Google has been operating diligently to obtain the web more reliable and has now started to identify websites as “Non-Secure” which do not have an SSL certificate installed but still transfer user data. Therefore, it has now become a must to assist your website over HTTPS/SSL to ensure your visitants’ data and also to show that your name cares about protection. Coming to Chrome Push Notifications, although not a requirement, SSL is approved for your main domain. There are a lot more advantages to joining an SSL certificate to your website including increasing your search rankings. In this post, let’s fall deep-toned into SSL certificates, their types and how you can set up a free SSL (Cloudflare) on your website.
How to secure your website with a free SSL certificate?
Step 1: Create an account on Cloudflare
Enter your information and then click on ‘Create Account’
Step 2: Configure your website/domain
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Add Website to CloudFlare to Scan DNS Records
Add your complete website URL and click on Scan.
Cloudflare will now scan your website. Click on ‘Continue Setup’ once the scan completes.
Step 3: Configure your Website DNS Records
Once the scan is done, you will see an orange cloud next to your main domain. That means the configuration is correct. Mail and FTP are bypassed by Cloudflare and should show grey clouds.
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Make sure your main domain has an orange cloud next to it.
If you see the primary domain with an orange cloud, then click on ‘Continue’.
Step 4: Select a CloudFlare Plan
Since we want a free SSL for our website, choose the Free plan here.
For most websites, the Free Plan would be enough. Just select it and click on ‘Continue’.
Step 5: Update your NameServers
You need to point your NameServers to Cloudflare. To do this you would have to log into your domain registrar account, find the setting to change the NameServer.
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Change your domain’s nameservers (DNS) to the ones provided by Cloudflare
Delete the existing entries, and add the DNS that CloudFlare provided.
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Once you have changed the NameServer, come back to CloudFlare and click on ‘Continue’. However, it may take up to 24 hours for the NameServers to propagate.
STEP 6: Download Plugin On Your Website
Go To Your WordPress website and install and activate Cloudflare Flexible SSL Plugin
Step 7: Set up SSL for your website
While your nameservers are being set up, you can get to SSL configuration. Scroll down to Settings Summary and you will see SSL: Full. Click on Full and you will be directed to the ‘Crypto’ page.
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Change the SSL to Flexible
Next, to the SSL option, there is a dropdown list. Select ‘Flexible’ from there. The SSL certificate will be issued in an hour or so. You can check the status from the ‘Crypto’ page once it is issued.
Step 8: Redirect traffic to HTTPS
This is the last step of the configuration. We will be setting up a page rule to redirect all traffic of your website to HTTPS.
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From the website view, click on Page Rules from the top of the page. Now we need to add a couple of rules here.
You need to add www.mywebsite.com/* and mywebsite.com/* separately, and for each of these URL patterns select ‘Always Use HTTPS’. One thing to note here is that this option will only be available once the SSL certificate is issued.
The configuration will take a few minutes to go through. Once done, you can then open any page on your website, and it will open on HTTPS.
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