How to Enable Free Let’s Encrypt SSL for Your WordPress Website

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You can secure your website with a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate directly from the Hestia Control Panel. This will make your site accessible over https:// and display the secure padlock in browsers.

Important: If You Use Cloudflare

If your domain is using Cloudflare’s proxy (orange cloud icon), you must temporarily turn it off before requesting an SSL certificate. This is because Let’s Encrypt needs to verify your server directly.

To disable the Cloudflare proxy:

  1. Log in to your Cloudflare Dashboard.
  2. Select your domain.
  3. Go to DNS settings.
  4. Find your A record(s) and click the orange cloud icon to turn it grey (proxy off).
  5. Save the changes.

You can turn the proxy back on after the SSL is installed.

Step 1: Log in to Hestia Control Panel

  1. Log in to your Client Dashboard.
  2. Go to Services and select your hosting service.
  3. Click the Login to Control Panel button.
  4. Enter your username and password (from your hosting welcome email) and click Login.

Step 2: Edit Your Domain Settings

  1. In Hestia, go to the Web tab.
  2. Find your domain name in the list and click Edit.

Step 3: Enable Let’s Encrypt SSL

  1. Scroll down to the SSL Support section.
  2. Check these boxes:
    • Enable SSL for this domain
    • Use Let’s Encrypt to obtain an SSL certificate
    • (Optional) Enable automatic HTTPS redirection to force visitors to use https://
  3. Click Save.

Step 4: Wait for Installation

  • Hestia will request the SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.
  • If successful, you’ll see a confirmation message.
  • Your website should now load securely over https://.

Step 5: Enable HTTPS in WordPress Settings

After the SSL certificate has been installed, log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.

  1. Go to Settings > General.
  2. Update both the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) to use https:// instead of http://.
  3. Save your changes.

Step 6: Update Existing Links to HTTPS (if you installed Elementor)

If you are using Elementor, you can easily update non-HTTPS links (such as images or internal URLs):

  1. Go to Elementor → Tools → Replace URL.
  2. Enter your old site URL with http:// and the new one with https://.
  3. Run the replacement.

This helps prevent mixed-content warnings and ensures all assets load securely.

Step 7: Re-Enable Cloudflare Proxy (If Applicable)

If you turned off the Cloudflare proxy earlier:

  1. Go back to Cloudflare → DNS settings.
  2. Click the grey cloud icon for your A record(s) to turn it orange (proxy on).
  3. Save the changes.

✅ Done!
Your free Let’s Encrypt SSL is now active. Visitors will see the secure padlock in their browser, and your site will use an encrypted connection.

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