An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that proves your website is really your website and lets browsers create an encrypted connection to it, which is what turns your site into HTTPS.
When someone visits your site, their browser checks the certificate for your domain name, who issued it (a trusted Certificate Authority), and whether it is still valid. If everything checks out, the browser and server agree on encryption keys and the traffic is encrypted in transit, so things like contact forms, login details, appointment requests, and payment info are far harder to intercept or tamper with while traveling across the internet.
“SSL” is the common name, but modern websites use TLS (the newer version of the same concept). The result is the same for your business: visitors see HTTPS in the address bar, and you avoid scary browser messages like “Not secure” on pages that collect information.
For Orlando and Central Florida service businesses, SSL is baseline trust. If you run a dental office, law firm, or home service company, people are constantly submitting phone numbers, addresses, and sometimes health or case details. SSL protects that submission on the way to your server, but it does not protect what happens after it arrives, so you still need strong passwords, updates, access controls, and good hosting security.
- Check that every page loads on HTTPS (not just the homepage).
- Set a single preferred version (HTTPS) and redirect HTTP to HTTPS sitewide.
- Fix “mixed content” warnings (old images/scripts loading over HTTP).
- Track renewal dates, most public certificates rotate about yearly and many hosts can auto-renew.
- Confirm subdomains you use (like portal.yoursite.com) are covered if needed.
If you want us to handle the setup and keep it clean in WordPress, our WordPress hosting work typically covers SSL install, renewal monitoring, and the HTTPS redirect cleanup that prevents broken pages.
If you are also thinking about visibility, our FAQ on whether HTTPS affects SEO explains how HTTPS fits into search and what actually moves rankings for local businesses.
