Secure Your Website for Free: How to Get and Install a SSL Certificate Step-by-Step

Hey, folks! Ever wondered how to get that cool green padlock in your website’s address bar without spending a dime? Well, I’ve got the scoop, and I did it all for free! Check out my domain link above – see the “HTTPS://” instead of the usual “HTTP://“?

If you want to rock that secure service on your website too, just follow this simple tutorial.

Free SSL For Your Domain

What’s the Deal with SSL Certificates?

SSL, or Secure Socket Layer, is like the superhero of web security. It creates a safe and encrypted connection between your web server and your visitors’ browsers. This ensures that the data passed between them stays private and secure.

Why Should You Care About SSL?

As hackers lurk around every virtual corner, using SSL keeps your internet-transmitted information safe and unreadable to anyone except the intended server. It’s your digital bodyguard against identity thieves and cyber-criminals.

How to Get a Free SSL for Your Domain?

I found two awesome services that offer free SSL for a limited time:

  1. SSLForFree: Provides a free SSL certificate for 3 months with a validity of 1 year.
  2. StartCom: Offers a free SSL certificate for up to 3 months, valid for 12 months. Ideal for non-business or non-profit websites.

Just sign up, follow their instructions, and boom – you’re good to go!

Checking Your SSL:

Use SSLShopper to make sure your certificate is correctly listed on your domain and server.

One Last Step: Redirecting HTTP to HTTPS

Even after installing SSL, your website won’t automatically switch from HTTP to HTTPS. You’ll need to insert a few lines of code into your functions.php or .htaccess file. Grab the code from here or use this snippet in your theme’s functions.php:

function redirectToHTTPS(){
 if($_SERVER['HTTPS']!="on"){
   $redirect= "https://".$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
    header("Location:$redirect");   
}}
add_action('init','redirectToHTTPS' );

Refresh your site, and voila – you’re now proudly sporting “https://” in your web browser!

Got questions or issues? Drop a comment below. And if this guide helped you, don’t forget to hit that Share button!