Let’s Encrypt Stops SSL Certificate Expiration Notifications – Impact, Solutions, and Website Maintenance Standards

Let’s Encrypt Stops SSL Certificate Expiration Notifications: What Does This Mean for You?

On January 22, 2025, Let’s Encrypt announced that it will gradually stop sending SSL certificate expiration reminder emails in the coming months. This change may pose additional risks for administrators who rely on email notifications to confirm certificate renewals.

Official Announcement: Let’s Encrypt Stops Expiration Notifications

Which Websites Will Be Affected?

• VPS / Self-hosted servers (manual Certbot / ACME renewal required)
• Self-hosted NAS or local servers (no automated monitoring mechanism)
• Business and personal websites without third-party SSL monitoring

Which Websites Will Not Be Affected?

• Managed Hosting services (hosting providers typically include SSL monitoring)
• Enterprise-level SSL services (e.g., Cloudflare / AWS ACM) with full monitoring and automation

SSL Certificate Renewal and the “Website Maintenance” Standards Issue

Many service providers and individual sellers package “website maintenance services” using vague definitions. However, true website maintenance should include:

Complete SSL certificate management and monitoring (not just setting up Let’s Encrypt)
Incident notifications and proactive responses (not just waiting for customers to report issues)
Security updates for WordPress core and plugins (ensuring updates do not cause site failures)

For truly professional WordPress maintenance, refer to: Enterprise Hosting + 360° Site Care

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Enterprise-Level IT Maintenance Standards: International Case Studies

Cloudflare’s 100% SSL Monitoring and Management

Cloudflare provides fully automated SSL certificate management and renewal, ensuring all protected sites have:

• Automated SSL renewal (no manual intervention needed)
• Traffic anomaly monitoring (detecting TLS failures or potential hijacking)
• API-driven automated SSL certificate management

Official Documentation: Cloudflare SSL/TLS Overview

AWS ACM (Amazon Certificate Manager)

AWS ACM provides enterprise-level customers with:

• Automatic SSL certificate renewal
• Direct integration with ELB and CloudFront
• DDoS protection through AWS Shield

Official Documentation: AWS ACM Guide

Ke2B 360° Site Care (Fully Managed WordPress Cloud Hosting and Maintenance)

For businesses requiring comprehensive WordPress hosting and maintenance, Ke2B offers the Snow MT. / Jade MT. with 360° Site Care, which not only ensures site stability but also integrates intelligent performance optimization and AI-powered content management. This elevates website maintenance beyond simple support, turning it into a strategic business optimization tool.

Ke2B’s 360° Site Care Core Features:

• Fully automated SSL certificate management for seamless HTTPS renewal
• Proactive updates for WordPress core, plugins, and PHP environment to minimize security risks
• Built-in DDoS protection, brute force attack prevention, and security scanning to safeguard websites
• Daily / weekly / monthly backup system for emergency recovery and business continuity

Performance Optimization and AI-Powered Enhancements

Unlike traditional “managed WordPress hosting,” Ke2B leverages AI and intelligent technologies to enhance maintenance and content management, providing solutions that cannot be easily replaced by standard plugins or manual operations:

✅ Jetpack Boost Premium – Smart Performance Optimization

• Auto-generates critical CSS to speed up website loading and optimize Google PageSpeed Insights scores ¹
• Preloads images and critical resources to reduce Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) ² delay and enhance user experience

✅ Jetpack AI Assistant — AI-Driven Content and Business Operations

• Auto spell and grammar checks to minimize errors and maintain brand professionalism
• Built-in content generation assistance, enabling blogs and e-commerce sites to optimize SEO content more efficiently
• Eliminates the need for API setup and technical adjustments, avoiding additional subscription costs for AI plugins and API services

True Fully Managed Maintenance: More Than Just “Updating WordPress”

How to maintain, backup, update WordPress & plugins

1. Basic DIY website maintenance – For entry-level self-managed websites, refer to: How to Maintain WordPress and Plugins – Backup & Update Guide (WP 5.x~6.x)
2. Common issues in the market’s so-called “website maintenance” plans:

• ❌ Clicking update buttons periodically, without error detection and rollback mechanisms
• ❌ Only covering SSL renewal, without real performance and security monitoring
• ❌ Marketing “technical support and vendor-side automated monitoring” as “maintenance,” without actually optimizing website operations

3. Ke2B 360° Site Care
   Ke2B goes beyond “keeping your site running” – we provide strategic technical support for business growth and SEO success, allowing you to focus on expanding your business rather than dealing with technical issues.
   
   Learn more: Ke2B 360° Site Care (Fully Managed WordPress Cloud Hosting and Maintenance) plan.

Enterprise Hosting

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Let’s Encrypt’s Suggested Alternatives

Official SSL renewal and monitoring recommendations:

1. Use an ACME client that supports ARI (Automated Renewal Information) – Guide to integrating ARI into existing ACME clients
2. Use third-party SSL monitoring services – Red Sift Certificates Lite (Free monitoring for up to 250 certificates)
3. Subscribe to Let’s Encrypt’s other technical notifications – Let’s Encrypt Opt-in

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Summary: Website Maintenance Should Be “Full Responsibility,” Not Fragmented Sales

True website maintenance should include:

1. Hosting security, traffic monitoring, and incident prevention
   Ensuring sites can detect and respond to DDoS attacks, unusual traffic, and security threats in real-time
2. Comprehensive SSL certificate management, backups, and disaster recovery
   Keeping sites operational even in unexpected situations, preventing certificate expiration and data loss from disrupting business
3. Regular updates for WordPress core, plugins, and dependencies
   Avoiding vulnerabilities, compatibility issues, or functionality errors caused by outdated software
4. Website performance optimization and user experience improvements
   Utilizing Google PageSpeed Insights (PSI) analysis for speed optimization, ensuring compliance with SEO standards and smooth user experience
5. Project management and professional oversight
   Ensuring all maintenance and optimization tasks are systematically executed, with transparent reporting and proactive adjustments
6. Collaborating with website owners for business success
7. Leveraging data analysis, content management, SEO tracking, and user behavior insights to ensure websites are not only stable but also continuously improving and growing

If your “website maintenance plan” only includes “SSL renewal + clicking update buttons,” then it’s not truly professional website maintenance!

Want to understand our practical approach to WordPress website maintenance standards? Check out this WordPress annual conference presentation featuring an in-depth discussion (with video): WordCamp Taiwan 2021: Website Maintenance – Differences, Value, and Opportunity Cost.

If your website needs a “fully managed, all-inclusive” maintenance solution, refer to: Ke2B 360° Site Care (Fully Managed WordPress Cloud Hosting and Maintenance)

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