How to Install WordPress SSL Certificate?

WordPress SSL certificate install is one of the most complicated software among popular software. In addition to being difficult to switch, Do I lose my indexes? Can I lose my search engine ranking? Will it cause loss of SEO? etc. There are a lot of questions people's minds.

However, if you follow all the steps in order, you can switch from HTTP to HTTPS without any problems.

Purchase SSL Certificate

Before you can install SSL on WordPress, you must purchase an SSL Certificate and install it on your server. You may have information about the installation steps from our How to Install an SSL Certificate? article.

Why should I migration from Http to Https?

"I have an ordinary blog or website". Why should I use an SSL certificate? You could be right until recently but Web browsers are starting to give various alerts in non-https web sites. These warnings can cause adverse effects on your visitors.

After HTTPS switch, even though it causes the concern of losing rankings to website owners, It is officially explained by google that there will be no such loss with a proper 301 redirect. It is also explained that when you switch to https, it will have a good effect on your rankings.

Things to Do Before Starting

Before you begin, it's important to pay attention to the following steps.

First, make a backup of your website and make sure your backup is working.
If you have plugin that overwrite the htaccess file, disable the write feature or plugin until you complete the https pass.
Disable your site if you have any cache plugin. You can re-enable it after the installation is complete.
Buy your static IP address (not required on SNI supported servers) 1-2 days before the SSL Certificate. This will make the switch to HTTPS faster.
When you switch from HTTP to HTTPS, all your social media share counts will be reset. Unfortunately, there is no precautions for this.
Finally, read this article from beginning to end before proceeding to apply. Then go back and apply step by step. So you can make an easier switch.

WordPress HTTP to HTTPS Migration Settings

There are two types of redirect methods for Wordpress to do HTTPS redirect with server-based and plugin. Although there are plugins to route HTTP links, the best practice is to make server-based redirects. This is because redirects made with the plugin can cause additional overhead to the server. In this article, we will explain how to apply both methods to redirect

HTTP to HTTPS Redirect in Apache Server

If you are using a Apache Server, In your .htaccess file in the main directory, find the # END WordPress code and add the following code.

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.yourwebsite\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ "https\:\/\/yourwebsite\.com\/$1" [R=301,L]
</IfModule>

If you're using your site address with the www prefix, also change the www prefix in the above code.

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ "https\:\/\/www\.yourwebsite\.com\/$1" [R=301,L]

HTTP to HTTPS Redirect in Nginx Server

If you are using a Nginx, Add the following code to the Nginx config file. If you do not have access to this file, request it from the server administrator.

server {
  listen 80;
  server_name yourwebsite.com www.yourwebsite.com;
  return 301 https://yourwebsite.com$request_uri;
}

HTTP to HTTPS Redirect with Really Simple SSL

You can redirect links starting with all http in website to https links with Really Simple SSL plugin. After installing the plugin, you have to activate it by clicking on the Go ahead, activate SSL! button on the start screen. This plugin is useful in the beginning but it is not recommended because it will put an additional load on the server.

Updating HTTP Links in Your Content

We can now go through the changes that need to be made in our content. All can add links or images to your articles from time to time. These links will prevent the SSL certificate from working properly when you pass HTTPS. For SSL certificate to work properly, you need to pass these links from HTTP to HTTPS. You can use the Better Search Replace plugin for this.

Once you have installed the Better Search Replace plugin, make the plugin settings as described in the picture below. Uncheck the Run as dry run? option if you do not want the report to be served and click to Run Search/Replace button.

When the Run as dry run? option is selected, your database will be presented with a report on what it will change without any changes being made. After reviewing this report, you can un-mark the Run as dry run? option and click on the Run Search/Replace button again, so that all http links are replaced with https.

Editing Theme Files

There are a few more steps we need to do in our theme files to complete the Wordpress SSL certificate installation process. Download the theme files (wp-content/themes) to your computer. Using the search function in the directory of advanced editor programs such as Sublime Text, Notepad++, you can find links to http:// and replace them with https://. If you change an external link, make sure that this link supports https. Otherwise your site will take a long time to load.

If you have followed all of these steps correctly, you have completed the WordPress SSL setup and successfully transitioned from HTTP to HTTPS. Congratulations! :)

You can check with the SSL Checker tool whether your SSL certificate is installed correctly on your server, or you can find the HTTP links on your page with the Why No Padlock tool.

If you do not have an SSL certificate, you can purchase it from our SSL Certificates products and use our free SSL installation support.

That you completed WordPress software HTTP to HTTPS redirection. Is everything done? Of course No :) You can access other processes from our What to do After Installing SSL Certificate? article.

Do you intend to install SSL on your WordPress website? or What difficulties did you encounter when install SSL? You can share your experiences with us by writing comments.