No-Sp@m Internet!

My new weight loss website has a form that prompts prospective buyers to enter their credit card information on the order page, send it over to my company for post processing. So I guess there is a need for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) as it allows visitors a peaceful frame of mind to make up their purchasing decisions. The budget is shoestring and I thought SSL is rather expensive in the range of hundreds of dollars. After checking out some information, I realise SSL is truly very affordable nowadays. There are even some free SSL certificates.

If you go to Google and search for “Free SSL”, you’ll discover there are some companies that provide webmasters with free SSL certificates. Some are permanently free while some are free for just a few months. I tried out one, and I liked it a lot as it gave excellent support and customer service. If you are looking for a trial SSL without having to pay anything for the first three months, let me introduce you to this one called InstantSSL.com by renowned SSL provider called Comodo.

Simply go to this site, click on the “Get it Free Now” button and follow through the application page. Next they will email to you the unique certificate key based on the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) you provided. Please note you need to go to your webhosting cpanel to generate that CSR which allows Comodo to generate that unique certificate key. When you are at the “Secure Server” section of your cpanel, enter your domain name and remember to SAVE your generated CSR and the private key as they could be needed when you are installing the SSL.

I encountered some difficulties with my H-SPHERE web server and I also forgot to save my private key, and at the first installation attempt, the SSL was not installed. Hence I contacted their support via Live Chat and told the helpful guy my problem. He assured me not to worry and asked me to regenerate another CSR and email to them.

Within hours, I have the new certificate key in my mail box. After some fumbling with the rather user-unfriendly H-SPHERE cpanel, I finally managed to install my first SSL website. Now I can see that magical lock at the status bar of the browser!

Well, this free SSL certificate is only free for 90 days. After which I got to ask the company to pay around $57 for a yearly license.