How to fix “Your connection is not private” on your own website

If Chrome shows a full-page warning when someone opens your business website, most visitors leave before they see a thing. The cause is nearly always the site’s security certificate, and on most hosts the fix is free and takes about ten minutes. Here is how to find which problem you have and fix it yourself.

1. Check what visitors actually see

Quickest way: run our free check. It loads your address with and without www the way a browser does and tells you which of the problems below you have. Or check by hand:

• Open your address in Chrome on a phone or a computer, both with and without www (for example yourbusiness.com and www.yourbusiness.com). They are separate names, and the certificate has to cover both.
• On the warning page, click Advanced. Chrome shows a code: NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID means the certificate expired; NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID means it was issued for a different name (often the version without www, or your host’s own server name); NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID means it is self-signed.
• If the page loads but the address bar says Not secure, the site is on plain http://. That is a milder version of the same problem: no working certificate, or no redirect to https://.

2. Fix it at your host

The certificate lives in your hosting account, not in WordPress or your site builder’s editor. Log in where you pay for hosting:

• cPanel hosts (many shared hosts): Security › SSL/TLS Status, tick your domain and its www name, click Run AutoSSL. AutoSSL only covers names that point at that server, so if www points somewhere else, fix that DNS record first.
• Plesk: Websites & Domains › SSL/TLS Certificates, choose the free Let’s Encrypt option, include the www name and turn on keeping the site secured.
• Your own server or VPS: sudo certbot --apache -d yourbusiness.com -d www.yourbusiness.com (or --nginx), then check that the renewal timer is active with certbot renew --dry-run.
• Site builders (Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, restaurant and dealer platforms): the platform issues the certificate once your domain is connected correctly. Open its custom-domain settings and fix whatever record it says is wrong.
• No free certificate option? Some plans only sell certificates. Ask your host’s support: “please install a certificate covering both my domain and www, with automatic renewal”. It is a routine request.

3. Finish the job

• Send http:// visitors to https:// (cPanel: Domains › Force HTTPS Redirect; most hosts have a switch).
• WordPress: Settings › General, make both addresses start with https://.
• If the padlock still shows a warning, some images or scripts load over http:// (“mixed content”); update those links.
• Check again, with and without www, on a phone. Make sure automatic renewal is on: an expired certificate is the most common way this comes back.

Have Weio fix it for $99

Not sure which problem you have? Run the free check, or email [email protected] with your address and we’ll tell you, free.