If you’re running your website on a self-hosted WordPress CMS platform, then you’re half way to getting your free SSL certificate already. If your website is not on a WordPress CMS platform; contact White Rabbit today and open yourself up to the endless possibilities.
Free SSL Certificate For WordPress
This post will take you swiftly through the ten steps needed to generate a free SSL certificate for you WordPress install.
Why do websites need an SSL Certificate?
When browsing the internet you will notice that some, if not the vast majority of websites, show a green padlock in the browser address bar. This means any information the user sends to the website server will be encrypted, thus preventing anyone from eavesdropping on the conversation (and pinching any private data that’s shared). If you wish to sell any products or services through your website (eCommerce) then the green padlock is vital.
How to get a Green Padlock on my website?
To show a green padlock and ensure that all the browser traffic to your website is encrypted, you’ll need an SSL certificate installed on your web server. The simplest and cheapest way to achieve this is to use the Let’s Encrypt platform to generate your free SSL certificate.
Follow the instructions below to generate a free SSL certificate to help secure WordPress websites and encrypt website traffic using the Let’s Encrypt platform:
- Login to your WordPress dashboard
- Select Plugins from the navigation menu
- Click the Add New button
- Enter WP Encrypt in the search box
- Install and Activate the WP Encrypt plugin
- Select Settings>WP Encrypt from the navigation menu
- Tick the box to auto renew the certificate
- Save the settings
- Then click the Register Account button
- Then click the Generate Certificate button
Generate Your Free SSL Certificate
Once you have completed all the steps above and allowed each page to load, you will see a message confirming the SSL certificate has been generated and showing you the location of the relevant files. You will need this information to use your Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate in your WordPress web hosting cPanel.
Install Your Free SSL Certificate
Now that you have generated the SSL certificate it will need to be installed on your web server. The procedure for this will differ depending on your web host. Check out the other White Rabbit Website Tutorials to find out how to install your free WordPress SSL certificate.
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Founder and strategic mind behind White Rabbit. Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, focused on serving clients with a creative and ethical business model. Digital philanthropist giving time to support charitable groups, projects and organisations; that revolve around the arts, wildlife conservation, local community and heritage crafts.
