The Internet has become an all-too easy target for hackers who violate user security and prevent websites from being trusted. In order to protect your business’ online presence against malicious hackers, we’ll discuss SSL certificates and how they can help your website safeguard client information.
What is an SSL Certificate?
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a technology that encrypts information from a browser to the server. SSL Certificates are data files that bind cryptographic keys to a website’s data in order to secure users’ and companies’ details from thieves. With tons of personal information traveling across the Internet and reaching millions computers, hackers can steal important data unbeknownst to the owner. Users aren’t going to entrust any of their personal info to your website if you can’t promise to keep it safe. Additionally, search engines no longer allow unsecure websites to rank at the top of search engine result pages (SERP).Protecting your website guarantees both your site’s online authority and high rank on Google’s search engine pages.
One of the main goals of an SSL Certificate is to secure personal materials so they can only be accessed by the addressee. This is important because data sent over Internet moves through a number of computers, meaning any of those computers can have an access to passwords, credit cards, addresses, and more. If a hacker can intercept the flow of information along the way, you can say goodbye to your clients. But if you have an SSL Certificate, the special cryptographic code will secure your online information and prevent hackers from accessing important data.
How do your visitors know that your website is secured?
This section contains important information for both business owners and web users. Before you trust your personal information to any website, first look to the top of a page where the browser address bar is. Websites that already use an SSL Certificate will have:
- an “https” protocol instead of “http”
- a little green or black lock is placed somewhere before or after a link itself
- the word “Secure” appears before the link
On the other hand, if a website doesn’t have an SSL Certificate you will notice:
- It says “Not Secure” before the URL
- A lack of a lock image
- an ⓘ sign, which displays the following when you click on it
Try to be extra attentive before making an online purchase, sending money or giving away any other confidential information because some sites that appear secure are actually not. Hackers will try and take advantage of the fact that some online users are unaware of SSL certificates and cannot distinguish secure websites from unsecure ones.
Who needs an SSL Certificate?
Any website needs an SSL Certificate if its owner wants to remain authoritative among its target audience and competitive with others in the same niche. No matter what your occupation is, a “Secure” sign indicates how you treat your visitors and their personal information. A person visiting your website wants to believe your business will protect his or her sensitive info.
And here are some examples of user data you will protect with an SSL:
- credit card information
- bank account details
- names
- addresses
- birth dates
- property information
- Social security number
- sensitive contracts and documents
- medical and insurance records
“Do I think HTTPS is necessary? Not really unless you are asking your website’s visitors for confidential information or taking payments through your site. However, in the future it could mean the difference between a page ranking at number 1 or number 2 in search – this makes it necessary.” (Lukasz Zelezny)
In order to gain the trust of your customers, you must be able to reassure them that any information they provide you will be protected from hackers. Make your clients feel safe purchasing, ordering or booking online with your services by securing your website with an SSL certificate.
How will an SSL Certificate take you to Google’s top?
User privacy protection is highly prioritised by Google, which means websites using an SSL Certificate will likely rank near the top of SERPs. Search engine crawlers (bots that scour the web) will seek to find websites that lack an SSL and penalise them. This makes SSL a concern for all websites – even if you don’t have web forms, checkout/login pages and don’t ask for any personal data, you need this certificate to reap the benefits of SEO.
Google tries to encourage webmasters to support a secure user experience by making SSL certificates a crucial factor in search engine algorithms. With a focus on user safety, Google crawls all “https” websites by default, making an SSL Certificate a must-have if you don’t want to disappear from search engine pages forever.
According to the following statement, capturing the top search engine positions depends on properly utilizing certificates that provide maximum security for every user. You essentially have no choice but to use an SSL Certificate. There is no excuse for not having one!
“Today we’d like to announce that we’re adjusting our indexing system to look for more HTTPS pages. Specifically, we’ll start crawling HTTPS equivalents of HTTP pages, even when the former are not linked to from any page.” (Google Online Security blog)
Conclusion
SSL Certificates have become a standard business practice for companies around the world thanks to its crucial role in determining Google search engine rankings. While building high-quality backlinks and crafting killer content can take some time, securing your website with an SSL certificate is a rapid SEO decision that can happen immediately. In order to stay ahead of your competitors and gain the trust of potential customers, every webmaster should look into implementing an SSL certificate today.