SSL & Website Security Management in Stoke-on-Trent

Yes. Browsers explicitly mark non-HTTPS pages as 'Not Secure' regardless of what the page actually does, which damages trust before the visitor reads a single word. Google uses HTTPS as a ranking signal, so non-HTTPS sites get pushed down in search results. Forms (including basic contact forms) on non-HTTPS pages send data unencrypted, which is a GDPR concern. Free Let's Encrypt certificates eliminate the cost objection — there's no longer a justification for skipping SSL.

Cryptographically they're equivalent — Let's Encrypt provides the same encryption strength as paid certificates. The differences are organisational: Let's Encrypt issues only Domain Validation (DV) certificates, while paid CAs also offer Organisation Validation (OV) and Extended Validation (EV) which require business verification and display additional company information. EV no longer shows the green company name in modern browsers, which has reduced its visible value. For most sites, Let's Encrypt is the right choice; premium SSL is justified for large enterprises with specific procurement requirements, eCommerce sites where certificate insurance matters, or wildcards covering many subdomains.

Yes. HTTPS migration involves more than just installing the certificate — internal links need updating, mixed-content issues (HTTP assets loaded on HTTPS pages) need resolving, 301 redirects need configuring across all entry points, sitemaps need regenerating, and Google Search Console needs to be told about the change so search rankings don't drop. We handle all of this as a single coordinated migration with verification steps to confirm everything works before considering it complete.

Let's Encrypt certificates renew automatically every 90 days via Certbot (or platform-native equivalents) with renewal verification so a failed renewal alerts rather than silently expiring. Premium SSL certificates are tracked on an expiry calendar with renewal triggered ahead of expiry. Monitoring dashboards show certificate expiry timelines across all your domains so nothing surprises you.

Yes. Compromise recovery typically involves: isolating the affected site, scanning the file system for malware and backdoors, identifying the entry point (vulnerable plugin, leaked credentials, or other), removing the malicious code, restoring affected files from clean backups, rotating credentials, hardening the configuration against the attack vector, and submitting reconsideration requests to Google Search Console if the site was flagged for malware. We are honest about what's recoverable versus what needs a clean rebuild.

Content Security Policy (CSP) controls which sources can load scripts, styles, and other assets — preventing many XSS attacks. HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) forces HTTPS even if a user types HTTP. X-Frame-Options prevents your site being framed by malicious sites (clickjacking protection). X-Content-Type-Options stops MIME-type sniffing. Referrer-Policy controls what referrer information is sent to other sites. Permissions-Policy restricts browser features like camera and geolocation. Each addresses a specific attack class — we tune them to your application's real needs rather than applying maximum-strictness defaults that break legitimate functionality.

Yes. Rate limiting on admin endpoints, fail2ban or equivalent for IP-level blocking after repeated failures, two-factor authentication where the platform supports it, and IP allow-lists for sensitive admin panels where appropriate. For WordPress specifically, we harden wp-login.php and wp-admin against the common attack patterns. Log analysis flags anomalous patterns for engineer review.

On ongoing management retainers, we subscribe to vulnerability feeds for the specific packages installed on your server — WordPress core and plugins, server software like Nginx and PHP, frameworks like Node.js, and underlying OS packages. When a critical CVE is disclosed for something you actually run, we apply patches within agreed SLAs (typically within hours for critical severity). Without ongoing management, CVE disclosures are passive — they sit unpatched until someone notices.

Yes. We provide written documentation of the security controls applied — SSL configuration, header policies, access controls, monitoring coverage, incident response procedures, and CVE response history. This is what compliance auditors (PCI, ISO 27001, SOC 2) ask for. We don't run the audits themselves (those are specialist firms), but we configure the platform so the audit is straightforward when you pursue it.