Did you know that all non-SSL websites are marked as “Not Secure” by Google? This means that if your website does not have an SSL certificate, you will lose customers’ trust.
Because an SSL certificate protects your website’s data, it’s a must for accepting online payments.
Luckily, there are a number of free SSL certificate options available to help you save money on your website. We’ll teach you how to get a free SSL certificate for your WordPress website and set it up on your own in this post.
We will also cover the following topics:
- What is an SSL Certificate?
- Why You need an SSL certificate for Your WordPress Site?
- How does SSL certificate work to keep information secure?
- How much SSL certificates cost?
- How you can get a free SSL certificate?
- How to Install a free SSL certificate in WordPress?
What is SSL?
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is an acronym for Secure Sockets Layer. It’s an internet protocol that ensures data flow between a user’s browser and the website they’re visiting is secure.
When a person visits a website, they are transferring data. Payment information, credit card information, and login credentials are all forms of sensitive information.
Using the normal HTTP protocol means this information to hackers. This is when SSL or HTTPS comes into the picture.
An SSL certificate issued by one of the approved certificate issuing agencies is needed for websites. This certificate is confirmed and indicated with a padlock symbol and HTTPS instead of HTTP in the user’s browser address bar.
Do I Need an SSL Certificate for My WordPress Website?
All websites on the internet should use SSL / HTTPS. It is, however, a requirement for any websites that collect user information such as login details, payment information, credit card information, and so on.
If you have an e-commerce site, a membership site, or a website that requires customers to log in, you should get an SSL certificate right away.
Before you can accept payments, most online payment systems require that your website uses SSL/HTTPs.
Aside from security, an SSL certificate gives your business a great image among your users. SSL is also recommended by Google, and research suggests that websites with SSL rank slightly higher in search results.
Last but not least, if your website does not have an SSL certificate, Google Chrome will inform your users that it is secure.
This “Not Secure” affects your brand image and users’ trust in your website.
How Does SSL Certificate Work?
You might be wondering how an SSL certificate works now that we’ve described what SSL is and why it’s important.
SSL encrypts the transfer of data between a user’s browser and a website, protecting information.
When a user accesses an SSL/HTTPs website, their browser checks to see if the SSL certificate is valid.
If everything checks out, the browser secures the data using the website’s public key. This data is then sent back to the target server (website) and decrypted using the public key and a secret private key.
How Much Do SSL Certificates Cost?
The cost of SSL certificates differs based on the certificate authority. Their extra fees could vary between $50 to $200. Some certificate providers provide add-on services, which may alter the price of your SSL certificate.
If you’re going to get an SSL certificate, Domain.com is a good place to start. They are one of the world’s largest domain name registration services, and they have the best SSL certificate rates.
Simple SSL certificate plans start at $35.99 per year and include a $10,000 measure of security as well as the TrustLogo site seal. After you’ve purchased an SSL certificate, you may have it installed by your hosting provider.
But, before you do so, see if you can get an SSL certificate for free.
How Can I Get an SSL Certificate for Free?
Due to the added cost, most website owners are hesitant to use SSL. Many small websites were left exposed to data and information theft as a result of this.
Let’s Encrypt, a non-profit organization, decided to fix this by establishing a free certificate authority.
The goal of this certificate authority is to make having a free SSL certificate easier for website owners. If more and more websites begin to use SSL, the Internet becomes a safer place.
Because of the project’s significance, it quickly got the backing of major companies like Google, Facebook, Shopify, WordPress.com, and others.
The issue is that for a novice user, installing a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt is rather tough because it requires coding and server system knowledge.
Thankfully, many of the best WordPress hosting companies now include a free SSL certificate with all of their plans (some use Let’s Encrypt).
Using one of these providers will spare you the hassle of installing the free SSL certificate on your site.
The below are the top WordPress hosting companies that include a free SSL certificate with their plans.
If you already have a web host with one of these companies, you may activate your free SSL certificate directly from your hosting panel. Simply go to the cPanel dashboard for your hosting account and scroll down to the ‘Security’ section.
Installing Free SSL Certificate and Setting up WordPress
Once you’ve activated your free SSL Certificate, you’ll need to configure WordPress so that all of your URLs begin with HTTPS instead of HTTP.
Installing and activating the Really Simple SSL plugin on your website is the easiest method to achieve this. See the step-by-step guide on installing a WordPress plugin for more details.
The plugin will check to see if your SSL certificate is enabled when it is installed. It will then enable HTTP to HTTPS redirection and alter your website’s settings to use SSL/HTTPs.
To ensure that your website is completely secure, make sure that all of its URLs are loaded via the HTTPS protocol. When the website loads, the URLs are automatically fixed by the Really Simple SSL plugin.
Even if a single URL still uses the insecure HTTP protocol to load, browsers will consider your entire website to be insecure.
To rectify these URLs, use the inspect tool in your browser to locate them and then replace them with the right HTTPs URLs. how to fix mixed content errors in WordPress.
The Really Simple SSL Plugin makes installing a free SSL certificate in WordPress a snap. As a result, we suggest it to all beginners.
However, it identifies insecure URLs as the page loads, which increases the time it takes for your page to load slightly. This is why advanced users who are worried about WordPress speed set up their free SSL certificate manually.
Free SSL certificate: learn more*
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purpose of an SSL certificate?
An SSL certificate may be a type of digital certificate that gives authentication for a website and enables an encrypted connection. These certificates communicate to the client that the web service host demonstrated ownership of the domain to the certificate authority at the time of certificate issuance.
Is Gmail SSL or TLS?
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a security protocol that encrypts email to protect its privacy. TLS is the successor to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Gmail always uses TLS by default.
What is positive SSL?
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Also Read: How To Secure Your WordPress Website? Also read: How To Fix Your Website’s Insecure Content? Also Read: ChemiCloud Coupon & Reviews. Also Read: Liquid Web Hosting Reviews. Also Read: GreenGeeks Reviews. Also Read: Nexcess Managed Hosting Reviews. Also Read: iThemes Reviews Security And WordPress Hosting.
SSL Certificate
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