How do you enable an SSL certificate?
Secure your website with an SSL certificate and switch to HTTPS.
An SSL certificate encrypts the traffic between your site and its visitors. It is essential for trust, for search rankings and for any online form or payment.
Choose your certificate
- DV (domain validation): fast and often free, ideal for most websites.
- OV (organization validation): shows your company's verified identity.
- Wildcard: covers every subdomain of the same domain.
Check your DNS
Make sure your domain points to your host: the certificate can only be issued if the domain resolves correctly.
Enable the certificate
Most hosts offer one-click activation of a free certificate. Otherwise, generate a certificate signing request (CSR), validate domain ownership and install the certificate you receive.
Move the whole site to HTTPS
Redirect every HTTP address to HTTPS, update your internal links and check that no resource is still loaded over HTTP.
Watch the expiry date
Certificates have a limited lifetime. Turn on auto-renewal to avoid the security warning shown when a certificate expires.