It is very important to get an SSL certificate because Google degrades ranking if your website doesn’t have one. Most of the companies are charging money for SSL certificates which can hamper the pockets of small entrepreneurs and sole proprietors.

What is an SSL certificate?

Do you see HTTP before websites you are visiting, it means they don’t have an SSL certificate, it means according to Google they are not secure. If you see Https before the site you are visiting it means they have SSL certificate and they are secure. Whenever we give information like email ids, credit card data, etc. There is a major chance that your information will get hacked if the websites do not have an SSL certificate. To avoid this you need to have an SSL certificate or put information on those websites where there is an SSL certificate.

What basically SSL does is it protects information by encrypting the data transfer between a user’s browser and the website.

Some websites charge you a lot for this certificate. However, you can also get it for free.

Here are the ways by which you can get an SSL certificate on WordPress.

1.) Cloudflare

I have personally used Cloudflare for SSL, it’s completely free and easy to set up on your WordPress website.

You have to sign up on Cloudflare website and activate your domain name. Getting an SSL is easy, just download the Cloudflare SSL plugin. There is only one click setting.

2.) Let’s Encrypt

It is a non-profit sponsored program by big names like Facebook, Google, etc.

Let’s Encrypt is a domain-based SSL so if you have a domain name you can get SSL through your hosting company. Refer Let’s Encrypt official website for exact details.

Here you need to install and activate the Really Simple SSL plugin to make it work.

Make sure to change URL to https after getting the certificate in Google analytics to get analytics of your website.