Since the internet is now a part of our everyday lives, online security has become one of the most important things for businesses to consider. If you are a business owner, it would be a nightmare for you if the personal details of your customers, including their financial information, were stolen. To ensure this does not happen, it is necessary to protect your website with a (Secure Sockets Layer) SSL certificates.
But what exactly is an SSL certificate and why does your website need it?
A Secure Sockets Layer or SSL certificate is a protocol used to encrypt internet traffic as well as verify server identity. You would not that a website has an SSL certificate when you see HTTPS instead of HTTP on its Uniform Resource Locator or URL.
Its main purpose is to protect any sensitive information as it travels through the worldwide web. It is the foundation of a secure internet. They protect credit card transactions, logins, data transfers, and even social media site browsing. Even if your website does not handle customer information, such as credit card numbers, an SSL certificate is still important since Google has started to flag websites without it. Without an SSL certificate, a “Not Secure” sign will be displayed on the URL bar of the website.
Now that you know what an SSL certificate is, let us take a look at why you would need it for your website.
The following are the reasons why you should get an SSL certificate for your website.
As mentioned earlier, SSL certificates protect the sensitive information of your customers. It adds a level of security to your website to prevent hackers from stealing sensitive information. It encrypts information being transferred between two websites. Anything sent between these two websites is scrambled, which makes them unreadable to anyone other than the two websites. The certificate is important to secure the login details and credit card information of your customers. Moreover, it also protects you from hacking attempts to intercept the transmission of your data from your website to another website.
After Google started flagging websites without SSL certificates, these websites are not ranking well on Google searches. If you search for anything on Google, you will see that the majority, if not all of the websites on the first page have an HTTPS address. In fact, it may even extend to the second page of the Google search results. So, if you want to stay a step ahead of your competitors, getting an SSL certificate for your website is a great idea.
The HTTPS on your URL shows that you have a secure website or it has an SSL certificate. This will give your visitors or customers peace of mind since they know the website is not harmful to their devices. When you have an SSL certificate, you are telling your customers that you are serious about protecting their personal information. You are also increasing the confidence of visitors to your website.
On top of this, the browser will show a notice indicating that the connection is not private. It will also show a message indicating that attackers or hackers may attempt to steal your personal information, including logins, passwords, and credit card information. As a website owner, you would not want your visitors to see this message when they try to open your website. So if you want your customers to trust you and your website, getting an SSL certificate is a must.
SSL certificates were developed to provide an extra layer of security for websites. While it does not mean a website cannot be hacked, it is a good start for website owners, particularly among e-commerce sites. There is actually an upgraded version of the SSL, the Transport Layer Security or TLS. While TLS and SSL are often used interchangeably, they are actually not the same. TLS features new algorithms, a more detailed verification process, and better key generations.
With all the benefits offered by SSL certificates, it would be wise for business owners to have the certificate on their websites. Aside from providing additional security to the website, it also increases the trust of visitors on your website.
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