SSL Certificate Errors
SSL certificate errors occur when browsers show security warnings about your website's SSL certificate. These SSL errors prevent visitors from accessing your site securely. Common SSL certificate error types include expired certificates, name mismatch errors, and missing intermediate certificates. Learning how to fix SSL errors quickly is critical for maintaining visitor trust and SEO rankings.
What You're Seeing
- "Your connection is not private" SSL error warning in browsers
- SSL certificate expired message blocking site access
- Certificate name mismatch warning showing wrong domain
- NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID SSL error
Why This Happens
- 1Expired SSL certificate that needs renewal
- 2Missing intermediate certificates in SSL chain
- 3SSL certificate issued for wrong domain name
- 4Mixed content issues causing SSL warnings
- 5Self-signed certificate not trusted by browsers
How We Fix It
Our senior engineers follow this systematic approach to resolve the issue quickly and permanently.
SSL Certificate Error Fix - Renew Expired Certificate:
For Let's Encrypt certificates, use certbot to renew your SSL:
sudo certbot renew
sudo systemctl reload nginx
Most SSL certificate errors from expiration are fixed by renewal. Set up automatic renewal to prevent future SSL errors.
Fix Missing Certificate Chain: Ensure the full SSL certificate chain is installed on your server. Use SSL Labs test (ssllabs.com/ssltest) to verify your SSL certificate configuration. Missing intermediate certificates cause "certificate authority invalid" SSL errors.
SSL Name Mismatch Error Fix: Verify your SSL certificate matches your domain name. If you have a certificate for www.example.com but access via example.com (or vice versa), you'll get SSL certificate errors. Either get a wildcard SSL certificate or ensure your certificate covers all domain variations you use.
Fix Mixed Content SSL Warnings: Update all HTTP:// resources to HTTPS:// in your code. Mixed content happens when an HTTPS page loads HTTP resources (images, scripts, CSS), causing SSL errors. Search your code for "http://" and update to relative URLs or HTTPS.
Preventing This Issue
Prevent SSL certificate errors by: setting up auto-renewal for Let's Encrypt certificates (certbot renew --dry-run), implementing HSTS headers to force HTTPS, ensuring all site resources use HTTPS to avoid mixed content SSL warnings, monitoring SSL certificate expiration dates (30+ days before expiry), using a wildcard SSL certificate for multiple subdomains, regularly testing your SSL configuration with SSL Labs. Proper SSL error prevention maintains site security and SEO rankings.
Related Guides
If you're experiencing this issue, you may also want to check these related problems:
- Redirect Loop Error - Page redirects to itself infinitely. Browser shows 'too many redirects'.
- Mixed Content Warnings - HTTPS page loading HTTP resources. Browsers block or warn about insecure content.
Need Professional Help?
Our senior engineers can diagnose and fix this issue in hours, not days. No monthly retainers, just expert fixes.
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