting & Analytics | | cPanel-LLC.0 -
Links From Public Info
Hi guys, I'm conducting a link analysis for one of my websites and I have found a few potentially damaging links. However, there are some people who I have contacted about removing links who have said that they will not remove my link because they are using data that is publicly available. Is there anything I can do to get those links removed rather than diavow? Thanks.
Reporting & Analytics | | AAttias0 -
Google analytics vs Webmaster tools data
Hi Which is more accurate WT or GA data ? Since GA reporting a KW (thats very recently fallen from page 1 to 3 hence looking into data to find the cause) in the Organic part of Search tab as having generated just 1 visitor over a month (hence presuming fall could be due to low visits from a page 1 result) whilst under Search Engine Optimisation tab (data sourced from WT i think) its reporting 5 click thrus from 150 impressions over same period resulting in a quite good 3.33% CTR (hence wouldn't expect to be the cause of a fall) and what i would have thought GA would report as 5 visits instead of the 1 they do report !? The reason im looking for answer in the data is because no on-page has changed and still scoring a grade A and off page metrics have all improved across the board (apart from small drop in majseo's Trust Flow) such as increased links, RD, Citation Flow, Ref Subnets etc etc etc Cheers Dan
Reporting & Analytics | | Dan-Lawrence0 -
Lost rankings after disavowing links
About two months ago, I received an unnatural inbound links message from Google. Then I disavowed 58 (the worst ones) and now I can see that right after the date I submitted my disavow file I'm losing rankings. What would you suggest? I don't really want to revoke my disavow file because it has totally bad links. I have this idea to build 58 links from high quality sites (instead of the 58 I disavowed). Do you think it'll work faster (if at all) or I just need to remove my disavow file?
Reporting & Analytics | | VinceWicks0 -
Why am i getting a flux of increase in Impressions on my site & then it decreases
They guys. Hope everyone is having a great week. I wanted to get some inputs from you guys in regards to what is happening to my site that i quite don't understand. Every month or so i get this influx of high visibility with impressions for my keywords and then the impressions go away but my rankings still keep going up. Has anyone experienced this before and can give me some insight on what is going . Why do i get such a big jump and then it dies off only to return again a month later or 2 months later. I know you guys want probably some info from my site or from analytics or webmaster tools so i will provide as much as i can . For now i have included a screen shot. ScreenShot2013-06-04at31220PM_zps0d02f5fc.png ScreenShot2013-06-04at31134PM_zps5bb81b68.png ScreenShot2013-06-04at31134PM_zps5bb81b68.png ScreenShot2013-06-04at31220PM_zps0d02f5fc.png
Reporting & Analytics | | BizDetox0 -
When will traffic data be working ? also whats with the spike in duplicate listing issues with everyone.
Hi There, We have no traffic data, is this something we are doing wrong or is this an issue with SEOMOZ ? Also duplicate listings have gone sky high, check goggle analytics's and all ok ? Any answers ? Thanks Charlie
Reporting & Analytics | | pro580 -
Can you link several sites together in Google Webmaster Tools?
I have a client saying that there is a way to link 3 separate websites (A website for each department of a company) in Google Webmaster tools to tell Google it's basically one site but really its 3. Or to tell Google it's the same company and all the sites are one. I have never heard of this & I don't see the point in making 3 separate small sites & "linking" them as one in Webmaster tools. Is there in fact a way? Am I out to lunch on what they might be referring to? I am recommending they create one larger authority site with a page on each department & earn links for each department page & provide informative unique content for each page. Thoughts? Thanks for the help!
Reporting & Analytics | | DCochrane0 -
Unable to use Open Site Explorer
I have repeatedly tried to use Open Site Explorer on a site. I always get the same response: No Data Available for this URL The site is 4 months old. It is listed by Alexa in 1.3 million page category. The site ranks well on numerous key terms for the industry it covers. OSE offers 4 reasons for not having data: 1. Recency of page creation. In the explanation offered 45-60 days is the longest estimate it should take. The site has been live close to 120 days. 2. Deep down in the web. The tool doesn't even have any data for the site's home page. 3. Blocked pages. The site is listed in Google and these pages are not blocked. 4. No links. There are plenty of links. Site url is www.terapvp.com What can I do to fix this issue and get data?
Reporting & Analytics | | RyanKent0