So you added an SSL certificate to your site. Now what?
Now that you have an SSL certificate, you have access to the secure HTTPS version of your site. The extra ‘s’ at the end of HTTPS means that the site is secured by an SSL certificate. However, the non-secure HTTP version of your site is still available for visitors to land on. Your next step after adding an SSL certificate to your domain is to decide what happens to the visitors who try to visit the non-secure version of your site.
You are given three options: block all traffic, reroute traffic to the secure version of the site, or allow visitors to access the non-secure version of the site.
| Redirect to https://domain.com | All traffic to the HTTP version of the site will be redirected to the HTTPS version of the site |
|---|---|
| Block access to the http:// site | All traffic will be blocked from visiting the HTTP version of the site. They will receive an error if they try. |
| Display the site normally | All traffic will be able to view the HTTP version of the site |
How you make this change can vary depending on your hosting type. So you need to first identify which section best describes your hosting package:
| If you have a WordPress site on a non-WP Hosting account (not WP Enthusiast, WP Professional or WP Professional Plus), you should follow the steps in the Non-Wordpress Hosting section, then go to the WordPress Hosting section and follow the instructions in sections: Updating Your WordPress Database Links and Updating a WordPress Address URL. |
Once you have done this, navigate to that section and read about the next steps you should be taking.
Non-WordPress Hosting
After you have added an SSL certificate, it will automatically be installed on your domain. There are two steps to take after this automatic installation has taken place:
Changing the Non-SSL Site Display Options for Non-WordPress Hosting
When you add an SSL certificate to your site, your site will be able to use HTTPS. However, visitors may still try to use the HTTP version of your site. You can use the ACC to set rules for how the HTTP version of your site displays. See Changing How the HTTP Version of Your Site Works.
Updating Links
If you have any absolute links in your site’s code, they should be updated from HTTP to HTTPS. For more information about absolute links, check out our explanation of Relative and Absolute links.
WordPress
After you have added an SSL certificate, it will automatically be installed on your domain. There are two steps to take after this automatic installation has taken place:
- Change the display option for the HTTP version of your site
- Update WordPress Database Links
- Update WordPress Address URL
Changing the Non-SSL Display Options for WordPress Hosting
When you add an SSL certificate to your site, your site will be able to use HTTPS. However, visitors may still try to use the HTTP version of your site. You can use the ACC to set rules for how the HTTP version of your site displays. See Changing How the HTTP Version of Your Site Works.
Updating Your WordPress Database Links
We also recommend updating all links in your database to HTTPS. This can be accomplished by using a plugin, like Velvet Blues, or via the wp-cli command line tool.
It is important that you do not modify any HTTPS links in the guid column. The Velvet Blues plugin automatically marks the guid column as unalterable.
Updating WordPress Address URL
If you use WordPress via a PairSIM installation or have internal links on your WordPress site using HTTP instead of HTTPS, you should update the site address within the WordPress editor.
To do this, you need to change the WordPress Address URL and Site Address URL from HTTP to HTTPS. You can do this easily by following these steps:
- Log into your WordPress account
- At the bottom of the left sidebar, click Settings
- In the drop-down, click General
- In the boxes next to WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL), add a ‘s’ to ‘http’
After you have taken these steps, your site will begin serving over HTTPS, thus making the connection between your site and its visitors more secure