Walkthrough · Beginner · 20 minutes
How to Add SSL to WordPress
Deliver every page over https with the padlock holding firm on all of them — a hands-on walkthrough in plain words that names the classic mistake before you reach it.
The short answer
One line covers it: deliver every page over https with the padlock holding firm on all of them — a beginner-level job of roughly 20 minutes.
Below is the full run of steps, the error most people trip over, and the short cut worth remembering. On Hosting & Domains plans several steps are already automated away — the guide marks each one.
By the Hosting & Domains team · Reviewed 18 August 2026
Beginner
Skill rating
20 minutes
Time budget
5
Steps in total
24/7
Support on call
No prior knowledge assumed — a hosting account, a browser and 20 minutes of attention is the whole entry requirement. Every instruction runs on our platform exactly as printed, and carries over to any standard cPanel host.
A promise before step one: nothing here is a one-way door. Any step with teeth is flagged, and the way back is printed beside it.
How the work divides up
Set out end to end, the route is: confirm the certificate is there, correct the address settings, send plain http traffic on, track down mixed content and update the wider ecosystem.
Every stage is a few minutes of unhurried clicking — the total depends mostly on how well you already know the control panel. The detailed instructions are further down; read the whole path once before you begin.
Where it comes off, and how to stay on
Updating the site URL and then leaving the database search-replace undone. Images embedded before the change still come over http, so browsers keep marking a secure site as not quite secure while nothing looks visibly wrong.
It earns a section of its own because it is no obscure edge case — it is the single commonest reason this task reaches a support queue. Knowing it in advance turns the whole job from risky into routine.
The habit that keeps this easy for good
Assess it in a private window with the cache cleared out. Your own browser holding on to the http version is much the commonest reason people insist the switch failed.
Habits this small are what separate the people who find hosting effortless from the people who find it draining. The same tools on both sides — a different way of working.
What a Hosting & Domains plan spares you
Some steps in this guide exist only because hosting traditionally forced them on you. Here the SSL issues itself, the copy is taken daily without being asked, and one-click installers remove the manual setup. What is left is the part that was always genuinely yours.
Stopped mid-guide at an awkward hour? That is exactly what round-the-clock support is for — say which step you are on and we take it from there.
Why this job is shorter on our plans
Every walkthrough in this library is run on the platform we actually operate — cPanel, LiteSpeed, NVMe, one-click installs — so the instructions match your screen rather than gesturing at it from a distance.
NVMe storage and LiteSpeed caching sit under every tier, the smallest plan included — that is the floor here, not an upgrade.
- Every step checked exactly as published
- The snag named before it arrives
- The dull steps taken out of your way
- People reachable at any hour you stall
Why Hosting & Domains
Standard on every plan
Taken from real tickets
These guides came out of the support queue, so every snag flagged is one people genuinely hit.
The dull parts automated
SSL, backups and installs look after themselves here, leaving the guide to cover only what is genuinely yours.
Works exactly as printed
Every step is proven on the platform we run — none of the 'your host may vary' hedging.
Help that keeps your hours, not ours
Stuck on step three at midnight? Support answers at any hour, mid-walkthrough included.
The snag, flagged up front
The classic error for this particular task is named before step one, which is how 20 minutes stays 20 minutes.
Honest about how big it is
Deliver every page over https with the padlock holding firm on all of them is a beginner-level job — set aside 20 minutes, with the platform-absorbed steps marked.
Quick Start
Order placed to site online
- 1
Confirm the certificate is there
On our hosting the free certificate issues by itself once the name points here. Load the site with https first and check the padlock before you touch anything inside WordPress.
- 2
Correct the address settings
Settings, then General: put https:// on both WordPress Address and Site Address. Every link WordPress builds comes from those two fields, so they are the source of truth for the rest.
- 3
Send plain http traffic on
Every http request should go sitewide to its https equivalent. Our default configuration already does this, and a short .htaccess rule spells out the same behaviour if you would rather see it written down.
- 4
Track down mixed content
In older posts, http:// is written into the image tags and embeds by hand. A database search-replace from http://yourdomain to https://yourdomain stops the padlock flickering between pages.
- 5
Update the wider ecosystem
Search Console, analytics and any integration holding a hardcoded URL should now point at the https address. Changing protocol is a migration in miniature and wants the same tidying afterwards.
Built In
Fitted to every plan
- WordPress and 400+ further applications installed in one click
- SSH, Git and Composer on the developer plans
- Your existing site brought across by our engineers, at no charge
- Money back within 30 days on hosting plans, 7 on reseller
- People on the support desk every hour of every day
- No set-up charge at any point, and no joining fee
- LiteSpeed caching in the server itself rather than bolted on by plugin
- Spam and virus screening on every mailbox by default
- Staging copies for trying a change before it goes live
- PHP versions set per site from the control panel
Frequently Asked
The questions that come up most
Why is there a padlock with a warning beside it?
Mixed content. The page itself arrives over https while something on it, nearly always an old image, still loads over http. One database search-replace of the protocol across the archive clears the whole lot at once.
Does moving to https help or hurt rankings?
It helps, and it keeps helping. Https is a confirmed ranking signal, and the 301 redirects carry your accumulated standing over with it. As site migrations go it is among the safest you will ever run.
How do payments and auto-renewal work?
You pay by credit or debit card through a secure checkout, and renewals bill at the same rate as the original order. Every invoice sits in your client area, and auto-renewal switches off with a toggle in the account — no telephone call needed.
Can more than one website run on a single plan?
From the Turbo tier upward, yes — several sites, each with its own name, mailboxes and certificate, inside one account. If the extra sites belong to clients rather than to you, look at reseller hosting instead: it keeps each one properly walled off.
Keep reading
How to Set Up WordPress Caching
Get LiteSpeed Cache set up properly at the first attempt — beginner level, about 20 minutes.
How to Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Render a stolen password worthless on every login worth defending — beginner level, about 15 minutes.
Best Wix vs WordPress
The same call put as a buyer's guide: what to verify, what to ignore, and the plan we would sign.
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Do it properly this time.
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