How can we help you?

Wie beantragt man kostenlose SSL-Zertifikate?

Ella McMorran
Written by
Ella McMorran

Look, SSL certificates used to be this expensive pain that agencies avoided unless absolutely necessary. Not anymore. Google basically forces SSL now - browsers throw scary warnings at visitors, rankings drop, and customers complain about “not secure” messages.

After handling thousands of SSL support tickets, the biggest headache isn’t getting certificates working. It’s the endless renewal nightmare every 90 days. Agencies forget, certificates expire, sites go down, clients panic. We’ve seen entire PBN networks crash because someone missed a renewal reminder.

Note

SmartSEOHosting handles SSL automatically. Click a button, wait 30 seconds, done. No CSRs, no certificate chains, no renewal headaches. Just works.

Why Everyone Needs SSL Now

Google doesn’t mess around with SSL anymore:

  • Sites without SSL get ranking penalties (confirmed by Google)
  • Chrome shows “Not Secure” warnings that scare visitors away
  • HTTP/2 won’t work without SSL, so page speeds suffer
  • Mobile users especially bail when they see security warnings

The “not secure” warning alone kills conversion rates. One agency reported 40% traffic drops on non-SSL sites after Chrome updated their warnings.

Why Manual SSL Sucks (And Automated Doesn’t)

Before automated SSL, agencies spent hours every month dealing with certificate renewals. Generate CSRs, upload files, configure Apache, pray nothing breaks. Miss a renewal date? Site goes down at 2 AM.

The worst part: intermediate certificate chains. Get the order wrong and browsers throw “untrusted certificate” errors. Spend another hour troubleshooting why Firefox works but Chrome doesn’t.

Manual Installation Reality:

  • 30-45 minutes per domain (if everything goes right)
  • Calendar reminders that get ignored
  • Complex certificate chain management
  • Server configuration that breaks randomly
  • Renewal panic every 90 days

Automated System (Our Way):

  • Click button, wait 30 seconds
  • Renewal happens automatically every 60 days
  • Never think about it again

The time savings alone pays for hosting. Agencies with 50+ domains save 20+ hours monthly.

How to Actually Get SSL Working

The Easy Way
  1. Login to WHM (your reseller dashboard)
  2. Find “Smart SEO Hosting” in the sidebar
  3. Click “Free SSL Certificate”
  4. Pick your domain from the list
  5. Hit “Apply for Free SSL Certificate”
  6. Wait about 30 seconds - seriously, that’s it

The system handles all the technical stuff automatically. Domain validation, certificate generation, Apache config, redirects, renewal scheduling. No downtime, no broken sites, no midnight emergencies.

Most common question: “That’s it?”

Yep. That’s it.

When Things Go Wrong (And How to Fix Them)

“Still shows Not Secure after 5 minutes” Usually browser cache being stubborn. Clear everything (cookies, cache, the works) and try again. If DNS was recently changed, might take a few more minutes.

“Domain Validation Failed” Nine times out of ten, DNS isn’t pointing to our servers yet. Check your nameservers. Also, if you have existing SSL certs in cPanel, delete those first - they conflict with the automation.

“SSL works but site looks broken” Mixed content warnings. Your SSL is fine, but the site loads images or scripts over HTTP. WordPress sites do this constantly. Either fix the hardcoded HTTP links or install an SSL plugin that handles it automatically.

“Certificate shows as untrusted”
Usually browser cache again. Try incognito/private browsing first. If still broken, the intermediate certificate chain might be missing - just reapply SSL through our system.

WordPress being WordPress Change the site URL in wp-admin > Settings > General from HTTP to HTTPS. WordPress doesn’t figure this out automatically, because WordPress.

Renewal Happens Automatically (Finally)

Certificates renew every 60 days without any action needed. The system checks daily and renews 30 days before expiration. You’ll get an email confirmation when it happens.

Best part: no more calendar reminders, no more panicked midnight renewals, no more explaining to clients why their site went down. As long as DNS points to our servers, SSL stays active.

Subdomains Need Separate Applications

Main domain and www usually work together, but blog.yourdomain.com needs its own SSL application. Same easy process - just select the subdomain from the list.

Wildcard certs are available on Enterprise packages if managing tons of subdomains gets annoying.

Quick Check: Is It Working?

After applying SSL:

  • Visit https://yourdomain.com - should show green padlock
  • Check http://yourdomain.com redirects to HTTPS automatically
  • Browse the site and make sure no “mixed content” warnings appear

That’s really all you need to verify. The system handles the technical complexity behind the scenes.

99% of SSL “problems” are either DNS pointing to the wrong place or browser cache issues. The certificates themselves work reliably.