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What's the best way to enforce HTTPS across my entire website?

Asked on Dec 04, 2025

Answer

To enforce HTTPS across your entire website, you should use HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) and ensure your server is configured to redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS.

<!-- BEGIN COPY / PASTE -->
    # Example of enabling HSTS in an Apache server configuration
    <VirtualHost *:443>
      ServerName example.com
      SSLEngine on
      SSLCertificateFile /path/to/cert.pem
      SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/privkey.pem

      # Enforce HTTPS with HSTS
      Header always set Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains"
    </VirtualHost>

    # Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
    <VirtualHost *:80>
      ServerName example.com
      Redirect permanent / https://example.com/
    </VirtualHost>
    <!-- END COPY / PASTE -->

Additional Comment:

HSTS ensures that browsers only connect to your site using HTTPS, preventing protocol downgrade attacks.
Set the max-age to a high value (e.g., 31536000 seconds, which is one year) to enforce long-term HTTPS.
Include the includeSubDomains directive to apply HSTS to all subdomains.
Ensure your SSL/TLS certificates are valid and up-to-date to avoid browser warnings.

✅ Answered with Security best practices.

Ask any question about Website Security here... and get an instant response.

What's the best way to enforce HTTPS across my entire website?

Asked on Dec 04, 2025

Answer

Additional Comment:

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