SSL Certificates Keep Your Customers Safe and You Ranked Well
Your business has been up and running for quite some time and you’re proud to say it’s been going great. The one thing you are worried about, however, is your website. You don’t know how secure it is for your customers and maybe it hasn’t been getting as much traction as you’d like it to.
With the July 2018 update from Google that marks non-secure sites, you may well be suffering from a drop in traffic on your site. It’s time to secure your site with an SSL certificate and get your customers back to shopping and browsing online safely and securely.
What is an SSL Certificate?
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. Having an SSL certificate on your website means your website is more secure. An SSL, simply put, encrypts data transferred from browsers to web servers. In other words, when any of your customers put sensitive information into your website, like their billing information for a purchase, it’s encrypted before being sent to you and decrypted once it arrives.
If you’re wondering whether or not your website has an SSL certificate, you can easily find out by going to your website and checking the URL box. If you have an SSL certificate on your site, your URL will automatically begin with “https” instead of just “http.” In addition, if your site doesn’t have SSL on it, to the left of your domain name a small box will read “Not Secure.” Many websites nowadays are built with an SSL certificate due to Google’s update. However, it is important to check your site.
How Does an SSL Certificate Benefit Me?
You may be wondering if having an SSL certificate on your site is worth it, especially if you don’t collect information from your customers, after all, it does cost money. Regardless of whether your customer purchase items from you online or just browse your site, it\’s still important to have the certificate for several different reasons.
- Customer Trust
With Google’s push to have all websites have an SSL certificate, there’s going to be a stigma about any that don’t have one. The “Not Secure” box next to your URL isn’t going away anytime soon, and customers will be wary about even visiting your site if they think it is not secure in any way. Having an SSL certificate will ensure your customers aren’t leaving your site because they don’t feel safe.
- Search Results and SEO Impact
Back in 2014, Google announced that it will be taking encrypted connections into account as a ranking signal for search results. While this is just one factor in the hundreds that Google uses in its search algorithms, it is still a factor that can make a difference in where you appear in search results. So, if you want to make your site more visible, having an SSL on your site could mean better ranking for your site.
- Secure the Data
This is the obvious and most important reason to have an SSL certificate on your website. Securing your customer’s data is crucial for them and your business. You don’t want to leak your valued customers’ information and you don’t want to be known as the company that has caused their customers to lose their personal data. It’s best to put an SSL certificate on your site for your and your customers’ sake.
How Do I Get an SSL Certificate on My Website?
So now that you know what an SSL certificate is and why it’s important, you’re probably wondering how you get one put onto your site. You’ll need a little bit of technical knowledge to complete this task as it requires server access to install. Your hosting provider or a third-party issuer will most likely be able to manually install it as well.
Contacting your web company is the best and easiest solution as they can install the SSL certificate quickly and also ensure all non-secure pages are redirected properly to secure pages.
If you have a website with Arden Web Design, you have nothing to worry about. Our team ensures all Arden Web Design websites are automatically built with SSL certificates to ensure proper ranking, customer trust, and secure data transfer. If you’re worried about your website’s security, functionality, and overall design, contact Arden today and let us build you a secure and functional website.
