Associate a free SSL certificate for Blogger custom domain sites

Have you ever get attracted by green padlock sign at the address bar of browsers while browsing the internet? Have you ever blamed Blogger for not providing service to associate an SSL certificate to Blogger custom domain sites? If yes, you are required to wait no longer.

At the end of December 2017, Blogger has revived again with one of the most awaited features, the SSL certificate for Blogger custom domain blogs. Now, you will be able to encrypt and secure your custom domain Blogger blog with a free SSL certificate. Yeah, It is completely free. (What?)

Previously, Blogger let us use HTTPS on free subdomains (.blogspot.com) only. But, as of Blogger's latest update, we can enable encrypted connection (SSL) for custom domain blog too. One thing you should note is that this feature is still in beta version and stable version is yet to be released.

Setting SSL on custom domain blog is similar to that on a subdomain. You don't need to wait hours to issue an SSL for your domain. It is easy and fast as Google takes responsibility for all the process.

How to set up SSL for custom domain blog on Blogger?

Setting up SSL for custom domain blog is not difficult. You can easily encrypt your blog (with HTTPS) in your Blogger Dashboard. For any difficulty, here is a step by step guide.

Update: Blogger has now availed HTTPS in general dashboard. You don't have to visit Blogger Draft anymore.

Step 1: Login to your Blogger account from draft.blogger.com. As this service is still in Beta version, you must log in to Blogger Draft. (Note: Blogger Draft publishes the services from Blogger before the services are made out on official site.)

Step 2: Select the preferred blog (Where you want to setup HTTPS) from the drop-down on your Blogger Dashboard.

Step 3: From the dashboard, Go to Settings > Basic.

Step 4: Under Basic Settings, you will find Publishing setting where you set up your blog domain. Just below to this, you will see an 'HTTPS Availability' option. On the drop-down, select 'Yes' and save your settings. Now your Blog will be served over HTTPS protocol after a while. Don't forget to preview your blog to see the changes. Note that it may take some time.

Step 5: Once you turn on the HTTPS Availability, you should also redirect the previous HTTP links to the newer HTTPS protocol. So, the work remained is to redirect your blog into an encrypted connection, the HTTPS. You can easily do this via the HTTPS Redirect option just below the 'HTTPS Availability'. The final screenshot looks like this:

Finally, You are done. Don't forget to check a beautiful Padlock sign in the address bar of the browser.

Changes you need to make

As you are migrating to an encrypted connection, you need to change some codes inside your blog's HTML (If required). If there are HTTP's or similar scripts in your blog's code, the browser may warn audiences by displaying a message like ".... is loading scripts from unauthorized sources" or by not displaying a padlock sign. So you must make some changes in your blog template. For that:

• Make sure that all of your blog scripts are using HTTPS scripts. If they are using HTTP, change all of those into HTTPS. Before changing the scripts, check whether the https for those scripts is available or not.
• Use paid Blogger templates only. Paid templates have lifetime support. So, you may ask your provider for necessary change. Or, you may simply use Blogger official templates.

In addition to this, you need to change your blog URL on search engines and Google analytics. You can do this easily on their official website.

Benefits of using SSL on Blogger custom domains

• The first is security. It helps the audiences trust your blog.
• Secured from hackers.
• Your blog will be far from browsers' security message.
• Best SEO as Search engines prefer HTTPS rather than HTTP.

Also read: Blogspot SEO tips

Harms

• Your blog may lose ranking on Search Engines for a while. You will have to wait some time for your Blogger blog with HTTPS gets indexed by Search Engine again.
• Your blog may not display padlock sign in the browser's address bar because of the unencrypted scripts used in your blog template.

Verdict

An SSL certificate has become mandatory for websites or Blogs. As the site with SSL gets higher ranking on Search Engines, use of SSL has been a trend nowadays.

After Let's Encrypt started providing the free SSL for WordPress and other platforms, the demand of SSL had been increased in Blogspot blog community too. Finally, Google has listened and put steps towards it by partnering with Let's Encrypt community. It will essentially fulfill the Let's Encrypt's dream to make possible for everyone to experience a secure and privacy-respecting web. In my view, It will be the reason for Blogger platform's pride. If Google improves the Blogger, in the same way, nobody would have to migrate to WordPress or other Platforms later.

This was a short article or guide on how to associate SSL for custom domain blogs on Blogger. If you found this post helpful, don't forget to share this post on social media. Do share your views on SSL for Blogger in the comment section below.