SSL Certificate Monitoring
Catch SSL expiry before your clients see a browser warning
Hosting auto-renewals fail silently — wrong email address, expired payment method, account mismatch. Most agencies rely on calendar reminders or manual checks. SiteWatch monitors every certificate continuously, alerts 30 days before expiry, and validates the full chain — not just whether the cert is technically valid.
- 30-day early warning before SSL expiry, escalating to critical at 14 days
- Full certificate chain validation and TLS protocol and cipher checks
- Automatic on every check — no API keys, no setup, just add a site
Why it matters
SSL failures happen silently. Your clients notice first.
Certificate expiry
Hosting auto-renewal relies on the right email reaching the right inbox. Agencies regularly discover that a client SSL cert was not renewed because the renewal email went to the client's old address. SiteWatch catches it 30 days before expiry regardless.
Chain validation
Broken intermediate certificates are the most common hosting misconfiguration. Your SSL cert can be technically valid while the chain is broken — causing selective browser warnings that appear to work in your browser but fail for clients on different devices.
TLS protocol check
Deprecated TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 are rejected by modern browsers and flagged by security scanners. SiteWatch detects servers still offering these deprecated protocols before they cause client-facing issues.
Cipher suite check
Weak ciphers like RC4, 3DES, export-grade, and NULL ciphers are cryptographically broken. Serving them triggers security warnings in browsers and audit tools. SiteWatch flags any weak cipher in use on your server.
30-day early warning
Most tools alert you the day SSL expires — or after. SiteWatch warns 30 days before expiry, escalates to critical at 14 days, and fires a critical incident on the day of expiry. You always have time to act.
Zero configuration
SSL certificate monitoring runs automatically on every check. No separate scan, no API keys, no setup. Add a site to SiteWatch and SSL monitoring starts immediately.
30 days
Early warning before expiry
5 check types
SSL & TLS validation rules
Every check
Continuous monitoring frequency
What we check
Certificate expiry is just the start — we validate the full TLS stack
Certificate expiry
- SSL_EXPIRING — certificate expiring within 30 days triggers a high-severity incident; within 14 days escalates to critical
- SSL_EXPIRED — certificate has expired; fires a critical incident immediately
Certificate chain
- SSL_CHAIN_ERROR — broken or untrusted intermediate certificates that cause selective browser warnings across different devices and browsers
TLS configuration
- SSL_DEPRECATED_PROTOCOL — server is offering TLS 1.0 or TLS 1.1, both deprecated by RFC 8996 and rejected by modern browsers
- SSL_WEAK_CIPHER — server supports RC4, export-grade ciphers, NULL ciphers, or 3DES — all cryptographically broken or vulnerable
How it works
From check to SSL alert in seconds
Scheduled check runs
SiteWatch sends a check to your site on its normal monitoring schedule. No separate SSL scan — certificate analysis is built into every check.
Certificate data read
The SSL certificate is read — issuer, expiry date, chain depth, TLS version in use, and the cipher suite negotiated for the connection.
Five validation rules run
Expiry window, chain integrity, TLS version support, and cipher strength are all evaluated against SiteWatch's validation rules in a single pass.
Incident fired with remediation checklist
Any issue fires an incident with its severity, a plain-English description of the problem, and a per-issue remediation checklist so you know exactly what to fix.
How we compare
SSL monitoring depth: Sitewatch vs the alternatives
| Feature | Other tools | Sitewatch |
|---|---|---|
| Cert validity check | Yes (most tools) | Yes |
| Expiry date monitoring | Basic (some tools) | Yes — 30-day early warning |
| Full chain validation | No | Yes — catches broken intermediates |
| TLS protocol checks | No | Yes — flags deprecated TLS 1.0/1.1 |
| Cipher suite checks | No | Yes — flags RC4, 3DES, NULL ciphers |
| Domain expiry monitoring | No | Yes — bundled automatically |
| Continuous monitoring | Varies | Every check cycle |
| Auto-remediation guidance | No | Fix checklist per incident type |
Cert validity check
Expiry date monitoring
Full chain validation
TLS protocol checks
Cipher suite checks
Domain expiry monitoring
Continuous monitoring
Auto-remediation guidance
FAQ
SSL monitoring questions
SSL Labs is a one-off manual scan. SiteWatch runs continuously on every monitoring cycle. You do not need to remember to check — you get alerted if anything changes or approaches expiry.
Auto-renewal relies on the renewal email reaching the right inbox, the credit card on file not expiring, and the account not having changed. Agencies regularly discover that a client SSL was not renewed because the client's old email was on the registrar account. SiteWatch catches it 30 days early regardless.
Your SSL cert can be technically valid but the intermediate certificates connecting it to a trusted root can be misconfigured. Some browsers accept it, others show security warnings — making it appear to work in your own browser while failing for clients using different browsers. SiteWatch detects broken chains regardless of how your browser handles it.
Deprecated protocols: TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 (both deprecated by RFC 8996). Weak ciphers: RC4, NULL, export-grade ciphers, and 3DES — all known to be cryptographically broken or vulnerable.
Yes. SSL certificate monitoring, chain validation, and TLS configuration checks are included on every plan including the free plan.
Start monitoring SSL before the next expiry surprises you
Free plan. 1 site. SSL monitoring included. No credit card.
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