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Let us tell you that a google website is seen as not secure if it has no SSL certificate. This is because SSL helps in protecting the data of your website and it is actually what you need for accepting online payments.
Having no SSL means you will lose all your customer’s trust. SSL is quite expensive but there are multiple ways by which you can get a free SSL certificate. But before we get started let’s understand what SSL is from a bit closer view.
What is SSL (Secure Socket Layer)?
The full form of SSL is Secure Socket Layer and it is an internet protocol that is needed to secure the data of the website. It basically secures the transfer of data that is made between the user’s browser and the website that they are using. Every time an internet user transfers information whenever they are visiting any website.
This information can be sensitive in nature too which may include payment details, credit card information, personal details, or others. Using an SSL certificate that is verified can secure a lot of information and prevent them from getting hijacked by hackers.
How Much Does the SSL Certificate Cost Generally?
The cost of an SSL certificate may vary from one authority to another but the price of the SSL will be between $50- $200 per year no matter where you go. The prices may be a little higher if the providers offer to add on services along with their certificates.
Choose a reputable company that offers you the best domain name registration service and best deals on SSL certificate. Once you have purchased the SSL certificate for your website you can simply ask your provider to help you to install it too.
But now that you are looking forward to getting an SSL certificate for free then we will help you with that as well.
How to Get an SSL Certificate for Free?
Many website owners do not want to spend any money on purchasing the SSL certificate which is why many small websites’ data has faced information theft. To overcome this problem-free certificate authority was introduced in order to provide a free SSL certificate to the website owners.
Using SSL makes the internet a safer place. You can simply get a free SSL certificate from the top WordPress hosting companies now along with their hosting plans like,
- Bluehost
- SiteGround
- HostGator
- WPEngine
- DreamHost
- inMotion hosting
- Greengeeks
- iPage
- Liquid Web
- Kinsta, etc.
If you are a part of any of these companies then all you need to do is get your free SSL certificate from the dashboard. You will have to simply log in to your hosting accounts cPanel dashboard and then scroll down to the security section there.
The cPanel window might look different as it totally depends on the type of web hosting you are using. In case if you cannot locate your free SSL option in any of these above web hosting companies then you can simply ask your hosting provider to enable it for you.
How to Install Free SSL Certificate and Set Up WordPress?
Once the SSL certificate has been enabled now you will need to set up your WordPress in order to start using HTTPS in your URLs.
You will need to install and activate the Really Simple SSL plugin on the website of yours.
Once you have activated it, the plugin will check the enabling of the SSL certificate and then turn your HTTP into HTTPS.
It will change your website set to start using SSL/HTTPS. You need to check that your website is using HTTPS protocol or not in the URLs because that will make your website fully secure.
If your website’s single URL seems to load HTTP then the browser will conclude your entire website as insecure which is an excellent feature. Choosing Really Simple SSL is recommended for beginners as it will make it easy to set up an SSL certificate in WordPress.
How to Get a Free SSL Certificate Without Changing the Existing Hosting Provider?
One of the easiest ways that can help you to get a free SSL certificate without even letting you change your existing hosting provider is choosing to sign up for Cloudflare. You need to follow the steps mentioned below to get a free SSL.
- First Step: Create Account
You have to create an account on Cloudflare for which you will have to enter the details of yours and then click on the Create Account button.
- Second Step: Configure Domain
Secondly, you need to configure the website or the domain. Here you need to add the complete URL of your website and click on Scan. Once scanning has been done you need to click on Continue setup.
- Third Step: Configure DNS
Now you need to configure the DNS records of your website and you will find an orange cloud next to the main domain. This indicates your configuration to be correct. Then the Mail and FTP are bypassed and now grey clouds will appear.
- Fourth Step: Select the Cloudflare Plan
Here, in the fourth step, its time to choose a Cloudflare plan. Go for the free plan and click on the Continue button.
- Fifth Step; Update Name Servers
After this, you need to update your nameservers to Cloudflare. For this, you need to log in to your domain registrar account and go to settings to change the nameserver. Then click on the Continue button. The process may take 24 hours to propagate.
- Sixth Step: Set Up the Free SSL
Now its time to set up the SSL for your website. You can scroll down and find the SSL: Full. On clicking on Full you will be directed to a crypto page. You need to click on the Flexible button from the drop-down list and check the status of the crypto page.
- Final Step: Add Page Rules
Lastly, when the configuration is done, a page will set up and redirect all the website traffic to HTTPS. Here you need to click on the Page Rules button and add some rules here. You will have to add www.mywebsite.com and mywebsite.com separately. Remember to use HTTPS for each of the patterns.
It is important to note down that this will only work when the SSL certificate has been issued. Get your website the free SSL certificate now and protect all the data of your websites without any trouble. In case if you are not using any web hosting that provides a free SSL certificate then switch to any of the above-mentioned web hosting providers or go for Cloudflare to add an SSL certificate on your site.
