WordPress is a little overloaded with decent plugins. And sometimes, not-so-decent ones. I swear, if I had a penny for every time my WordPress blog crashed because of some sad excuse of a plugin, I’d be able to afford my own domain at this point!
So rejoice because I’ve run as many SSL plugins as possible in a week. I could pick five of the most functional, least annoying, and fastest plugins out right now. I should be able to run two domains by now. Let’s go over the best SSL plugins in 2022!
What is an SSL Plugin?
An SSL (secure socket layer) Plugin does three basic things for your WordPress website:
- Improves security on your website
- Increases your site’s search engine ranking
- It makes your website seem more trustworthy to users
Your SSL plugin encrypts the data between your web server and the client’s browser and gives your website a unique SSL certificate. An SSL (secure socket layer) certificate ensures that the data moving between the two points remains encrypted.
Why do you need an SSL Certificate on WordPress?
An SSL plugin is essential when you run an online store. It should go without saying that having your client’s bank details unprotected is a bad idea.
Look at the small lock at the top left of your browser. The fact that the lock is closed is a sign that the data being shared between this website and your browser is encrypted. If the lock is open, then any data that you enter on the site can be seen and tampered with by an outside source.
One thing worse than an open lock for a user is an error message. When a website tries to fake an SSL certificate, you will receive a warning that the site might be malicious or untrustworthy.
The Best SSL Plugin: Really Simple SSL
Really Simple is the best SSL plugin I managed to get my hands on. It’s simply the most convenient. When your mailbox is plugged up with reviews, you get too tired to put your website effort into it. Most people would pay for someone else to do it, but that defeats the purpose of personal projects.
Really Simple SSL refitted my whole website with the click of a button. It picked up my SSL certificate with no prompt from me and set it to work on all of my links.
5 Best SSL WordPress Plugins
- Really Simple SSL
- SSLCM HTTPS Pro
- Insecure Content Fixer
- SSL Zen
- Easy HTTPS Redirection
Really Simple SSL
Really Simple SSL is the best SSL plugin I found for WordPress. Out of the other four on this list, it stands out as the most convenient. What makes this plugin is the most convenient is that the installation and setup process is handled automatically with little input from the user at the start.
It seems underwhelming at first glance, but compare it to CM Pro, the next item on the list. CM Pro has so many bells and whistles, you’ll spend half the day setting up the plugin before you can launch your site again. Really Simple ensures minimum downtime by doing the setup for you as soon as it is installed.
When the plugin sees you have an SSL certificate, it automatically starts switching all of your content to HTTPS. This also applies to any incoming HTTP requests, which are automatically redirected to HTTPS. No need to change your links from outside sources!
The paid version offers settings to customize your secure cookie settings as well as stronger cross-site scripting (XSS) protection software.
SSLCM HTTPS Pro
CM Pro is fairly box-standard when it comes to its features. It stands out with the sheer number of functions the free version allows you to use. From its security features to its user interactions. This is the SSL plugin for people who like a lot of control over their sites.
Its URL mapping feature is fun to play around with and makes traversing your site just that much easier for a client. This mixes well with how accurately CM Pro identifies and fixes insecure links. It managed to highlight the old links I used for the HTTP version of the site and automatically redirected me to the secure version of the site.
The testing tools are amazing. You can check to see if your new plugins will break your site before you click publish. Rather than having to extend your website’s downtime, you can see the outcome of your settings before you apply them to the live site.
Insecure Content Fixer
This is the best SSL plugin I found for quick fixes. It’s kind of like turning on a Roomba for your website. Insecure starts by tackling whatever content warnings pop up on your site first.
If you want to do a more detailed cleanup, Insecure Content Fixer does come with a few basic tools that you can use to tune up specific issues. Say you are only getting content warnings from multimedia on your page, Insecure Content Fixer can be set to focus more of your server resources on cleaning up each image individually.
The best part about it is that once you’ve fine-tuned your site’s settings, you can save it as a default for all the sites on your network. This is particularly nice for those of you that like to keep the backend of each of your websites the same.
SSL Zen
Zen does all of the encryption and SEO rankings you would expect from a good SSL plugin, but the free version can be a little lackluster. The paid version offers better security features, and the free version likes to remind you about that! Whenever there is a security risk on your site, you’ll get a sales pitch on why you need to upgrade to premium. XSS blocks and brute-forcing protection software are just two examples of premium security features that should probably have come with the standard version instead.
SSL Zen uses the third-party site Let’s Encrypt to verify that your SSL certificate is legitimate. This isn’t too bad, but what irks me is that you have to renew this every 90 days manually.
Easy HTTPS Redirection
Easy HTTPS Redirection is the best SSL plugin for people who already know their SSL game like the back of their hands. That’s because the entire setup is done manually, with few options for automation.
You have to install your SSL certificate first before you can activate the plugin. If you’re more of a do-it-yourself kind of site administrator, then Easy is great for mopping up after you’re done with your website.
Final thoughts
There’s a nice list of the best SSL plugins that I could find. They will help push your site higher up on Google’s search algorithm and protect your clients’ details.
But as I said in the beginning, these are the best sites I could review in my short time. If you ever need to stay up to date with the newest WordPress news, sign up for WPHub’s newsletter. You never know when a plugin developer might try to pull a fast one and lock all the good features behind a paywall! We’ll keep you updated on the latest in keeping your website running smoother than silk.
