This guide explains how to enable HTTPS on your website so visitors can access it securely.
HTTPS is the secure version of a website address. When HTTPS is enabled correctly, visitors will see a padlock icon in the browser and your website will load using https:// instead of http://.
Before HTTPS can work, your website must have a valid SSL certificate installed. Once that certificate is active, you can make sure your website uses the secure version of its address by updating links or settings and redirecting traffic from HTTP to HTTPS.
In this article, we will cover
- What you need before enabling HTTPS
- How to check whether SSL is active
- How to make your website load securely
- What to do if HTTPS is not working properly
Check that your SSL certificate is active
Before enabling HTTPS, first confirm that an SSL certificate is installed and working for your domain.
A simple way to check is to visit your website using https://yourdomain.com in your browser. If the page loads and shows a padlock icon, SSL is probably active. If you see a warning message or the page does not load securely, the certificate may not yet be installed correctly.
[Screenshot Placeholder – browser address bar showing HTTPS padlock icon]
Update your website to use HTTPS
Once SSL is active, the next step is to make sure your website uses HTTPS as its main address. This usually means updating your website settings so internal links, images, and page references load securely.
If you are using a content management system such as WordPress, there is often a website address setting where you can change the site URL from http:// to https://. If your website is custom built, you may need to update the site configuration manually.
If your site continues to load some files over HTTP, browsers may report mixed content warnings. This happens when a secure page still loads images, scripts, or stylesheets from an insecure address.
Redirect visitors to the secure version
After enabling HTTPS, it is a good idea to redirect all visitors from the old HTTP version of the site to the secure HTTPS version. This helps ensure that people always reach the correct address and reduces confusion for search engines and users.
In many hosting setups this redirect can be added through your website configuration or a redirect rule. Once in place, anyone visiting the non-secure address should be sent automatically to the secure one.
[Screenshot Placeholder – website redirect from HTTP to HTTPS]
Test your website carefully
After making the change, test several pages on your website. Check that the padlock icon appears, pages load normally, and forms or login areas still work as expected.
You should also test the website on more than one page rather than only the home page. Sometimes the main page loads securely while older pages still contain links or files using HTTP.
If you see browser security warnings, missing images, or content that does not load, review your website links and settings to ensure everything is pointing to the HTTPS version.
Need help?
If you need help enabling HTTPS on your website or checking whether your SSL certificate is working correctly, our support team will be happy to assist.
