What is SSL and how do I get it?

Last updated: 03 Nov 2026

What SSL does

SSL (more precisely, TLS) encrypts the connection between your visitors and your website. It is what turns http:// into https:// and shows the padlock in the browser. Browsers warn visitors about sites without it, and search engines prefer sites that have it.

Free certificates

Every website hosted with us gets a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt, a non-profit certificate authority. Certificates are renewed automatically before they expire.

How to get the certificate

  1. Add your domain under My Websites.
  2. Point the domain's A record to our server (see the DNS articles). The certificate authority must be able to reach your domain on our server to issue the certificate, so this step is essential.
  3. Once the domain resolves to us, the certificate is issued. Your dashboard shows the SSL status for each website.

Common problems

  • "SSL pending" for a long time: the domain probably still points to the old host, or the DNS change has not spread yet. Check the A record.
  • Mixed content warnings: your pages load some images or scripts over http://. Update those links to https://. WordPress users can fix most of these by setting the site URL to https:// under Settings → General.
  • www works but root does not (or the reverse): make sure both @ and www DNS records point to our server.

If you are stuck, open a support ticket with your domain name and we will check it for you.