Is an SSL certificate optional for my website?
Installing an SSL certificate for your website is not only recommended, but also mandatory as soon as you process personal data. So nowadays it's no longer a yes-or-no question, it's about which certificate you choose and how to install it properly. In this blog post, let's take a look at everything related to it.
What is an SSL certificate?
An SSL certificate ensures that your website can be visited in an encrypted manner. Once a visitor visits your website on a random network, such as a coffee shop or train, others on the same network can't easily read the data a visitor provides using tools like WireShark. The information that could otherwise be read is now encrypted with an algorithm between the visitor and the website.
SSL certificates have been used and recommended for quite some time, but have become more important in recent years, especially with AVG. It is now even mandatory to use an SSL certificate on your website.
Choosing between different SSL certificates
There are a number of different types of SSL certificates available available from MijnHostingPartner.nl, of course for those who have a limited Budget, a Lets Encrypt certificate is probably the most logical choice. This is because this one is free to install and use. But there are other SSL certificates that are more suitable if you want to want to sell through your website. If you want to know all the benefits of a paid SSL certificate, we recommend you to read our separate blog post on this topic. Read our separate blog post. Here we explain how a paid SSL certificate can make all the difference to Your business.
Install an SSL certificate and force all traffic to use it
You can easily install an SSL certificate from the customer panel if you choose the Lets Encrypt option. If you choose a paid SSL certificate, we will do the rest of the work for you. So you don't need to do anything yourself.
After activating your Lets Encrypt certificate, your website is not automatically secured with it. You still need to configure your website to use only a secure connection.
Set it up once, after that not much more work is needed
Configuring the SSL certificate for exclusive use is best done through the web.config file. This bypasses the website level and controls forwarding directly at the server level. For this reason, this is faster than any other method. And is therefore recommended. The web.config file can seem intimidating to the inexperienced webmaster. But it is easy to edit.
The following article explains in detail how to convert your site to the https://www. version or, if you prefer, to the https://. version. WWW is already automatically hidden by a number of browsers. And is therefore often no longer preferred.
Is an SSL certificate enough to secure a website?
An SSL certificate alone is not enough to secure a website; more is required to ensure that your website is properly secured. Besides an SSL certificate, you need to make sure that you are using the latest security software, strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and many other things. Therefore, it is not the right way of thinking to assume that an SSL certificate will instantly make your website secure, which is often the case.
In addition to an SSL certificate, it is therefore important that you stay on top of things and regularly install and update updates and take other measures to keep your website as secure as possible.
Would you also like to extend the security of your website with an SSL certificate? Then order an SSL certificate now via the "Add us" customer panel or install it yourself for free with Lets Encrypt. So there's no more excuse for not having an SSL certificate active! In our knowledge base you will find step by step everything you need not only to install the Lets Encrypt certificate, but also to correctly enforce and set up the SSL certificate.
