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Site Audit Errors Explained: Missing a Valid SSL Certificate

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No Valid SSL Certificate

Ubersuggest's Site Audit tool is a powerful feature designed to help website owners find and rectify SEO issues. One of the checks performed by the Site Audit is for a valid SSL certificate. This article aims to guide beginner SEOs on understanding, finding, and resolving this specific issue using Ubersuggest.

What is a "No Valid SSL Certificate"?

A "No valid SSL certificate" error shows that the website in question does not have a secure connection set up through an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. SSL certificates are essential for encrypting the data transferred between a user's browser and the server, thereby ensuring a secure browsing experience.

Why is "No Valid SSL Certificate" Bad for SEO?

Lacking a valid SSL certificate can have a negative impact on your website's SEO for several reasons:

  1. User Trust: Modern browsers flag websites without SSL as "Not Secure", which can deter visitors.
  2. Data Integrity: Without SSL, data transferred between the server and the browser is susceptible to attacks.
  3. Search Engine Ranking: Search engines like Google give preference to websites with SSL certificates, affecting your site's visibility in search results.

How to Find "No Valid SSL Certificate"?

To check if your website has a valid SSL certificate, you can visit the URL listed in the Site Audit report on Ubersuggest. If you can access the URL with http:// in front of the web address, it means your website doesn't have a valid SSL certificate.

How to Fix "No Valid SSL Certificate"?

  • Contact Hosting Provider: Most hosting providers offer free SSL certificates and can guide you through the installation process.
  • Manual Installation: For more control, you can buy an SSL certificate and manually install it. This process varies depending on your hosting provider and server setup.

Locating "No Valid SSL Certificate" on Your Website

The Site Audit report in Ubersuggest will list the URLs that have this issue. You can navigate to these URLs to confirm the absence of a valid SSL certificate.

Pro Tip and Further Reading

If Ubersuggest flags your URL as lacking an active SSL certificate but you find that it's a false positive, you may need to whitelist Ubersuggest's IPs.
Follow the instructions in this knowledge base article: Ubersuggest IP Addresses to Add as Exceptions.

For more information on SSL certificates, check out this article by Neil Patel.