In July 2018, Google will be adding a small warning in the address bar of blogs or websites without an SSL (secure sockets layer) certificate installed. While this is not a huge deal, it might be a good time to consider adding an SSL certificate to your hosting plan. SSL certificates generally run about $75 a year or so (though Bluehost offers free ones which is one reason I am a Bluehost affiliate – nice perk!). So you can consider if you want to add an SSL, and if so, you’ll want to set that up with your blog or site host, the SSL is completely separate from a blog design.
So I decided to offer a quick guide to where to go to add an SSL for the more popular web hosts. You’ll want to purchase and install the SSL with your host. If you have any issues, you can feel free to contact your host directly to assist you with setup, they will be glad to.
If you’re hosted by Bluehost, they have recently begun adding a free SSL certificate to their hosting plans. If you are on Bluehost and do not have an SSL installed, you can go directly to my tutorial here to view a step by step guide to installing your SSL certificate.
Siteground.com also offers a free SSL certificate. For Siteground, you can go to this link for a full tutorial. After clicking the link, you’ll see a screen that looks like this, just click on the Let’s Encrypt link:
Hostgator also offers a free SSL certificate. You can follow the steps here to add your free SSL.
Godaddy unfortunately charges $75 per year for SSL certificates. For Godaddy, go to Web Security > SSL Certificates:
Click on the “Protect One Website” button, add to cart and complete checkout.
Once again, the SSL certificate and installation is not part of a blog or website design. If you are confused by any of this, you will want to contact your site host directly. Most of them have 24/7 customer support and will be glad to assist you with your SSL setup.
