18 October 2018
SSL Certificates: practice safe websiting!
What is in SSL Certificate?
A cryptographer will give you a really complicated answer to this question, with jargon like ciphers, keychains, private keys, public keys, and if you're lucky some mathematical equations to back it all up. It is mind boggling how it all works, but in layman's terms an SSL Certificate creates a secure link between your website and a visitor's browser. By ensuring that all data passed between the two remains private and secure, SSL encryption prevents hackers from stealing private information such as credit card numbers, names and addresses.
Why do I need an SSL Certificate?
The main browsers these days are marking any sites without SSL as 'insecure' - this can cause concern for some website visitors and prevent them submitting private information on an insecure site. This could be causing lost enquiries and leads, or even lost sales on an ecommerce website. Even though most of the ecommerce websites we've developed use PaymentExpress, PayPal, or another payment gateway which handles all the security, customers still look for the padlock and https in the address bar, and if that's not present on your checkout page they may quickly turn away.
If your website has any pages asking for a Password (e.g. Registration or Login page), or Credit Card (checkout) then a more alarming notification will be displayed.
Other reasons why it's important to have a SSL Certificate:
- Increasing site security
SSL Certificates will protect the sensitive data transmitted from and to your website. Such information can be login details, signups, addresses and payment or personal information. SSL Certificates will encrypt the connection and help protect your visitors’ data from being misused by attackers.
- Credibility and trust for your customers
A significant benefit of SSL Certificates is the fact that they will help you gain visitors’ trust. Your website will be displayed with a security padlock in the address bar of the browser. This will indicate that the connection is secure and will show your website’s visitors that you take their privacy seriously. If your website doesn’t have a certificate, some browsers may label it as “unsafe.”
- SEO advantages
Another benefit of having an SSL certificate installed is the SEO improvement in rankings that your site will get. In line with their HTTPS everywhere initiative, Google gives websites with encrypted connections a slight rankings boost. Although the boost may not be substantial, having an SSL will give you an advantage over your competitors who don’t have certificates yet.
Yes but how do I get one?
Talk to your website agency or hosting provider - if you're not sure or, even better, if it's us: flick us an email and we'll sort you out!
Serena Cappellini