🔒 SSL Checker

What this checker reads, and why you can trust it

An SSL certificate (technically a TLS certificate now) is what puts the padlock in the browser and encrypts traffic to your site. A browser checking your certificate in person is not something a web page can do for a third-party site, so this tool does something better: it reads the Certificate Transparency logs, the public, append-only records where every publicly trusted certificate must be published. It is the same evidence browsers themselves use, and it shows the certificate a site is actually using, who issued it, exactly when it expires, and every name it covers.

The three problems it catches

• Expiry creeping up, certificates now last about a year at most, many only 90 days. An expired certificate is not a small warning; it is a full-screen block that sends visitors away. The countdown here exists so you renew while it is still boring.
• Wrong names covered, a certificate for example.com does not automatically cover shop.example.com. The covers list shows precisely which names are protected.
• Revocation, a certificate revoked early (after a key leak, for instance) must never be trusted, and the logs say so plainly.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a certificate last?

The industry maximum is about 398 days and shrinking; free automated certificates (Let's Encrypt and similar) run 90 days and renew automatically. Short lifetimes are a feature: a stolen certificate expires quickly, and automation removes the human forgetting to renew.

My certificate was just issued but does not appear. Why?

New certificates can take a little while to propagate through the public logs. Wait a few minutes and check again. If the site loads with a padlock in your own browser meanwhile, the certificate itself is fine.

What is a wildcard certificate?

One certificate covering *.example.com, meaning any single-level subdomain, plus usually the bare domain. It appears in the covers list as the asterisk entry, and it is the practical choice when you run several subdomains.

Does an SSL certificate improve my Google ranking?

HTTPS is a small confirmed ranking signal, but the bigger effect is trust: browsers actively warn on non-HTTPS pages, especially ones with forms. At this point a certificate is table stakes rather than an advantage.