FREE SSL from HOSTGATOR
What is SSL?
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It is standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between your website and the user. This link ensures that all data passed between your website and the users’ browser remains private.
SSL certificates help establish trust and that’s crucial – if your customers and users feel safe on your website, they are more likely to spend their money or part with their personal information.
Why Should you Install an SSL Certificate
Google Chrome (that has about 56% of the browser market) names and shames the sites that aren’t using SSL and labels them as ‘not secure’. Sites that use SSL get the nice, comforting green padlock and will get a boost in the rankings over those that don’t. So, if you haven’t got an SSL certificate on your website, do it now.
HostGator customers will be pleased to know that HostGator now offers a FREE SSL certificate to all of its customers. The free certificate gives you industry-standard security and to be honest, unless you are running a large, sophisticated ecommerce site, that’s all you need.
How to Install Your Free HostGator SSL Certificate
If your site is already hosted and pointed to a HostGator package, your SSL should be ready to use. It won’t automatically force HTTPS so you do need to complete a few steps to force HTTPS on your site:
- Try and login to your WordPress dashboard using HTTPS. So; https://mydomainname.com/wp-admin
- Once you have successfully logged in to the secure version of your website (you’ll see the green padlock in the address bar), you need to install the Really Simple SSL plugin. Activate the plugin and you should be good to go.
- You will need to update your Google Analytics profile to track the HTTPS version of your site. Login to your analytics account and go to Property Settings. There you can change the Default URL to HTTPS.
- You will also need to update Google Search Console (if you’re not using it, set it up immediately!). Unlike analytics, you will need to delete the HTTP version of your site from your account and add the HTTPS version of your site as a new property (once you’ve done that, remember to submit a new sitemap).
Take advantage of the HostGator free SSL. You can’t not. They have made it so easy for you. If you’re not already with HostGator, use this discount code to sign up: EAGLE30 (affiliate link).
