Things in 2022 are “more online” than ever. Being present and visible online is a crucial thing for every business life. But, the growth of the network also grows the number of possible threats and attacks on your website.
Thus, there is a strong need to protect your data and maintain secure communication with visitors and customers. You should be able to ensure and preserve the privacy and confidentially of your clients for them to return and safely enter their details on your website.
For being secured and protected, a website needs an SSL certificate.
What Is the SSL Certificate, and Why Do You Need It
Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol for safer communication. The SSL certificate is an important part of a website, which ensures encrypted and protected connections between two sides and provides important information about the website’s identity. It prevents attacks and unwanted harm to data on both sides.
Since the internet is full of numerous fake websites trying to manipulate and steal personal and financial details online, securing your website and providing authentic information to your customers is important. Thus, the SSL certificate would present your authenticity and identity and provide encrypted communication with your customers.
It would make a stronger, confidential, and more reliable connection with them, which would make them returning visitors and long-term customers. That means more traffic and stronger online business.
Since you understand the importance of this certificate, you may wonder how you can activate the SSL certificate on your WordPress website. Keep reading for the best SSL plugins for WordPress in 2022.
1. WP Force SSL
WP Force SSL is one of the best SSL plugins on the market. It is a straightforward and easy-to-apply plugin, yet it does such an important task for you: it secures and protects the connection between your website and visitors. Furthermore, this plugin makes the communication private through the HTTPS protocol, which guarantees that the data will be safely sent and received between the two sides.
WP Force SSL has a straightforward installation on your WordPress website dashboard and very simple use. A free WP Force SSL plugin version with some important features and a paid PRO version with amazing advanced features that make your website maintenance and protecting easier and simpler.
The plugin’s dashboard shows its main features for fast maintenance and control. One of the most important features is SSL Monitoring, which helps control your SSL certificates’ configuration. It searches for possible errors comparing the certificate status with over 50 errors that it can understand and maintain.
Also, it checks every change and importance about the dates: It monitors if the certificate date expired or when it should be renewed. Any change related to the SSL certificate is always accessible through a regular notification system. The user does not need to do the work manually or miss important dates.
Next, this plugin offers a Content Scanner feature for scanning and controlling the website’s content. This feature checks if some of your content remains unsecured and received through the HTTP protocol. With all levels of protection, using HTTPS and SSL certificates, if you have the smallest part of unsecured content, it can still be accessible to the attackers and harm the entire website.
That is why this feature is useful, it scans the content, reports every problem on the website, lets you decide about the changes and the next moves, or it automatically fixes errors and redirects the data and HTTP content through secured protocol HTTPS.
Another important feature is installing an SSL certificate. This feature means you can add this plugin to your website and use some of its features before applying an actual SSL certificate. Later, this plugin simplifies the entire process when you secure your website with the SSL certificate.
It uses Let’s Encrypt tool with straightforward steps and leads you through the installation process on your WordPress dashboard, providing all important information about your certificate. This feature is especially important for those without special technical skills.
Everything related to this plugin and the SSL certificate of your website is shown and controlled over a Centralized Dashboard. This strong feature offers a detailed yet simple presentation of your certificate statuses, all purchases, and licenses. Here, you can monitor and control all SSLs for different websites you own without changing login details which saves your time. This feature is also important for controlling your settings and activating other free or PRO features.
Both WP Force SSL versions are very useful and protective. Your selection might depend on the type of your business and its size. After testing this free version and the bigger need for more secure data, you can upgrade the plugin’s package and enjoy more advanced features.
2. SSL Zen
SSL Zen is a simple WordPress plugin for generating an SSL certificate. It helps you install the certificate and maintain its life span. Also, it can convert and redirect HTTP to HTTPS web content.
This plugin ensures that you do not miss any important changes to your website’s security and the certificate. It has a free version with a very limited list of features. For stronger protection, you would need to purchase the Premium version.
3. Really Simple SSL
This SSL plugin ensures a secure connection with the visitors configuring the website to HTTPS protocol. It is a simple and limited plugin that can provide basic functionalities. It searches for your certificate or offers an installation if you do not have one.
Then, with just one click, you can activate your SSL certificate. However, for monitoring and controlling the traffic, you would need a pro version of a Simple SSL plugin. So, its pro version offers content scan and fixer, advanced and improved security, automatic HTTPS redirection, and detailed reports.
4. Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL)
Easy HTTPS Redirection plugin is one of the most popular WordPress SSL plugins since it has easy use and one important function. It does not provide generating and installing an SSL certificate.
As its name suggests, this plugin just automatically redirects traffic to the HTTPS version. It forces search engines to index the HTTPS versions of your web pages. If someone tries to visit less secured HTTP versions, this plugin prevents it and automatically performs the redirection.
5. SSL Insecure Content Fixer
The SSL Insecure Content Fixer is another simple yet straightforward SSL plugin. Before adding this plugin, you should purchase and activate the SSL certificate on your website. This plugin helps you scan and notice any unwanted and insecure content on your website.
Then, it can automatically fix and clean some simple errors or diagnose the greater ones. This limited version is enough for changes on a basic level. But, for a more advanced cleaning process, you would need a premium version.
Final Thoughts
Every online business should be safe for exchanging personal information between you and your customers. Therefore, secure and confident communication with them should be one of your main goals. That is why there is an SSL certificate for encrypting and securing all data between the two systems.
Choosing the WP Force SSL plugin for your WordPress website can help you install the SSL certificate and maintain it. WP Force SSL plugin ensures the simplest way of applying and controlling the certificate, providing strong protection and secure communication with your customers.
