An SSL certificate encrypts the connection between your website and your visitors' browsers. It is required for the padlock icon and https:// prefix, and is essential for customer trust and SEO.
About Free SSL on Hordanso Hosting
All Hordanso shared hosting plans include free AutoSSL powered by Let's Encrypt. In most cases, SSL is installed automatically when you add a domain. If it is not, follow the steps below.
How to Manually Run AutoSSL
- Log in to cPanel.
- In the Security section, click SSL/TLS Status (or search for AutoSSL).
- You will see a list of all your domains and subdomains with their SSL status.
- If any domain shows 'Incomplete' or 'No SSL', select it using the checkbox.
- Click Run AutoSSL.
- Wait 2–5 minutes. The status will update to 'OK' when the certificate is installed.
Why Might AutoSSL Fail?
- Your domain is not pointing to Hordanso nameservers — AutoSSL cannot verify domain ownership without proper DNS
- The domain is very recently added — wait 24 hours after pointing nameservers before running AutoSSL
- CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) DNS records are blocking Let's Encrypt — contact support to check
How to Force HTTPS After Installing SSL
Installing SSL does not automatically redirect http:// traffic to https://. To do this, see How to Force HTTPS on Your Website (SEC-02).
SSL Certificate Expiry
Let's Encrypt certificates expire every 90 days, but cPanel's AutoSSL renews them automatically before they expire. You do not need to do anything manually.
Note: If your site shows 'Not Secure' even after installing SSL, you likely have mixed content (images or scripts loading over http://). See the related article for how to fix this.
