Installing an SSL certificate

An SSL certificate enables HTTPS — data between the site and visitor is encrypted, and the browser shows a padlock instead of a “not secure” warning.

Good news: SSL is issued automatically for the free starter subdomain — the site works over HTTPS right away.

For your own domain:

1. First point the domain to the service (see the domain connection article) and wait until it starts pointing to our server.
2. Open the service → “SSL” → issue a Let's Encrypt certificate (free).
3. Enable the forced redirect to HTTPS.

Common issue causes:

• The domain doesn't point to the server yet (DNS not updated) — wait and retry.
• The site isn't reachable over HTTP at check time.

The certificate renews automatically. If the padlock doesn't appear, check there's no “mixed content” (http:// links inside pages).