Free SSL Certificate Setup Guide for Your Domain
SSL is no longer optional. Google marks HTTP sites as "Not Secure" in Chrome. Search rankings penalise non-HTTPS pages. And visitors have learned to distrust sites without the padlock. The good news: on Hoststack, SSL is free and activates automatically.
What SSL actually does
- • Encrypts data between your visitor's browser and your server
- • Shows the padlock icon in the browser address bar
- • Changes your URL from http:// to https://
- • Improves Google search ranking (confirmed ranking signal since 2014)
- • Required for accepting credit card payments (PCI compliance)
How SSL Works on Hoststack
Hoststack uses Let's Encrypt — the free, open SSL authority trusted by over 300 million websites. Certificates are issued automatically when you add a domain to your hosting account and your domain's nameservers are pointed to Hoststack.
Let's Encrypt certificates are valid for 90 days and auto-renew automatically — you don't need to do anything after initial setup. No reminders, no manual renewal, no risk of expiry.
Step 1 — Verify Your SSL is Active
Log in to your Hoststack control panel
Go to client.hoststack.pro → Services → your hosting plan → Login to DirectAdmin (or cPanel).
Go to SSL Certificates
In DirectAdmin: Account Manager → SSL Certificates. In cPanel: Security → SSL/TLS.
Check your domain has an active certificate
You should see your domain listed with a green status. If it shows "No Certificate" or "Expired", click "Let's Encrypt" → select your domain → click "Save".
Test it in your browser
Type https://yourdomain.com in your browser. If you see the padlock icon, your SSL is working. If you see a security warning, proceed to the troubleshooting section below.
Step 2 — Force All Traffic to HTTPS
Having SSL active doesn't automatically redirect http:// to https://. Someone who types your domain without https:// will still land on the insecure version. You need to force the redirect.
For WordPress Sites
Method A — WordPress Settings (easiest)
- 1. Go to wp-admin → Settings → General
- 2. Change WordPress Address (URL) from
http://tohttps:// - 3. Change Site Address (URL) from
http://tohttps:// - 4. Click Save Changes
Method B — .htaccess redirect (catches all traffic)
Add this to the top of your .htaccess file (before the WordPress block):
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
For Non-WordPress Sites
Use the .htaccess method (Method B above). It works for any PHP or HTML site on Apache/LiteSpeed. For Nginx-based VPS, add a redirect server block — contact our support team and we'll add it for you.
Step 3 — Fix Mixed Content Warnings
What is mixed content?
Mixed content is when your HTTPS page loads some resources (images, scripts, stylesheets) over HTTP. The browser blocks some of these and shows a "Not Fully Secure" warning even though SSL is active.
Common causes:
- • Old image URLs in your database that still start with http://
- • External scripts (Google Analytics, ad scripts) using HTTP
- • Hardcoded HTTP links in your theme or plugins
Fix for WordPress
- 1. Install the Better Search Replace plugin
- 2. Search for
http://yourdomain.com→ Replace withhttps://yourdomain.com - 3. Run it on all tables (leave all checked)
- 4. Do a dry run first to see what would change, then run it for real
Step 4 — Verify Everything is Working
SSL Shopper SSL Checker
sslshopper.com/ssl-checker.html — Shows certificate details, expiry date, and chain status
Why No Padlock?
whynopadlock.com — Scans your page for mixed content warnings
Google PageSpeed Insights
pagespeed.web.dev — Confirms HTTPS and checks for security issues
Auto-renewal — nothing to do
Hoststack auto-renews Let's Encrypt certificates 30 days before expiry. You'll receive an email notification but no action is required. If auto-renewal ever fails (very rare), our system alerts you and we fix it manually.
Free SSL on every Hoststack plan
Let's Encrypt SSL with auto-renewal is included on all hosting plans — no extra charge, ever.
Get Started — ₹99/mo