How to Get an SSL Certificate for My Website?

If you have an e-commerce website or a website that requires customers to share sensitive information, you must invest in an SSL certificate. Getting SSL certified is a straightforward task for professional website design Manchester agencies. So, if you are not sure what you’re up for, hire a web design agency to procure and set up an SSL certificate for your website. So what is SSL?

SSL is an acronym for Secure Sockets Layer. SSL is a crucial addition to websites that handle sensitive information such as customer address, phone number and credit card information. It works by creating a layer of security for websites. It achieves this by establishing a secure connection between your customer’s browser and your website’s servers. Once you add an SSL certificate to your website, your browser will establish a secure connection with the site. Any information that’s now shared (such as phone number or credit card information) stays safe and secure with the website. No one including hackers can access this information.

Buy the Right SSL Certificate

Before you can buy an SSL certificate, you must know the kind of certificate you’ll need, which will depend on your requirements. You must also know which parts of your site you want to secure and how many certificates you’ll need. If you’re not sure how to choose the right SLL certificate, talk to your website design Manchester agency for assistance.

Activate Your Certificate

Each SSL certificate requires a CSR, which contains the information that identifies and protects your website. You will need to generate a CSR, which you can do through your web hosting control panel (also known as cPanel). Visit the SSL/TLS admin section Next click on a section titled something like “Generate an SSL certificate” Fill out the form and click on submit You will now see a wall of text. Simply copy this CSR and send it to your SSL certificate provider. If you don’t know what you’re up for, it’s best to talk to your website design Manchester agency or your host. They’d be happy to do this for you.

Install the SSL Certificate

Once your SSL certificate has been activated, your SSL provider will send you a .crt file. You will need to head to your cPanel and go to the “Install an SSL Certificate” section under the SSL/TLS menu. Now open the .crt file and copy the text and paste the contents in the box, and submit. You’re done. Now your website is officially SSL certified.

Update and Verify

So how do you make sure the SSL certificate is working? Simply type https:// before your domain name and if your website opens up, your website is protected. Take note that you don’t have to protect all the pages on your website. You only need SSL certificates for pages where your visitors are required to submit sensitive information such as login page or the e-commerce checkout page.