Protecting Your Website with SSL Encryption: A Guide for WordPress Users

As a website owner, safeguarding your online platform from cyber threats is crucial. Your website not only represents you but is also a valuable aspect of your business. Due to this, it is vital to take necessary precautions such as using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to secure your website. SSL encryption protects your website while also instilling trust in your users when visiting your site. In this guide, we will explore how to set up SSL on a WordPress site.

Understanding SSL

SSL is the acronym for Secure Socket Layer, a security technology that establishes an encrypted connection between a web server and browser. It shields any transmitted data between the web server and a browser by providing private and secure connections. This is highly essential for websites that transmit sensitive information such as credit card details or personal information.

Importance of SSL

Without SSL, hackers can easily intercept and steal data transmitted between the website and user’s browser. Installing SSL certificates ensures protection from data tampering, identity theft, and phishing attacks.

Setting Up SSL on WordPress

Step 1: Purchase an SSL Certificate

To set up SSL on your website, the first step is purchasing an SSL certificate from trusted vendors such as DigiCert or GlobalSign. When acquiring an SSL certificate, you have to choose the certificate type, such as domain validation, organization validation, or extended validation.

– Domain Validation: Verifies the legitimacy of the domain, and it is the easiest to obtain using a domain, email address, and approval process.

– Organization Validation: Verifies your organization’s details, including the company’s address, phone number, and the domain’s verification process.

– Extended Validation: This certificate provides the highest level of security and validation, requiring extensive documentation of your business, such as legal existence, physical address, and phone number.

Step 2: Install SSL on Your Server

After purchasing the SSL certificate, you should install it on your website server. You can check with your hosting provider to determine the availability of installation assistance or a one-click SSL installation process. Similarly, when hosting your website on a cloud server or private server, you can install the SSL certificate independently by logging into your server, generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR), and adding the SSL certificate to your server.

Step 3: Update Your WordPress Site URL

The next step is updating your WordPress site URL to use HTTPS instead of HTTP. This can be done by going to the “General” settings section, selecting both “WordPress Address” and “Site Address” options, and ensuring that they use HTTPS.

Step 4: Update All Internal Links

You must update all internal links on your WordPress website to use HTTPS protocol. This includes links to pages, images, and any other resources hosted on your website. You can execute this update by using plugins such as the “Better Search Replace” plugin to scan your database and update all internal links with HTTPS.

Step 5: Test Your SSL Certificate

After installing and updating SSL, it is crucial to test the SSL certificate to ensure proper configuration. Various online tools such as SSL Labs’ SSL Server Test can be employed to test the SSL configuration. You can also use Google Chrome to test, whereby you navigate to your website and check for the padlock icon in the address bar. If visible, the SSL certificate is appropriately configured.

Conclusion

In conclusion, setting up SSL on your WordPress website is crucial in ensuring online security for yourself and your users. Following the above steps from purchasing an SSL certificate, installing it on your server, updating the site URL, internal links, and SSL testing guarantees you online security and trust amongst users. Enabling SSL gives you an additional security layer and makes your website more trustworthy.