Implement Let's Encrypt Free SSL on WordPress
Summary
Let's Encrypt is a certificate authority that launched on April 12, 2016, that provides free X.509 certificates for Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption via an automated process designed to eliminate the current complex process of manual creation, validation, signing, installation, and renewal of certificates for secure websites.
An SSL enabled WordPress site is very popular now-a-day, to increase brand reputation and trust. As We All Know By Now Google Is Giving A Small Rankings Boost To Sites Using SSL In The Past Month, I’ve Seen A Huge Increase In The Number Of People Asking Me Whether They Should Implement SSL On Their Sites To Benefit From This Supposed Increase In Rankings.
So, On today’s tutorial, I’m gonna share “How You can deploy and boost your ranking using this 5 minutes guide”.
SSL – Is It Necessary?
Yes, you need to enable a SSL certificate to gain user trust, to boost your ranking and to encrypt information. Content Based Website Also Requires Having Own Brand Reputation And Customer Trust On Their Website To Get More Reader Base.
Attackers Always Search For Plain HTTP Site Or Loophole On Site, By Gaining Access Of Your Site They Can Interrupt With Content And Damage Your Brand Reputation. However, SSL Will Provide Strong Protection As Well Authentication That Users Will Trust On Your Site
Related Post: Reason Why To Have SSL For Your Blog
Here, I’m Showing You How you can implement Let’s Encrypt SSL for free. So you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollar on SSL certificates..!
What is Let’s Encrypt ??
According To Wikipedia, Let’s Encrypt is a certificate authority that launched on April 12, 2016, that provides free X.509 certificates for Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption via an automated process designed to eliminate the current complicated process of manual creation, validation, signing, installation, and renewal of certificates for secure websites.
Note: Here I’m Showing You How You Can Implement Free SSL on Cpanel. This Process is Same For BlueHost, HostGator, Godaddy and Other CPanel Hosting Sites.
If You’re Using SiteGround CPanel, Then You Can Find a Dedicated Button To Install Let’s Encrypt Free SSL. (Ref. To Guide: Installing Let’s Encrypt Free SSL in SiteGround )
Steps To Install Let’s Encrypt Free SSL:
So, If you’re interested in going HTTPS with your WordPress installation? This is the steps to follow.
Go to your WordPress Plugin Directory And Install WP Encrypt, As Seen in Below Image
WP Encrypt is an easy-to-use client for the new Let’s Encrypt service which provides free SSL certificates for everyone. No reason to have an unprotected WordPress site any longer!
You can easily enable this plugin from your WordPress plugin directory; You can search for it and enable it. Let’s see how it looks.
On Above Image, You Will Find:
- Organisation Name: The Name of Organization Behind The Site, or The Name Of Site.
- Country Name: It Contains The Country Name From Where The Organization Resides in.
- Country Code: It Contains Standard Two-Letter Valid Country Code.
- Auto-Generate Certificate: Tick It, If You Want To Regenerate Certificate at Expiry.
- Expire Warnings: Enable if you want WordPress to show expiry notification.
It is advisable to fill the information correctly, as it stored in your certificate. The auto-generate certificate and expire warnings should be enabled.
Once you have done everything, then proceed to Register Account. This will send the signals to Let’s Encrypt will continue to create your new certificate. After that click on generate certificate (Shown in below image)
Once a certificate is generated, you can use any FTP Client to download information so that you can use it on your hosting.
So now I’ll show you how to install your certificate on CPanel.
How To Install Certificate in Cpanel:
From your account panel you can go to your SSL/TLS settings:
You will proceed to go to Install and Manage SSL for your site.
The first thing is to do is fill the domain name filled, and then just copy-paste the certificate file “cert.pem” and private key “private.pem“.
Once you have done it, the certificate should be enabled. Now Just Go to your Admin panel and point HTTPS in general setting. 
Now EveryThing is Done and You’ve Successfully Implemented SSL.
Conclusion:
If your site has been live for a while, then it can be indexed by search engines. Other sites and bookmarks may have linked to it using http in the URL. So You need to redirect your traffic to the https URL. You can install and activate the Really Simple SSL or wp force SSL plugin.
Even if you’ve a Google Analytics account then don’t forget to update it with your new HTTPS url.
That’s all done, If you have any further question and need my help, Please ask me via comment. If you liked this article, Please share it on social media.
Thank you Sunny for this wonderful post… it helped… though i encountered difficulty in getting the Files Using FTP client, but atlast i was able to get it done directly from my cpanel……… nice job.
Thank you for this helpful post.
I knowing your site for a few weeks now. But today i
just want to say “thanks”.
Keep up this great work! Looking forward to the next article.
Nice guide, thanks for sharing great informative stuff which is quite helpful.