Free SSL on All Hosting Plans

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It is an essential part of the technology used to create an encrypted and secure connection between the server and the browser. SSL helps to protect your site visitors' information.

HTTPS stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure, which is essentially the secure version of HTTP. In other words, HTTPS is the HTTP protocol, but encrypted over a secure SSL connection. HTTPS prevents "man in the middle" attacks from hackers and eavesdroppers.

In simple terms, an SSL certificate encrypts and decrypts data passed between your website and the browser. This prevents attackers from eavesdropping on your visitors' information.

For a more thorough explanation: with a secure HTTPS connection, a site visitor accesses a site with an SSL certificate installed. A secure SSL connection is then requested from the website host. The website host sends back a valid SSL certificate, and the secure and encrypted session can start. As the secure connection between the browser and the host is established, the transfer of encrypted data is enabled.

SSL protects your visitors' information by encrypting and decrypting the data that is transmitted. This is a necessity for websites where information is being transmitted, such as contact forms or online checkouts.

As web browsers, such as Google Chrome (which holds approximately 60% of web browser users globally), are heavily pushing towards HTTPS, your HTTPS-enabled website will be marked as “secure” in the browser. This can lead to an increased level of trust from your site visitors. (Putting it simply, all HTTP websites will be marked as "Not Secure" in the browser.)

In addition to the security benefits of SSL, search engines, such as Google, heavily favor websites that are served through HTTPS. Therefore, your search engine ranking for your HTTPS-enabled web pages could benefit.

Internet security standards are aggressively moving towards HTTPS, and Google Chrome and other browsers are flagging non-HTTPS sites. Without the use of HTTPS through SSL, your website can be negatively affected - regardless of whether your website needs to transmit sensitive data, or is a simple, information-only website. Without HTTPS, your website can decrease its search engine ranking, be labelled as "not secure" in the browser, lose your site visitors' trust, etc.

Websites that are not secured with SSL will be served over a non-encrypted HTTP connection. This means that hackers and attackers are able to intercept the information being passed between your website and the web browser. Browsers (such as Google Chrome) are penalizing websites that are not HTTPS-enabled. Websites that are not served through HTTPS will be marked as "not secure" in the browser, which could cause you to lose the trust of your site visitors.

Search engines, such as Google, also use HTTPS as a ranking factor, which means that your website without HTTPS could decrease its overall search engine ranking.

All of Doteasy's hosting plans include SSL for free, in order to help protect you and your visitors. SSL should be enabled automatically upon sign up, and you can test your website's secure connection with this tool:

https://www.doteasy.com/check-ssl/

If SSL is enabled and you are still encountering issues, you can troubleshoot for common HTTPS issues such as mixed content issues or non-secure links/ resources (check images, CSS, and Javascript).

Feel free to give our customer support team a call if you need help!