Secure Your Website in Minutes: Free SSL with Bluehost AutoSSL

Get Started with AutoSSL: Securing Your Website with Free SSL Certificates

Bluehost's AutoSSL is a convenient feature that automatically enables and manages free SSL certificates for your website. With AutoSSL, you can ensure a secure connection for your visitors and improve your website's trust factor.

Here's a quick rundown of AutoSSL:

• Effortless Activation: AutoSSL is an account-wide setting, so enabling it once secures all your websites on Bluehost.
• Automatic Renewal: No need to worry about certificate expiration! AutoSSL automatically renews your certificates before they expire.
• Free Let's Encrypt Certificates: AutoSSL utilizes trusted Let's Encrypt certificates, providing a secure browsing experience for your visitors.

Benefits of Using AutoSSL:

• Enhanced Security:
  SSL certificates encrypt data transmission between your website and visitors' browsers, protecting sensitive information.
• Improved Search Engine Ranking:
  Search engines favor websites with SSL, potentially boosting your website's search visibility.
• Increased Customer Trust:
  The secure connection established by SSL assures visitors that your website is trustworthy.

This article will guide you through enabling AutoSSL and answer any questions you might have about using free SSL certificates with Bluehost.

• How-to Enable Free SSL for WordPress users
• How-to Enable Free SSL for Non-WordPress users
• Disable AutoSSL

How-to Enable Free SSL for WordPress Users

1. Click the My Sites tab from the side navigation menu to the left.
2. Select the WordPress website by clicking the Manage Site button.
3. Locate the Security Option.
4. Under SSL Certificate: Let's Encrypt, ensure that the toggle switch is On.

How to Enable Free SSL for Non-WordPress Users

1. Click the Marketplace tab from the side navigation menu to the left.
2. Scroll down to Featured Products.
3. Locate the SSL Certificate option.
4. Under the SSL certificate Page, scroll down and locate "Install SSL On:"  click the drop-down menu to select your domain name.
5. Once the domain is selected, click on Enable Free SSL.

Adding a Redirect in the File Manager

1. Once the Free SSL (AutoSSL) is enabled, navigate to the File Manager section.
2. Locate your .htaccess file. The primary .htaccess file is located in your public_html folder. 
   To learn more about accessing this file, please see our .htaccess Tutorial.
3. Click on the file to open your Code Editor.
4. Using the Code Editor, add these lines to the beginning of your .htaccess file.

   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

   Note: Substitute example.com with your domain name.

5. Test to ensure your SSL certificate works by typing in your domain name and navigating to your website. You should see HTTPS:// appear before your domain name and any subsequent pages on your site.

How to Disable Free SSL

If you want to disable the Free SSL:

1. Click the Marketplace tab from the side navigation menu to the left.
2. Scroll down to Featured Products.
3. Locate the SSL Certificate option.
4. Under the SSL certificate Page, scroll down and locate the Disable Free SSL button

Summary

This guide explained how Bluehost's AutoSSL simplifies securing your website with free SSL certificates.

Key benefits of AutoSSL include:

• Effortless activation: Enables SSL for all your Bluehost websites with a single setting.
• Automatic renewal: Ensures your certificates stay up-to-date without manual intervention.
• Trusted Let's Encrypt certificates: Provides a secure connection for your visitors.

AutoSSL enhances website security, potentially improves search engine ranking, and fosters trust with visitors by assuring them of a secure browsing experience.

The article also provided step-by-step instructions for enabling AutoSSL for both WordPress and non-WordPress users, along with how to disable it if necessary (cautionary note included regarding potential security implications).

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