As people move into cyberspace and perform most of their activities online, be it professional or personal activities. The Internet has evolved and so is the creativity of threat actors. There is always the need for proper solutions for better protection of the websites.
For the past many years, tech giants like Google have been working hard to make the web a safer place by persuading the website owners to make use of the HTTPS protocol which can make sure that the data that is being sent from your computer to the site you are browsing is encrypted and securely transmitted.
The sites that have not adopted HTTPS are considered as not secure. Whereas those sites with HTTPS enabled are displayed with green HTTPS letters in the URL, indicating that they are secured by an SSL certificate. SSL certificates are very much important for your business or personal website. Let us look into it in detail.
What is an SSL Certificate?
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates have been available for use for the past 20 years. When the website has an SSL, it means that the sensitive data of your website’s visitors will be transferred over a secure network. However, many users and organizations have not adopted it due to the price of the certificates and the difficulty of implementation. But now getting an SSL certificate is much easier because now they are freely available and that too with easier installation procedures.
Is it necessary to have an SSL Certificate?
Below are some of the reasons, why it is important to have an SSL certificate:
- Increased site security: One of the main reasons to have an SSL certificate is that it will protect the sensitive data that is transmitted from and to your website. This information includes login details, addresses, and payment or personal information. SSL certificates will encrypt the connection and protect the website visitors’ data from being misused by attackers.
- Safety for the subdomains: A particular type of SSL certificate known as a Wildcard allows you to secure your main site as well as all its subdomains (like blog.yourdomain.com or shop.yourdomain.com) using one single SSL certificate. This becomes useful for business owners or owners of large websites with several subdomains. With a standard SSL, you need to install separate certificates for each of your subdomains.
- Credibility and trust for your customers: Another advantage of an SSL certificate is that it will help you get the trust of your site visitors. The website will be displayed with a security padlock in the address bar of the browser which denotes that the connection is secure. It ensures the visitors that you are concerned about their privacy. If your website doesn’t have a certificate, some browsers may label it as “unsafe.”
- SEO advantages: With an SSL certificate, the SEO that your site gets improves in rankings. Google gives priority to websites with encrypted connections and so their rankings also rise. Even though, the ranking boost may not be too high, having an SSL gives you an advantage over your competitors who has not yet adopted the certificates.
How to get an SSL Certificate?
The easiest way to get an SSL certificate is to contact your website hosting provider and check if they provide SSL certificates. Earlier SSL versions were a paid feature, but now companies such as Symantec, have started providing free SSL certificates.
Let’s Encrypt, which has been formed by a group of professionals from leading IT companies provides an all-around initiative to democratize website security. Let’s Encrypt has managed to revolutionize website security by making it easy and free for everyone to have a secure connection to their website. They have also released Wildcard SSL certificates for free.
In cases where you run an enterprise-level site or multiple sites, it is better to have a paid certificate. You can adopt an EV certificate that has a strict authentication process and also adds the name of your company, country abbreviation, green bar in the URL of the browser, and more.
To conclude, it is always a best practice to activate SSL certificates for your business or personal websites and some web hosting providers have made installing them an easy task. By getting the certificate you add an extra layer of security for your website visitors and gain their trust.
