Frequently Asked Questions for SSL Certificates

Q. What is the process to obtain a SSL certificate?
A. The first step should be contacting your Web Host and obtain an IP address. You must then create an account. You can then order your certificate. Once your account information has been verified, you will receive an email with instructions on how to proceed.

Q. How long does it take to get a SSL certificate?
A. RapidSSL Certificates take only a few minutes to obtain once you have created an account and your credit card a verified.

Q. I created an account, now what?
A. Select the Order link on the Certificate page. You with then be asked to enter some additional information; the domain name you are ordering the certificate for and the IP address you obtained from your web host. Once you check-out, your order will be processed. You will then receive an email with further instructions.

Q. What is a RapidSSL Certificate?
A. RapidSSL Certificates uniquely enable businesses to obtain low cost fully functional single root trusted SSL certificates and are ideal for websites conducting lite levels of ecommerce. RapidSSL.com owns the root used to issue the certificates, making RapidSSL both stable and far easier to install than a chained root install certificate.

Q. Can I secure multiple subdomains with a single Certificate?
A. An SSL certificate is issued to a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). This means that an SSL certificate issued to "secure.yourdomain.com" cannot be used on different subdomains, such as "www.yourdomain.com".

Q. Who can obtain a SSL certificate?
A. Certificates are available to anyone who can prove that they are a valid entity. This includes individuals, companies, and organizations. As long as you have an entity with a registered domain name, and the WHOIS administrative contact information on the domain name is correct, you can receive a certificate.

Q. If my server crashes, will I need a new certificate?
A. When you receive your SSL Certificate, you should burn a copy on CD-ROM or keep a backup copy in a safe location. If you do lose your certificate, you can contact customer service to resolve the issue to get a new certificate. (fees may apply)

Q. Why would I need an SSL?
A. If you want to send data over the Internet that is secure from prying eyes, you should get an SSL Certificate. SSL is the best way to encrypt data on the Internet in an affordable, feasible, and secure way. Our certificates provide full 128-bit encryption that is trusted on over 99% of all browsers.

Q. What is a CSR and how do I generate one?
A. A CSR is a Certificate Signing Request. It is a block of encoded data that is generated by your web server and contains the necessary details about your domain and organization.

If you do not know how to generate a CSR, we suggest you contact the company who your purchase hosting from.

Q. When connecting to my site over https, my browser alerts me that I have both secure and non-secure content
A. This error occurs when you are trying to reference files from your web site over http when you have a https session. Either change the file references, e.g. graphics, style sheets, etc, in your HTML webpage code to https or use relative links.