Fix: HTTPS / SSL

20 min Impact: critical Effort: medium ✓ Scan-verified — no manual checkbox

This confirms your site actually serves over HTTPS with a valid, properly configured certificate — the baseline trust signal browsers, users, and Google all check before anything else about your site's security.

HTTPS is a confirmed Google ranking signal. HTTP sites get "Not Secure" warnings in Chrome which destroys trust before anyone reads a word.

How to fix it

1

Confirm the certificate is valid and trusted

No browser warnings when visiting https:// directly, and the certificate isn't self-signed or expired.
2

Check the certificate covers all needed domains

If you use both www and non-www, or multiple subdomains, confirm the certificate (or its SAN entries) covers all of them.
3

Verify the full chain, not just the leaf certificate

A missing intermediate certificate can make your site work in some browsers but show warnings in others — an SSL Labs test catches this specifically.

Common mistakes

A certificate that works fine in your own browser can still be broken for other visitors if the intermediate chain is incomplete — always verify with a dedicated SSL testing tool, not just your own browser.

How you'll know it's done

SSL Labs (or equivalent) reports a fully valid certificate chain with no warnings.

Tools that help

SSL Labs Test ↗

The definitive deep check for certificate and chain validity.

H.I.V.E. checks this automatically

Fix it, then re-scan — the check confirms itself. No manual checkbox, the scan is the truth.

Run this check in H.I.V.E. →