WordPress sites with SSL certificates encrypt traffic, making it challenging for hackers to steal information.
SSL is widely used across the Web to secure communications between websites and users. SSL certificates are issued for domain names and are used by website administrators to enable secure connections to their websites.
Your visitors will have a more secure experience viewing your site, mainly if you collect personally identifiable information. Let’s get into it!
Choose the right SSL certificate
In order to configure your WordPress website for an SSL certificate, you must first choose the right SSL certificate. Making the appropriate choice can simplify your life and guarantee the security of your website.
The following are some important considerations while selecting an SSL certificate.
- Choose a certificate that supports the latest protocols. The recommended protocol is TLS 1.2 or higher, but most modern browsers will also support TLS 1.1/1 (SSL 3) and TLS 1/2 (TLS 1).
- Choose a certificate with a robust 2048-bit key. This increases security by making it much harder for hackers to break into your site by brute force techniques, such as attempting each letter and number combination until they discover one that functions.
- Choose an extended validation (EV) SSL certificate if you want customers or clients to trust you more because they know their information is safe on your website even if their browser has warnings about non-secure sites being visited (example: Chrome’s “Not Secure” warning).
Activate SSL certificate on the WordPress site
Nowadays, activating and setting up a WordPress SSL certificate has become more manageable with time, and anyone can do it compared to the early days when setting up an SSL certificate felt like a tangled wire inside the brain.
Fortunately, things have changed today. And also got comfortable for you when you have to install SSL certificate.
You can set up an SSL certificate on WordPress in different ways. If you wish to install SSL using WordPress paid plans, you may do so, but also, there are other web host options available for you to get an SSL certificate and then use it in the WordPress domain.
Some of the following web hosts can help you install SSL certificates:
- GoDaddy
- Siteground
- Cloudways
Remember: Before you try to make any changes to your website, always ensure to take a complete backup. Backup is the safe zone where you can still suit yourself with the backup if anything goes wrong.
Types Of SSL
Did you think we were done? Well, we are getting to the essential parts now.
There are types of SSL certificates that depend on your requirements. Based on how many sites and validations each SSL certificate offers, we can group them into different categories.
Did you think we were done? Well, we are getting to the essential parts now.
There are types of SSL certificates that depend on your requirements. Based on how many sites and validations each SSL certificate offers, we can group them into different categories.
A domain validation certificate will usually be sufficient. However, it is still essential to be aware of all your alternatives and pick the best SSL certificate for your website.
- Domain Validation (DV)
- Organizational Validation (OV)
- Extended Validation (EV)
Certificate best for your website
Yes, this is important too. Now that you are aware of the types of certificates that can be installed on your website, it is time that we choose which one you need.
We’ll explain which is optimal for each sort of business to make things simpler:
- The ideal choice for banks, financial institutions, and significant global retail or eCommerce firms is an Enterprise Verification certificate. These certifications emphasize visibility to build visitor trust.
- Organizational Validation is the best choice for mid-size retail firms that gather personal information for marketing.
- Domain Verification works well for small organizations that merely track email and surfing behavior.
Although they appear to be the same on the surface, organizational and enterprise validation takes more verification than domain.
Regardless of the SSL certificate, you select, website security continues elsewhere. Encryption is an excellent place to begin, but it is only that. You require a fully functional security suite to keep your visitors safe.
Enforce HTTPS as the default protocol
The process is just half done once the SSL certificate is installed. You are solely responsible for ensuring the certificate is correctly put on all your posts and pages.
Follow these procedures to impose SSL across your entire website:
- On your WordPress dashboard, modify your website’s URL.
- Put some code into your hosting server.
You can use plugins to assist you in doing both.
There are two ways how you can enforce HTTPS:
- By using a plugin (Easy way)
- By manually (Hard way)
SSL for security, the reason for one
If you have an online store or a business, people can differentiate whether your website is safe for them to access or not. And also, SSL gives you a professional authority that your site is secure from attackers, hackers, and more.
It is essential to go green in the URL protocol. Encryption helps in doing business profitability with safety. And also help you build trust.
Conclusion
With the right SSL certificate and configuration settings, you can secure your WordPress site and protect your visitors’ information and privacy. Not only this but also the SSL certificate helps to ensure that browsers always load content over secure connections. Remember that a firewall is an extra protection along with SSL, as hackers can easily hack and ruin your reputation. So make sure to power up using a good firewall.
