Where Can I get Free SSL Certificates for my Website?

If you haven’t realised the need for an SSL Certificate on your website, then now is the time to learn why you need one and more importantly how you can get SSL Certificates for your website without breaking the bank.

Typically, you will find it an expensive option with most web hosting services, but we have a recommendation that will not only give you SSL certificates for your websites – but also a lot of other features that will also benefit your website/business included.

What is an SSL Certificate?

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer; it establishes an encrypted (safe) link between an internet browser and a web server.  Anyone who is searching the internet through a browser and see the padlock in the address bar knows that the website they are on is safe and secure. It also means that your personal data is safe.

An SSL Certificate is key to the security of a website and with the importance of protecting personal information nowadays, it is something that a lot of website owners are researching and deciding whether it is time to install it.  An SSL Certificate can be quite expensive if you are a small business owner who wants to take payments through their website, but in this article, I will be going through what an SSL certificate is, why your website might need it and more importantly how you can genuinely get it for free.

Any data that passes between the two is safe and secure.  You will notice that we have the padlock too.  We want to ensure we are all safe when browsing the internet.

Related Post: What is the Best Web Hosting Service for Small Business

Why Does It Matter?

Think about the number of times that you are out and about on your smartphone and using a free Wi-Fi hotspot?  If no website had an SSL certificate, it could mean that you are more vulnerable to hackers getting your personal data.

As most of our web use is done via our phones nowadays, it makes it even more important that your website has an SSL Certificate

Why Does Your Website Need it?

As a business or website owner, there are some reasons why it is essential to have an SSL certificate.

1.E-Commerce

Any website that handles products or services to be bought from a visitor will need an SSL certificate to be able to handle payments.  If the person loves your products, but sees that you haven’t got a padlock, then they will probably not buy it.  You will also soon realise some payment handlers require SSL.

2.Capturing any Data

Building an email list, or even the comments section on your website captures personal data.  With the recent GDPR laws introduced in Europe, it is essential we comply with all the legalities of having an online business.  including the handling personal data.

3.Better Search Engine Results

Google owns two thirds of the overall search traffic and they have stated they are going to give website with an SSL certificates higher ranking than websites without one.  That could make a big difference to a business.  If you cannot get to page one of the search results, you will find it so much harder to have a profitable business.

4.Builds Trust

One of the key vibes of anything I learn about online business is that anything that builds your trust with the customer will lead to a better conversion rate.  An SSL certificate goes a long way to building trust online.

Whether you are blogging, selling your own products or looking to build an online business – being able to get an SSL certificate is paramount.

But there are plenty of options out there, but many do not include an SSL certificate in their hosting.  Some are actually charging $100 per website, per year.  As you are searching for a free SSL certificate, the likelihood you will be able to afford that much are remote.

You have to pay for web hosting, we all know that.  Free Websites do not tend to allow you actually hard to do anything with it. But most web hosting does not include the SSL certificates as standard.  Our recommendation does.

Web Hosting with a Difference

Most web hosting service providers charge you based on how many visitors you get to your website, the more visitors you get the more you pay.  Not, with my web host.  I pay the same now as I did when I first launched my website.  I could get up to 500k visitors a month and not pay anything else.

Free websites do not have the ability or tools to actually make any money with it.  For example, a free website cannot have ads on them.  So, if you are just starting out, you will soon realise that you need a paid website.

If you are an established business, you will find that your web hosting is a key decision to moving forward and scaling your business.

I highly recommend WordPress to anyone, it is so versatile, and it accounts for over 50% of all websites online.  That says how popular it is.  I have can have up to 50 WordPress websites hosted at SiteRubix, all with an SSL certificate and they also benefit from the things below:

Security Features – Several layers of security to protect your website.  With over 27,000 hacking attempts thwarted last year

Daily Back-ups – Every 24 hours your website will be backed up, so you never have to worry about your website.  this is typically a premium option with most web hosts

Double Hosting – Never worry about your website being down to your customers. If there is ever a problem, the second copy that runs all the time is swapped in within seconds to ensure your customer will never notice.  Again, this is something that few offers.

Site Speed – Site speed is an important factor to your online business, if your customers have a slow experience on it, they will likely more on to another business.  Not great.  But SiteRubix offer a fantastic site speed, with fast hosting.

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Mobile Friendly – More and more people are surfing online on their phones.  Is your current hosting keeping up and offering mobile friendly websites?  SiteRubix ensure that all of their sites are good to go.

Like I said, your web hosting is an important decision, but you will only benefit from the best options out there.  You will also find that most hosting does not offer as much as SiteRubix does.

I will also state that whilst you will be paying for web hosting, like you would for any decent hosting you will also get a Free SSL certificate for any website you host on their servers.

SiteRubix is from web hosting available from Wealthy Affiliate.

You might be asking why would I need to sign up with Wealthy Affiliate?  That’s only to do with Affiliate Marketing…  But that isn’t so not true.

Wealthy Affiliate offers its premium members 25 WordPress Hosted websites with SSL and all of the features above.  Which would benefit anyone online.

They specialise in training for online business:

• Everything to do with WordPress
• Getting Your Website Ranked
• Getting Traffic
• Social Media Marketing
• Creating Engaging Content
• Webinar Series (just a sample list)
  • Selling Your Own Products
  • Drop Shipping
  • How to Promote Your Ecommerce Business
  • Advancing Your Authority in Any Niche
• Web Design

Along with training on affiliate marketing.  I know that at first glance it may seem like it is only for people who are looking for a way to earn from affiliate marketing.  But their web hosting is a fantastic feature for any business.  And can any business owner really say they don’t need to know how to get the best out of website ranking, WordPress, Social Media Marketing?  I found that even though Gem’s wedding stationary business isn’t affiliate marketing.  I used many of the things I learned from Wealthy Affiliate to great benefit.

There is More…

There are also some more benefits to a website owner with Wealthy Affiliate and SiteRubix.

A keyword research tool is essential to website rankings and creating content, included in a premium membership is Jaaxy.  A premium keyword research tool with some fantastic tools to help you with your business.

If you are looking to give your audience the best experience ever, that will also include an SSL Certificate, with a website that will never let you down – You can definitely benefit from Wealthy Affiliate.

• Awesome Website Hosting
  
• Awesome Business Training
  
• Awesome Business Tools

You will also gain access to a community of other Internet Entrepreneurs for help and support at any point with your online business.  This is a great feature for beginners, but if consider yourself experienced.  What is your current hosting like?

Do you get all the features that are listed above?  Can you get help if you need ideas or advice?

If you would like to learn more about the website hosting at SiteRubix & Wealthy Affiliate, then I suggest you read my post “What is the Best Web Hosting for WordPress”.

If you would like to learn more about the whole Wealthy Affiliate platform, I recommend you read my Wealthy Affiliate Review.

I would say any small business owner would really benefit from the partnership of both and you would also learn how much you would gain from the platform.

How Much Does It All Cost?

This is the bit that you will really be interested in… Whilst the SSL Certificate is free for Premium Members, there is a need to invest in your business to get the best out of it going forward.  Free websites will not let you scale your business the way you need.  You will find that most will not even have an SSL Certificate.

Wealthy Affiliate combines training, website tools, website hosting, a keyword research tool and expert help and support.

All of these great features are included in their premium membership – which is $49/month or $359/year.

Not per website, but in total!  You can have up to 50 websites with SSL included for $49/month.  I have seen this be a $100 investment for each website – that would be $5k to just have an SSL certificate on them.

Many business owners start to scale their business, and some bloggers have 3 or 4 websites.  To have this many would mean most website owners couldn’t afford it.  But the benefits from Wealthy Affiliate will easily outweigh the initial investment.

But my ethos has always been around researching a product, before making a decision.  That is why I love the free starter membership.  You will gain access to the premium features for 7 days to take Wealthy Affiliate on a test drive.  You can have 2 free websites on the starter membership, which gives you ample time to test their hosting out.  See if it lives up to your expectations.

Can I Get Free SSL Certificates for my Website?

You will find that any free website will not typically be able to get free ssl certificates.  But most paid web hosting services will offer it for a price.

SiteRubix from Wealthy Affiliate offers it freely with their Premium Membership.  25 full domains with an SSL certificate.  25 subdomains with an SSL certificate.  Awesome Training and Tools that can help you scale your business to the next level.

I personally feel that makes SiteRubix a number one choice for small website owners and bloggers.

If you have any further questions or comments about SSL certificates, Web Hosting or SiteRubix, then please write them in the comments.  I will respond as soon as I can. I would love to also hear about any experiences you may have had with Web Hosting and SSL certificates.  Are they now common place, or elsewhere too high a price?