Does iPage Support SSL? How to Use It?

As you may already know SSL security has a positive effect in Google rankings. Back in 2017, Google has already started using HTTPS as a ranking signal. That said, it is important for your website to use SSL.

So you might wondering if iPage does support SSL or not? Yes, iPage does support SSL certificate and a shared SSL is provided with each hosting account for free. Premium SSL certificates are also available at iPage. I will talk about each one in details.

If you want to learn more about this company, please read my iPage review, where I present my own experience and give you insides about uptime and performance.

So let’s take a look to why you should use SSL anyway and how to install it to your website.

Why Activate HTTPS & Use SSL?

An SSL certificate activates the HTTPS protocol, which encrypts connection between your website and user’s browser. There are multiple levels of encryption and protection. For an informational website, or a blog, the free SSL encryption will be just fine. This will ensure that the web browser will not display the “Not Secure” badge next to your website.

If you allow user registration on your site or maybe processing credit cards, you might want to have a higher protection. For this, you will have to purchase a premium SSL certificate. Paid SSL certificates usually come with warranties.

iPage offers Comodo SSL certificates through their platform, which range between $39.99 and $299.99 per year. The highest level of protection, the E-commerce Protection SSL comes with a $1.75 million warranty.

Certain SSL certificates can only be installed to dedicated IP address, so you might have to purchase this too.

SSL gives trust to your users and can help boost your website rankings in Google. Even though you don’t go for a premium SSL, it is worth activating the free certificate, which is available with every hosting account purchased from iPage.

How to Activate SSL on WordPress Site?

If you are building your website with WordPress, activating the SSL from your iPage hosting account is simple. You just need a plugin for that:

• Login to your WordPress admin panel
• Go to Plugins & click Add New
• Search for plugin called: Really Simple SSL
• Install and activate the plugin
• Click on the button: “Go, Activate SSL!”

Now your control panel and the website will be redirected to HTTPS and you will see the lock icon and “Secure” text next to the website address in the browser.

Activating the SSL certificate will automatically sign you out from the admin panel.

How to Activate SSL on Simple PHP Website?

For a simple PHP website or any other website, you can activate the shared SSL through .htaccess. If you don’t have a .htaccess file, just create one and upload it through FTP to the root folder of your site. Add the following code to the .htaccess file:

This code can be used on Apache server. It worked perfectly for one of my dynamic PHP sites.

Can SSL Really Boost Google Rankings?

As mentioned previously, Google already stated, that they have integrated HTTPS in their ranking algorithm as key factor.

It is yet unknown how bit of an impact does SSL have at ranking in Google, but one thing is certain: the Chrome browser, which is created by Google, has already started notifying users about website which are unsecure.

Although a website is 100% safe, Chrome browser will annoy and scare users away from websites that are not using HTTPS.

Conclusion

Now you know how to use the free SSL provided by iPage and what are the benefits of turning your website to HTTPS.

I really hope this short tutorial has helped you setup the SSL on your website and hope you will get better rankings too!