An SSL Certificate – is it important and how to get one? If you already have an SSL Certificate is it valid?

Is having a valid SSL Certificate important?

Having a valid SSL certificate will improve your website’s SEO rankings. All of the major browsers will not trust your website, and some (e.g., Google Chrome) will punish your site by decreasing its search engine ranking for your site. Not having an SSL certificate will make your website appear as “Not Secure” in the address bar.

An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is a digital certificate and an essential security measure that lets guests know that it is safe to enter your website and reassures them that there is an encrypted connection protecting your mutual communications while they browse.

How to get one?

• use a plugin such as ‘Really Simple SSL’ now called ‘Really Simple Security’ or
• let you hosting company install an ‘SSL Let’s Encrypt’ Certificate.

Once your website gets an SSL certificate your domain will change from http to https.

Is it Free to get an SSL Certificate?

There are paid SSL Certificates but a good hosting company will install a free SSL certificate on your website. I host my websites with xneelo and my websites all have free SSL certificates.

Does it expire?

Yes, an SSL certificate will expire and should your hosting company continue to host your website, your SSL certificate will be automatically renewed at no cost.

How to check if your SSL Certificate is valid?

• you can use https://www.sslshopper.com/ or
• or https://www.whynopadlock.com/

I prefer https://www.whynopadlock.com/