You’ve probably heard of SSL Certificate but weren’t sure you needed it. In this article, we’ll 5 strong reasons why you need to get an SSL certificate for your website. SSL Certification is all about securing your website.
Providing your website users with the latest security is a new challenge for small and medium businesses. But it’s important. Not just to protect your business and customers – also ensures your business’s search engine rankings don’t drop.
Do I really need an SSL Certificate on my Website?
Would you like your credit card number, username, password and other sensitive information to be exposed to other Internet users?
Of course not. Nobody wants that.
Which is why having an SSL certificate makes a lot of sense. It gives your visitors the confidence to trust you and do business with you. After all, no site is too small to be hacked.
What is an SSL Certificate?
An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates the identity of a website and encrypts information sent to the server using SSL technology. Encryption is the process of scrambling data into an undecipherable format that can only be returned to a readable format with the proper decryption key.
A certificate serves as an electronic “passport” that establishes an online entity’s credentials when doing business on the Web. When an Internet user attempts to send confidential information to a Web server, the user’s browser accesses the server’s digital certificate and establishes a secure connection.
An SSL certificate contains the following information:
- – The certificate holder’s name
- – The certificate’s serial number and expiration date
- – A copy of the certificate holder’s public key
- – The digital signature of the certificate-issuing authority
An SSL certificate basically encrypts all the information transferred between a user and the server. In the process, it makes the said information secure and unreadable to any third parties.
Reason 1 – Protecting your users’ data
If your business manages customer data online, such as logins, personal details and payments, then it’s important to keep your users’ information secure from attacks with the latest standards in encryption. With HTTPS, it’s very difficult for an attacker to steal or tamper with data undetected, keeping important information safe.
Reason 2 – Gaining Customers Trust & Credibility
Most browsers, such as Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari have built-in protections to help users identify unsecured sites. An SSL certificate will ensure that web browsers do not flag your website as unsecure and scare away potential customers. HTTPS will also make your site more trustworthy, with the addition of security icons in the browser interface, such as a padlock and green security text next to the URL bar.
The green padlock in the address bar serves as an assurance to these Internet users. The trust seals provided by the SSL provider assures the Internet user of a secure connection. Such simple visual cues build trust and can help boost your website’s conversions exponentially.
Research shows that 68% of Internet users believe that the laws for protecting their rights are not good enough. There are 46.9% of them that don’t trust a website (and are even willing to let go of good products) if it doesn’t have a valid SSL certificate.
Without SSL Certificate: this is the browser warning message displayed for unsecured websites.
Reason 3 – Boosting SEO performance
In 2014, Google announced that going HTTPS – adding an SSL certificate to your site – will give sites a minor ranking boost. In other words, having a safe and secure site for users will increase the performance of your website search engine rankings. There are only a few ‘guaranteed’ ways to instantly improve SEO performance – and having a verified SSL certificate is one of them.
from July 2018, Google will flag all websites that havent implemented the SSL Certificate as an unsafe website.
Reason 4 – Protection from Phishing, Malware, Virus and Hacking
Phishing – we’ve all seen it. You receive emails, Skype messages and SMS from someone pretending to be your service provider. But the moment you click through the message, you’re taken to a site designed to steal your sensitive information. This can happen on your site’s domain too.
SSL saves your site from phishing attacks, keeping all your data safe and secure. It gives you the much-needed peace of mind so that you can focus on growing your website.
Whether you’re using your site to sell products or promote your services, using an SSL certificate makes it a hundred times more reliable.
Reason 5 – SSL Certificate is not restricted to websites with a checkout page
Also, using the certificate is not restricted to websites with a checkout page. You can even add it to your blog as it helps in improving search engine rankings and building on-site engagement.
In a digital space, where businesses are competing to gain the consumer’s attention and convert them into customers, the SSL certificate is your entry ticket to winning trust.
So, How can you get an SSL Certificate?
To make your website HTTPS-ready, you may need to purchase an ‘SSL certificate’ and upload it to your web server.
Depending on your hosting provider or solution, you may or may not need to manually purchase and install an SSL certificate.
However, if your website however is not establishing a HTTPS connection, then it’s likely that you will need to purchase and install an SSL certificate manually. To double check, log into your web server or hosting provider and navigate to the security or ‘SSL/TLS’ settings.
If you do not have an SSL certificate, they can often be purchased from the same registrar you purchased your domain name. There are also many other providers, called ‘certificate authorities’, that offer verified SSL/TLS certificates for sale.
If you are not sure or don’t want to waste time with all the tech stuff, you can order your SSL here, hassle free!
Installing the SSL certificate
Once purchased, you will need to download your certificate files. The next step is to access your server’s cPanel or administration dashboard. From here, you can:
- Refer to the registrar or hosting provider’s support team or documentation to install the certificate.
- Reach out to the web developer that first set up your site, or provide your new web developer with the credentials to install the SSL certificate.
The next steps
Don’t wait until Google flag and punish your website to take action, Order your SSL here.
For more information about web development, security, SEO and digital strategy, speak with a digital specialist.
