Hosting with a secure IP address and good web hosting company means you are on your way to enabling HTTPS on your site.
Making your site secure requires time. First, you need to determine a good, secure website host. Click here to find a hosting company that offer dedicated servers for your site. The easiest way to identify and secure your site is to use the HTTPS Everywhere client. In our system, we use HTTPS Everywhere. This program will keep your site’s fingerprint to the government, and will put your site into the hands of any nation state that wants to capture it.
Finally, you will need to make sure your website works. The best way to find out is to test your site locally. You can use a free piece of software, called Mozilla Firebug. Download Firefox, select “tools” from the menu, and choose “Firebug” in the toolbar. Enter your website and your chosen HTTPS site. Enter the following settings and click “Start”.
On your website, you should see “https” on the domain. You can also type your site address into Firefox’s address bar (with the leading forward slash) and you should see it on the screen. Check it on your site to make sure it works.
Verify Your Host
Once you have established that your website works, visit https-everywhere.org and search for your site. On the list, look for the hostname associated with your website. For example, I found this domain, http://www.athena-tech.com:
You might see a different value than you would expect. This is important to know. HTTPS Everywhere recommends using a 64-bit TLS certificate. As you are starting to show off your website in public, you can use a 32-bit certificate for your site. That means if a browser has any issue with the 64-bit certificate, your website will have a good chance of being attacked. If it’s a free alternative, you don’t have to go this route.
You can always go back and change the hostname later, but if you make your website more public, you might want to hold off until you have completed all of the steps above.
TIP: Consider enrolling for the free SSL Monitor service. If you are deploying HTTPS, this program will keep your host track your website from us. It’s also free to use.
Creating a Site in Any Browser
All in all, once you know your website is secure, it is just a matter of activating the secure hosting program and activating the HTTP Everywhere extension. For example, if you want to create a site in Safari in OS X, simply go to this URL.
Click “Add” and then “Create Site”. That is all there is to it!
TIP: Even on iOS, there is a certificate authority available for free. iOS Certificate Authority is a simple certificate authority that can be used for creating certificates.
Website Quality
Ensuring the security of your website is crucial, but the journey doesn’t end there. Your website’s quality also heavily relies on choosing a reliable hosting provider. Opting for a reputable host not only enhances the overall performance but also contributes to a smoother user experience. A good host ensures that your site is consistently accessible, loads quickly, and remains stable even during peak traffic.
It’s like the foundation of a sturdy building—without it, the structure may not withstand the test of time. So, when venturing into the realm of website creation, remember that a secure and high-quality host is your virtual ally in delivering a seamless online presence.
