Technical Seo
SSL Certificate
A digital certificate that authenticates a website's identity and enables encrypted connections (HTTPS). It's issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) and verifies that the domain is legitimate.
Why SSL Certificate Matters for SEO
Without an SSL certificate, your site can't run on HTTPS. Browsers will show security warnings that scare away visitors. Free certificates from Let's Encrypt have eliminated cost as an excuse. It's table stakes for any website.
How SSL Certificate Works
The SSL certificate contains your domain's public key and identity info. When a browser connects, it verifies the certificate with the CA, then uses it to establish an encrypted session. Certificates need periodic renewal. Most modern hosting providers handle this automatically.
Common Mistakes
- Forgetting to renew certificates and causing site-wide security errors
- Installing the certificate on the main domain but not subdomains
- Not configuring the certificate chain correctly, causing trust issues on some devices
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