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SSL troubleshooting
An SSL problem takes your site down for visitors, even when your server is perfectly healthy. Browsers block traffic before anyone sees your content, and few people come back from a full-page security warning. This section covers the specific issues DomainDash flags, what causes them, and how to put them right, so you can be the one who catches it, not your customers.
DomainDash runs SSL checks on every plan; only how often they run and how long the history is kept change by plan. See the plan comparison. You'll find these results on the site's Security tab.
Not sure which issue you have? The visitors see a security warning page routes you from symptom to cause in a couple of clicks.
Validity issues
Problems with the certificate's lifespan or trust status.
- Certificate expired — the most common SSL issue. The certificate has passed its expiry date.
- Certificate not yet valid — the certificate's start date is in the future. Usually clock skew or premature deployment.
- Certificate has been revoked — the issuing authority has invalidated the certificate.
Trust issues
Problems with who issued the certificate and whether browsers trust them.
- Self-signed certificate — the certificate was issued by the same server it protects. Browsers don't trust these.
- Certificate signed by an untrusted authority — the certificate chain doesn't lead back to a recognised root.
- Certificate signature is invalid — the certificate's signature failed cryptographic verification.
Configuration issues
Problems with how the certificate is set up on your server.
- Hostname doesn't match certificate — the certificate was issued for a different domain than the one being served.
- TLS handshake failed — the secure connection couldn't be established. Often a protocol or cipher mismatch.
Common questions
- Visitors see a security warning — a routing page from the user-facing symptom to the specific issue.
Related
- SSL certificates — set up expiry warnings so you get a heads-up long before you'd end up here again
- Uptime troubleshooting — for a site that's down, timing out, or returning HTTP errors
- DNS troubleshooting — for a domain that isn't resolving, missing records, or propagation
- Domain registration troubleshooting — for an expired, suspended, or unrenewed domain
- How incidents work — how DomainDash confirms and notifies about SSL issues
Catch this automatically
DomainDash keeps an eye on this for you — and tells you in plain English the moment something needs your attention, before your visitors notice. Set up in under a minute, no credit card.
Last updated: 19 June 2026