OK, I Need a Security Certificate – What Now?

Earlier I posted that security is not just good SEO strategy, but has become a requirement for sites that collect contact and/or credit card information. Now Chrome is putting a notice in the URL bar with the message “Secure” if you have HTTPS (or a security certificate) or “Not Secure” if you don’t.

Setting up your SSL can be a very simple process with most hosting companies now. It does require a purchase – though the search engines are encouraging hosting companies to make SSL a part of their hosting package. Once you have purchased the SSL, most hosting companies will install them for you on your site, then you’ll need to redirect your site to your HTTPS. If you are using WordPress and are comfortable with installing plugins I recommend the Easy HTTPS Redirect plugin from Tips & Tricks HQ. It is the simplest way to redirect your plain site to HTTPS. Before installing and setting up the plugin, though, you will want to test your site by manually typing in https://yoursite.com to make sure it is correctly installed and has finished propagating throughout the web – in other words that it works. Once your new plugin is installed, go to settings and click on “HTTPS Redirection” and that will open up the settings page. You will need to click on the boxes next to “Enable automatic redirection to the ‘HTTPS'” and “Force the resources to use HTTPS url,” then hit “Save Changes.” Once the changes have saved you will notice that another option has opened up. This is a setting titled, “You can apply a force HTTPS redirection on your entire domain or just a few pages.” I recommend clicking “The whole domain.” Set it and forget it!

There you have it, a relatively simple process, but we are here for you if you want help, guidance or would rather someone else did this for you. Click on the green “Contact” below and let’s talk about how we can help you.