How To Check When SSL Certificate Expires For a Website - Zinstall
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How To Check When SSL Certificate Expires For a Website

Need to check when a website’s SSL certificate expires? This tutorial will show you how.

What is an SSL certificate, and why is it important?

An SSL certificate is essentially a “digital ID” of a website, that proves that the entity that you are talking to is in fact that website, and not an impostor. A valid SSL certificate is what grants you the “padlock” icon next to the website URL in your browser – verifying that the connection is secure. Modern browsers will flag websites that do not have a certificate in place (and do not support an SSL connection – “https”).

What happens when an SSL certificate expires?

If your SSL certificate expires, internet browsers will actually block access to the website, and will instead show a warning that “connection to this website is not secure”. A tech savvy user can add an exception and get to the website anyway, but most users will just leave at this point.

This has significant implications on your traffic, reputation, search results position and can be a major blow to your web presence.

Can I get alerted if one of my certificates is about to expire?

Yes! WebbySitter automatically monitors all types of certificates, including SSL, and will alert you if you are too close to the expiry date. You can find out more here.

How to check a website’s SSL certificate expiration date

Here is how to check when a website’s SSL certificate is going to expire:

  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar for the website you want to check.
  2. Click on “Connection is secure” in the pop-up box.
  3. Click on “Certificate is valid” to see the certification information.
  4. In the certificate info pop-up, you’ll see the expiration dated listed under “Validity Period” -> “Expires On”:

If the “Expires On” date is coming soon, it’s time to renew your certificate.

Note that it is typically not a complicated process at all, and can be performed via your hosting provider. The only “catch” is to make sure you don’t accidentally let your SSL certificate expire.

Want to ensure that you never miss something like this again?

WebbySitter is a service that automatically monitors your website for all kinds of potential pitfalls, such as expiring SSL certificates, and many more. It ensures that you never get blindfolded by a preventable issue again. There is nothing to install and no changes to make to your website.

Sign up for WebbySitter