An SSL certificate makes your website reachable via https: the traffic between visitor and server is encrypted, so that nobody can read along.
What is an SSL certificate?
An SSL certificate is a small digital file on your web server. It does two things:
It proves who you are
It shows that your domain really is what it claims to be.
It secures the connection
It enables an encrypted connection, so that nobody can read along in transit.
You can recognise a secure connection by https:// in the address bar.
For the techiesFormally, the technology is now called TLS. In practice, almost everyone still talks about SSL.
Why is https important?
Confidentiality
Data from a contact form or login screen travels down the line encrypted.
Integrity
Nobody can alter the content of your pages unnoticed along the way.
Trust
For a site without a certificate, browsers show a clear “Not secure” warning. That scares visitors away.
Search visibility
Search engines see https as a positive signal. More about that in the basics of SEO.
Even if you do not have a webshop and do not process sensitive data, https is now the norm. A site without a certificate simply looks outdated and untrustworthy.
What does a certificate cost?
For most websites: nothing. Free, full-fledged certificates trusted by all browsers are available via Let’s Encrypt. They are valid for three months and are renewed automatically, so nothing can expire.
Free certificate
- Via Let’s Encrypt, trusted by all browsers.
- Valid for three months, renewed automatically.
Paid certificate
- Mainly offers additional guarantees.
- Or a more extensive verification of your organisation.
Technically, the encryption is equivalent.
Common warnings
These are the two problems you will come across most often:
An expired certificate
The browser then shows a warning. Automatic renewal prevents this.
Mixed content
A secure page still loads elements, such as an image or script, via insecure http. The padlock then disappears, or a warning appears. The solution: switch all references to https.
Redirecting everything to https
Installing a certificate is not enough. Make sure visitors who use the old http address are automatically redirected to the https version. That way there is only ever one working version of your site, which also prevents clutter in search engines.
You set up this redirect on the server, usually with a single setting in the control panel.
Certificates and security
Please noteHttps secures the connection, not the website itself.
A site with a valid certificate can still be hacked via outdated software. So see a certificate as one layer of your security. You can read about the other layers in preventing a hacked website.
A certificate is included as standard with our web hosting.