In my post, I show you how to put a padlock on your website, step by step.
Each time a website is loaded, the browser checks for a secure connection. A secure connection ensures information sent between the browser and website is encoded. The data can’t be intercepted and read.
The padlock icon confirms that the website has a secure connection. Most browsers, if not all, warn users when the browser can’t make a secure connection.
To put a padlock on your website, you need an SSL certificate. The SSL certificate is issued and installed on your website. Internet browsers detect the certificate and display a padlock in the address bar.
Let us get a padlock for your website.
Why Doesn’t My Website Have A Padlock?
Your website doesn’t have a padlock because it doesn’t have a valid SSL certificate. Internet browsers usually warn users when they can’t detect a valid SSL certificate.
Information sent between the browser and website is not secure. The data can be intercepted and read.
SSL certificates enable websites to move from HTTP to HTTPS, which is more secure.
Certificate authorities issue SSL certificates. Most certificate authorities, not all, charge for this service.
Once the certificate is issued, it needs to be installed and activated on your website.
How To Get An SSL Certificate For Your Site
Many popular hosting companies offer SSL certificates.
First, ask your hosting company about getting an SSL certificate for your website.
Bluehost SSL Certificates
Bluehost includes SSL certificates for all assigned domains. The SSL automatically signs and installs itself.
Hostgator SSL Certificates
Hostgator offers free SSL certificates with their shared hosting packages.
Hostinger SSL Certificates
Hostinger offer paid SSL certificates.
Hostinger also has a tutorial on how to get a free SSL for your website from Let’s Encrypt.
Siteground SSL Certificates
Siteground offers free SSL certificates with their hosting packages.
Godaddy SSL Certificates
Godaddy offers free SSL certificates with their hosting packages.
Dreamhost SSL Certificates
Dreamhost offers both free and paid SSL certificates.
How To Get A Free SSL Certificate For Your Website
For my websites, I get a free SSL certificate from Cloudflare. Cloudflare is a CDN service that offers free SSL certificates.
To get a free SSL certificate from Cloudflare, you must sign up for a free account.
On your dashboard, select ‘Add A Site’.
Type the URL of your website, then click on the ‘Add Site’ link.
Select the free plan and click on ‘Continue’.
Next, Cloudflare scans your site’s DNS records.
Once complete, select ‘Continue’.
Finally, you have to update your domain name nameservers.
Go to where you purchased your domain name and look for the option to edit your nameservers.
I bought my domain name on Namecheap.com. On the account dashboard, select ‘Manage’.
Under ‘Nameservers’, copy and paste the nameservers given by Cloudflare. Once complete, click on the green tick.
When you change nameservers, it takes a few hours for the internet to update. You can track the update progress on whatsmydns.net.
Type your site URL, select ‘NS’ from the menu, then click on ‘Search’.
As the internet updates, new nameservers appear.
After the update is complete, your website has a valid SSL. You get the padlock for your site.
Conclusion
You need a valid SSL certificate to get a padlock for your website. I recommend you contact your hosting company to ask them about SSL certificates.
Many hosting companies offer free SSL certificates with their hosting packages. If your hosting company has free SSL certificates and you don’t have a padlock. Contact your hosting company support to get help installing it for your website.
Some hosting companies charge for SSL certificates. If you don’t want to pay extra for this, I recommend using Cloudflare. Sign up for a free Cloudflare account and select their free plan.
On your Cloudflare dashboard, add your website. Once Cloudflare has scanned your website’s DNS records, you must change your nameservers. Go to your domain registrar and update your nameservers.
Updating nameservers takes a few hours to complete. You can monitor progress at whatsmydns.net. Once the update is complete, you have a valid SSL certificate. A valid SSL certificate gets you a padlock for your website.
Check out my ‘How To Use Cloudflare‘ post for a guide on using Cloudflare to make your site secure.
I hope you found my post informative. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section.
