Securing your WordPress website with HTTPS? Talk about a good idea! By setting up an SSL certificate on your WordPress software, you won’t give hackers or cybercriminals a chance to intercept customer data. Moreover, thanks to that encrypted HTTPS connection, your site will rank higher in search engines and be considered secure by browsers.
Enable SSL on WordPress
Handy for those using WordPress: enabling SSL is done in two easy ways. Either via a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt, or via your own, paid SSL. Premium SSL is our absolute recommendation. Especially for large websites that process a lot of data.
Enable SSL on WordPress via a free SSL
The fastest and also cheapest way to set up SSL on your WordPress website is via a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.
Follow these steps in the My Combell to enable free SSL on WordPress:
- Go to “My products” > “Web hosting” > Your domain name.
- In the menu on the left, choose “Domain names & SSL”.
- On the right, click “Manage website” and choose “SSL settings” from the dropdown.
- Click on “Activate Let’s Encrypt” and turn on “Force HTTPS”. Moments later, everyone is surfing your WordPress website securely via HTTPS.
Please note: free SSL from Let’s Encrypt has limitations. Let’s Encrypt only provides a secure HTTPS connection.
If you also want to include your business details in your SSL certificate, then you should opt for a paid SSL certificate. With such a certificate, visitors to your website can use their browser to check who is behind the website. This way, you create more trust.
Enable SSL on WordPress via your own SSL certificate
With a private, paid-for SSL certificate, you add identification to your website in addition to HTTPS security. Via the browser bar, visitors can find out which company is behind your WordPress webshop or website. This transparency creates trust with your customers and boosts your sales.
Follow these steps in the My Combell to activate your own SSL on WordPress:
- Go to “My products” > “Web hosting” > Your domain name.
- In the menu on the left, choose “Domain names & SSL”.
- Click on “Manage website” on the right and choose “SSL settings” in the dropdown.
- Under SSL settings, you can enable SSL here via a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.
Extra: also activate HTTP/2 and HTTPS forcing. With HTTP/2, your website will work faster. With HTTPS forcing, all your visitors will land on the secure HTTPS version of your website.
Why secure your WordPress website with HTTPS?
HTTPS connection works with an SSL certificate. This encrypts the data transfer between your site and your internet visitor. All the data you leave on a WordPress site with HTTPS is processed securely. In addition to HTTPS security, a grey (or green) lock will appear next to your domain name in browsers. This way, your visitors immediately know: it’s safe here!
SSL (in full Secure Socket Layer) is an extra layer of protection for securing your WordPress website. In fact, it is compulsory. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) makes the SSL certificate compulsory if you process customer data, however little.
That’s why we recommend activating SSL on your WordPress website. Good news: with us, SSL is created for you by default. For free! Is the SSL certificate not yet activated on your WordPress website? Then you only need to activate the HTTPS connection via our control panel.