If you own a website, you may have heard that SSL certificates are crucial for keeping your website safe and your visitors’ information secure. But what does SSL mean and why do you need it?
SSL or Secure Sockets Layer is vital to protect servers in any online interaction between a user and a web server, such as an online banking app or online shop.
If your WordPress website is collecting any kind of information on your site visitors or customers (name, address, credit card information, etc.), you’ll want to ensure you’re using SSL. Without it, your customers are in danger of having their information stolen.
Websites that use HTTPS have what is called an SSL certificate. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) scrambles website data between a server and a browser. This is what makes HTTPS in the URL instead of HTTP. This is a sign for visitors that a website page is safe.
Best SSL Plugins
In this blog post, we will look at some of the best WordPress SSL plugins, both free and paid that could help secure your website and earn you more trust of your customers or site users.
1. Really Simple SSL
This is one of the most common and simplest SSL plugins for WordPress. It automatically finds your SSL certificate and sets up your website to run over HTTPS. It also fixes any mixed content issues by changing the URLs of your images, scripts, and stylesheets to HTTPS. Really Simple SSL has a pro version that offers more features, such as HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), security headers, mixed content scan, and premium support.
Key Features
- Easy SSL Migration
- WordPress Hardening
- Detects files that are requested over HTTP and fixes it
- Advanced Security to isolate your website from unnecessary loading
- Server Health Check
- Vulnerability Detection
- Security Headers to prevent stealing site visitor's login credentials
- Force-update or secure plugins that have security vulnerabilities.
2. WP Encryption
WP Encryption is one of the best SSL plugins out there. It converts your website from HTTP to HTTPS in a matter of minutes.
WP Encryption is a WordPress plugin that lets you generate a free SSL certificate for your website from Let’s Encrypt, a non-profit certificate authority. WP Encryption also helps you to enable HTTPS redirection, fix mixed content, add security headers, and monitor SSL.
WP Encryption has a free version which offers free SSL for 90 days (3 months) on your domain, and a pro version with more features, such as automatic domain verification, automatic SSL installation and renewal, wildcard SSL support, multisite support, and vulnerability detection.
Key Features
- Verify domain ownership and generate a free SSL certificate
- Force HTTPS / Enable HTTPS redirection sitewide in one click
- Enable mixed content / insecure content fixer
- Secure webmail and email with HTTP
- Track your SSL score and control various SSL & Security features
- SSL monitoring & Automatic email notification prior to SSL certificate expiration
3. Easy HTTPS Redirection
This plugin automatically redirects all HTTP requests to HTTPS for your whole website or for specific pages or posts. It also fixes any mixed content issues by changing the URLs of your images, scripts, and stylesheets to HTTPS.
Easy HTTPS Redirection has a feature that allows you to enable HTTPS only on certain pages or posts where you need extra security, such as login, checkout, or payment pages.
Key Features
- Converts HTTP to HTTPS
- Mixed Content Fixing
- SSL Monitoring
- Very customizable
- Selective HTTPS Redirection
4. WP Force SSL
WP Force SSL is a WordPress plugin that helps you redirect unsecured HTTP traffic to secure HTTPS and fix SSL errors without the need to touch any code.
This plugin has an SSL certificate testing tool to check if it is valid or current. Just click the “Test SSL Certificate” button, which will show you its status.
Key Features
- Everything for SSL
- SSL Monitoring
- Centralized Dashboard
- Content Scanner
- Easy to use
- Premium Support
5. SSL Zen
With the help of this plugin, you can change your URL from HTTP to HTTPS (Secured) by getting a certificate from Let's Encrypt (a non-profit global certificate authority). This plugin redirects HTTP traffic to HTTPS and fixes any mixed content issues.
The plugin is easy to use and has a premium version that offers more features, such as a content delivery network, web application firewall, and automatic installation and renewal of SSL certificate. SSL Zen is a trusted and highly reviewed plugin that protects your website and your customer’s data.
Key Features
- HTTPS redirection
- SSL certificate renewal
- SSL Certificate Monitoring
- SSL Certificate Installation
- Free SSL certificate generation
6. One Click SSL
With a single click, you can install SSL on your site using this plugin. It automatically finds your SSL certificate and sets up your website to run over HTTPS. It also redirects all HTTP requests to HTTPS and fixes any mixed content issues by changing the URLs of your images, scripts, and stylesheets to HTTPS.
One Click SSL has a feature that allows you to test your SSL settings before applying them to your live site and this plugin comes completely free.
Key Features
- SSL detection
- Mixed content fixing
- SSL testing
- SSL activation
- SSL deactivation
- Completely free
Conclusion
In this blog post, we have explored some of the best SSL plugins for WordPress that can help you secure your website and improve your SEO ranking. SSL plugins are vital for any website that deals with sensitive data, such as personal information, payment details, or login credentials. SSL plugins scramble the data between your website and your visitors, preventing hackers from snooping or altering it.
There are many SSL plugins available for WordPress, but not all of them are equally trustworthy, easy to use, or compatible with your theme and plugins. That’s why we have chosen some of the best SSL plugins that we suggest for your WordPress website.
