I’m going to show you how easy it is to install a FREE SSL Certificate from Let’s Encrypt on your WordPress site.
The internet has come a really long way since it became the modern World Wide Web as we know it in the early 90s. Unfortunately, just as the internet, browsers and other associated technologies become more sophisticated, so do the vulnerabilities – So it’s absolutely essential that Security is at the forefront of people’s thoughts when providing an online service.
An SSL certificate is a somewhat complicated concept based on a simple idea. It ensures the link between your browser and server is encrypted. Meaning, nothing can jump in-between and steal any sensitive data going back and forth between both.
The problem is, SSL certificates are pretty expensive and notoriously difficult to implement – Until now. Thanks to the fantastic work done by projects like Let’s Encrypt, protecting your site just became a whole lot easier!
If that doesn’t convince you:
- 1. WordPress are continuing their pushing towards SSL and putting pressure on all Hosting providers to make them more accessible.
- 2. Google now not only weighs SSL as a SEO ranking factor , but will soon begin flagging unencrypted websites in Chrome.
Install Let’s Encrypt SSL in WordPress & GoDaddy
With all of that in mind, I’m going to now show you how incredibly easy it is to install a FREE SSL Certificate from Let’s Encrypt on your WordPress site.
Now my site is hosted on GoDaddy so I’ll be using them as part of this demo. However, you are by no means limited to them and these steps can be used on other Hosting providers as well.
What you’ll need
- 1. WordPress site with Admin Access
- 2. Access to your Hosts cPanel
- 3. 10 minutes
Assumptions
Whilst I maintain this process is pretty straightforward, there are some things you should already be familiar with:
- 1. Basic understanding of WordPress admin area. You’ll need to be comfortable with installing plugins and changing settings.
- 2. Basic understanding of your Hosting Provider and cPanel area.
The cPanel is a control panel provided by all Hosting providers which let’s you manage all hosting related activities.
You do NOT need any significant expertise in WordPress, Web Development or your cPanel to install the SSL as I’ll be providing all the steps with screenshots to help you along the way.
Overview
- 1. We’re going to Install the WP Encrypt Plugin, Register our site and Generate the Certificate and Private Key.
- 2. Then we’ll go to the cPanel where we’ll first download the Certificate and Private Key through the File Manager and then Upload and Install the SSL.
- 3. Go back to WordPress and update the URL
Part 1: WordPress
- 1. Log in to your WordPress admin area. The URL is usually yoursite.com/wp-admin. Once logged in, Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
- 2.Search for WP-Secure. Install and Activate the Plugin.
- 3. When you activate the plugin, you’ll notice a banner appear informing you that you’ll need to Navigate to WP-Secure Settings Page to get started. This can also be found in Settings > WP Encrypt.
- 4. Add your Organisation/Website Name, Country Location and Country Code – If you’re unsure of your country code, you can find them here .
Next, you’ll want to tick these two boxes here to ensure the SSL Certificate renews itself and alerts you when it’s about to expire.
Click Save Changes.
- 5. You’ll now be asked to Register Account with Let’s Encrypt.
- 6. You’ll now be able to Generate SSL Certificate. Click Generate Certificate.
All the necessary files have been stored on your server so now we’ll need to go our our Web Host to retrieve the files and install the Certificate.
Part 2: GoDaddy
- 1. Navigate to your Hosting Provider. In our example, it’s GoDaddy.com .
- 2. Once you’re logged in, Go to your account overview. Select hosting. Find the domain and press Manage to access the cPanel.
- 3. Once in the cPanel. Click on the File Manager and open the directory in the Home folder.
- 4. You’ll notice the Let’s Encrypt folder that was created when we Generated the SSL through WordPress. Click Let’s Encrypt > live > yourdomain.com
- 5. You’ll see a bunch of files that make up the SSL Certificate. Download cert.pem and private.pem
- 6. Return to cPanel and then scroll down to the Security section, where you’ll fine SSL/TLS
- 7. This is where we are going to install the Certificate. First up, we’ll need to upload the Private Key.
Click ‘Generate, view, upload or delete your private keys’, Right under the Private Keys (KEY) heading.
Once there, scroll down to ‘Upload a New Private Key’. Click Upload, find the private.pem file we downloaded earlier, and upload the file.
You’ll get a success message to confirm the upload. Once done, navigate back to the SSL/TLS Screen.
- 8. Next, we have to install the Certificate.
Click ‘Generate, view, upload or delete SSL Certificates’, Right under the Certificates (CRT) heading.
Similar to the last step, but this time scroll to the ‘Upload a New Certificate’ section, locate the cert.pem file and upload.
You’ll get a success message to confirm the upload. Once done, navigate back to the SSL/TLS Screen.
- 9. Finally, we have to activate the SSL.
Click ‘Manage SSL Sites’, Right under the Install and Manage SSL for your site (HTTPS) header.
Once you’re in, click Browse. A popup will appear listing all the potential SSL Certificates it has identified.
Ensure the correct domain has been selected, and click Use Certificate.
Scroll down and click Install Certificate.
Part 3: WordPress
- 1. Return to WordPress to complete the installation.
Go to Settings > General and change the WordPress Address and Site Address from http://yoursite.com to https://yoursite.com
- 2. That’s it!
You’ll be automatically logged out but you’ll now notice a green padlock next to your domain to confirm that the SSL has been installed and your site in now Encrypted.
Appendices
- Author – http://rummanamin.co.uk
- Website – https://bigredpod.com
- Let’s Encrypt – https://letsencrypt.org/
- WP-Encrypt Plugin – https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-encrypt/
- WordPress – https://www.wordpress.org
- Country Codes – http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/country_code_list.htm
- GoDaddy – https://uk.godaddy.com/
Articles
- WordPress moving towards SSL – https://wordpress.org/news/2016/12/moving-toward-ssl/
- HTTPS as ranking factor – https://security.googleblog.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal_6.html
- Google will flag unencrypted websites – http://motherboard.vice.com/read/google-will-soon-shame-all-websites-that-are-unencrypted-chrome-https