Do you like to get a free SSL certificate for your website? You need not have to purchase an SSL certificate separately, as most hosting providers usually provide a free SSL certificate for a single domain.
We receive more visitors to our website if we have an SSL certificate applied to it. Nowadays, a site must have an SSL certificate to get a good search ranking on Google.
In this post, I will share steps to get a free SSL certificate for a website on Bluehost. The shared steps will be more or less similar for other hosting providers.
Brief on SSL Certificate
The full form of SSL is Secure Sockets Layer. An SSL certificate ensures that the connection between a visitor’s browser and your hosting provider’s web server is secure and encrypted.
The visitors are sure about your site identity, and more open to engage with the content.
A website with an SSL certificate will have HTTPS in its address. Further, a lock icon will also appear in the browser. If you click the lock icon, the browser will show the relevant details of the certificate.
A secure website is very much needed to gain the trust of visitors. Visitors’ information like passwords, card details, etc., is protected during transmission to the website.
Free SSL Certificate from Bluehost
Generally, one has to purchase an SSL certificate to have a secure website, but Bluehost provides a free SSL certificate for a new hosting account. The steps to utilize this free opportunity are as follows.
Step 1: Log in to Bluehost Account
Please login to your Bluehost account and go to My Sites -> Manage site as shown in the image below. Click on the Manage site button.
Step 2: Visit Security Tab
The previous step will open a page, as shown below, where one has to go to the ‘Security’ tab.
Step 3: Enable SSL Certificate
Now a page, as shown below, will open where one has to switch ON the free SSL certificate provided by Bluehost.
The status will now change to ‘In Progress’, as shown below. It will take some time for the changes to take place.
Once the setup of SSL completes, the status will change to ‘ON’.
Post this, your website will start running on HTTPS. If you are still not seeing the changes on a browser, then follow the below post
Step 4: Enforce HTTPS (Optional)
If you want that your site automatically goes to the HTTPS version, even if a viewer types HTTP in the address, then you can enable the switch ‘Enforce HTTPS’ present below the SSL certificate switch. It will make necessary changes on the site so that the visitors automatically fall back to HTTPS.
SSL Certificate for Multiple Websites
The free SSL certificate from Bluehost is for a single domain or website.
If more than one domain (multiple websites) is hosted on Bluehost, then one has to purchase SSL certificate for these additional domains. Generally, hosting providers like Bluehost, GoDaddy, etc., provide services to buy SSL certificates from them.
For example, refer to the link to purchase an SSL certificate from Bluehost.
Summary
This post shows how to set up a free SSL certificate on a website. We also looked at how to enforce HTTPS on the website.
If you have any queries or suggestions, feel free to make them known to me by putting a comment below. Enjoy blogging!