SSL troubleshooting

SSL browser padlock showing error or not showing

If you have had an SSL certificate installed on your website but when visiting it via https, your browser does not display the SSL padlock it usually does, there could be few causes, these are outlined below:

Insecure items exist on your page

The number one cause for the SSL padlock not appearing when browsing a secure website is due to insecure items being embedded on the page you are on. For example, some images are embedded on the page using an absolute URL such as http://www.your-domain.tld/image.jpg rather than a relative URL such as /image.jpg. Because an absolute URL is used, even when the page is loaded via https, the embedded images area loaded via a regular non-secure http connection. This causes the browser to throw an error or warning and say that some content on the site is not secure.

To fix this, you can view the source code of your website and perform a search for any references to http://www.your-domain.tld. Once found, you can open your original file and make the appropriate updates to secure the page completely when loaded via https.

Outdated browser

Some older browsers don't include the required information to recognise some newer SSL certificates. Make sure your web browser is up to date then re-visit the website via https to check if the cause of the problem was your outdated browser.

Page not loading, error messages showing

If the browser isn't able to detect an SSL certificate on the website it is visiting, any https requests to the site will result in an error appearing. Depending on the browser you use, the specific error message migh differ, but the message is the same: the page can't be loaded securely. To check if an SSL certificate is installed on the website you are visiting you may use an online SSL checker. The SSL checker can scan the website you are visiting and provide you information relating to the server and SSL certificate being used. If the certificate is not properly installed on the server or has expired, the SSL checker will be able to advise you of this.

Be aware, unless a wildcard SSL is used, SSL certificates are purchased for specific hostnames. So an SSL certificate purchased and installed for www.your-domain.tld will not allow visitors to visit a sub-domain such as shop.your-domain.tld securely.

Besides double checking the issues you are experiencing by using an online SSL checker, it's best to inform our support staff of your issue so that they can investigate the problem further.