Building a Shopify Store and optimizing it for Google skyrockets businesses of all sizes and domains. The best-performing stores, however, are not just well-optimized but also have Shopify SSL or Shopify Secure Sockets Layer.
Enabling Shopify SSL is one of the most important steps towards building a secure website for both customers and conducting an online business.
This bite-size article will give you a compact overview of Shopify SSL and how to enable SSL on your storefront.
Why Enable Shopify SSL: An Overview
Shopify SSL or Shopify Secure Sockets Layer is an encryption-based security protocol. It encrypts the data, making the connection between the user’s browser and the Shopify store secure. Thus, enabling Shopify SSL protects the data transmitted between the Shopify Store to the user’s browser.
Let’s talk stats.
BusinessWire states that sixty percent of the consumers in USA prefer to cut ties with brands that suffered data breaches. The online reports show an increased concern for data safety. So Shopify security issues can’t be overlooked. People are becoming more aware of internet security and their indicators.
One such visual indicator is HTTPS Shopify Websites.
It is a secure version of an HTTP Website.
Here’s the difference.
- HTTP— Hypertext Transfer Protocol
- HTTPS— Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
HTTPS ensures that sensitive information, such as credit card details, is protected from hackers. It shows that a Shopify Website takes security issues seriously.
Each URL of your Shopify website will change from HTTP to HTTPS after you obtain the SSL Certificate for Shopify. It’s a huge factor that confirms your store is a secure place to be on the internet. Enabling Shopify SSL reassures customers to trust your store while making transactions.
Let’s get into the process of enforcing Shopify SSL.
How to Get SSL Certificate on Shopify
Shopify offers entrepreneurs a hassle-free way to enable HTTPS and obtain an SSL Certificate. Shopify generates free SSL Certificates for all the URLs on your Shopify Website.
All you need to do is connect the domain name to the store.
However, if you have purchased a custom domain name from GoDaddy, then you need to obtain the certificate manually.
Log in to your Shopify Account and go to:
Dashboard> Online Store> Domains
Here, you’ll see a list of domains associated with your Shopify Store. Choose the domain you want to secure with a Shopify SSL Certificate. Then click on the Manage button next to the selected domain.
Scroll down to the SSL Certificates section, and click the Add SSL Certificate button. Choose either a free SSL certificate or an advanced SSL certificate.
Check out the table below.
| Basis | Free SSL Certificate | Advanced SSL Certificate |
| Provided By | It is provided by Shopify itself | It can be installed automatically |
| Installation | It must be purchased from a third-party provider | It is manually installed on Shopify |
Then comes the installation.
Click on Enable HTTPS under SSL Certificates, and Shopify will automatically install the free SSL certificate for you. If you choose the advanced SSL certificate, you will need to follow the instructions provided by the third-party provider to install it on your Shopify store. Shopify will automatically redirect your domain from HTTP to HTTPS.
However, if your store has any warnings or issues, then you will need to resolve them. We have discussed these issues further in the article.
The Key Steps to Enable SSL Certification on Shopify
- Step 1: Purchase/Add SSL Certificate
- Step 2: Install the SSL Certificate
- Step 3: Enable HTTPS on Shopify
How to Tell if a Shopify Store is Secure
After enabling the Shopify SSL Certificate, you must verify the SSL Installation as well. To ensure successful authentication, visit your website and check for the padlock icon in the address bar of your web browser. If the padlock is present, it indicates that your website is secure.
Whether it’s a Shopify Website or any other website, all secure websites have a padlock icon. For instance, Shopify SEO Consultant is a secure platform for Shopify Entrepreneurs and anyone on the internet.
This is what users see upon clicking the padlock of a secure website.
Upon clicking the padlock, the users can also see a message stating “Connection Is Secure”.
This ensures that any credentials of the customer’s debit card or credit card stays private when sent to the site for payment or subscriptions.
Similarly, any visitor to your Shopify Website can tell if it is secure by looking at the padlock icon.
What Does Shopify SSL Pending Mean?
Shopify SSL Pending is the message you will see on the website while it is not authenticated. Your Shopify SSL Certificates contain a lot of information that is authorized, and only then is Shopify SSL enabled.
The SSL Certificates contain information such as
- Shopify Website’s domain name
- Issue date of the SSL certificate
- The authority that issued the certificate
- Person/ organization that obtained it
- The expiration date of the SSL certificate
- The public key for the encryption of data
- Associated subdomains
So there is a 48-hour window for Shopify HTTPS encryption. This activates your SSL Certificate on Shopify. While all this information is verified, an error message “SSL Pending” will be shown on the website.
During this time, visitors or shoppers on your website can browse the store as usual. However, the store will run on HTTP and not HTTPS.
Can you boost your SSL Pending?
No, you can not speed up the “SSL Pending” duration. The authentication takes about 48 hours to complete. Sometimes, there can be errors such as SSL Unavailable issue and the SSL Pending issue. In that case, you can take some measures to fix it.
How to Fix SSL Pending Issues?
- Check Your A Name Records
- Fix Your CNAME Records
- Let It Propagate in 48 Hours
What Does Shopify SSL Unavailable Mean?
This error denotes that a section of your Shopify is not secure. If this issue occurs, then Shopify does not authenticate the site as “secure” unless the issues are sorted out. The error for SSL Unavailable simply says that— SSL is not available for use on the website.
There can be many reasons why your domain may be unable to create a secure connection. Most of the time, it is a simple setup problem that you can resolve. Again, the 48-hour rule stays the same. A minimum of 2 days will be required to fully propagate whatever changes you make on your storefront.
How to Fix SSL Unavailable Issues?
- Fix Your Domain Record
- Remove IPv6 Records
- Remove or Alter CAA Records
Benefits of Enabling HTTPS Encryption on Shopify
Enabling Shopify HTTPS encryption provides several benefits for your store. The biggest of them all is the confidence of a potential customer. Shopify HTTPS ensures that the data transmitted between your website and the user’s browser is secure. Seeing the “HTTPS Secure” message or padlock icon instills trust in the users that their data is secure.
What more does a customer want from an online store?
- They need your valuable products/ services
- And secure payment options on your Shopify website.
Other additional benefits of enabling HTTPS encryption on Shopify are:
Protection of sensitive information
HTTPS encrypts sensitive data like credit card information, login credentials, and other personal data. This ensures that hackers cannot intercept or steal customer details while they are being transmitted between the user’s browser and the website.
Improved search engine rankings
The best part about enabling Shopify SSL Certification is that Google considers HTTPS as a ranking signal. Therefore, Shopify Websites with HTTPS enabled can rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) than those without it. Enabling HTTPS on your Shopify store can thus lead to more traffic and sweet conversions.
Conclusion
Obtaining Shopify SSL Certificate is a baby step towards building a hulk of a Shopify Storefront. Make your store secure, stronger, and tougher to knock off security threats with Shopify SEO Consultant.
We’ve been helping entrepreneurs build rankable Shopify Storefronts encompassing the best Shopify SEO techniques like Shopify SSL Authentication and more. After obtaining your Shopify SSL Certificate, you might also want to Update Your Store With a Seamless Theme.
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