SSL certification has been around for many years now and ecommerce and leading websites have long adopted this technology. SSL has now become mainstream, and is widely adopted by most websites today for good reason. As at July 2019 over 53% of all websites were already using SSL.
If your website is still one of the remaining 47% without SSL, here are the top reasons why your website should also make use of SSL and the benefits to your business.
What Is SSL?
Firstly, lets make sure we understand what SSL really is. When we refer to SSL technology we really mean two separate things. Firstly, SSL is an encryption system used by servers and modern browsers to protect all information and data travelling over public Internet. In other words, when browsing on an SSL protected website, the information you access and the data you provide (such as your details, payment info, password etc) can only be read by you and the server on the other side. Any (of many) hops along the way, such as your service provider, are not able to peek into this traffic at all. This is today the cornerstone of cyber security and the primary way to protect from data theft on the Internet. You can easily tell if a website is running SSL by looking at its URL (address). Addresses starting with HTTPS are SSL secured whilst those starting with just HTTP are not.
The second aspect of SSL is the certification, also known as certificate issue. Every certificate that is recognised by your web browser is issued by an authorised and recognised organisation (certificate authority). In simple terms, the value of the certificate is backed by the reputation of the issuing organisation. Whilst most visitors will not check this often, not all certificates are equal and website owners can obtain different levels of SSL certificate by undergoing more strict certification checks.
1. Secure Your Website
The first benefit of having an SSL certificate installed on your website is security. The encryption provided by SSL prevents third parties from stealing information from your website and ensures that data provided by your visitors is only accessible from your server.
On the other hand, you may have seen messages displayed by your browser stating that a website is “Not Secure”. Modern web browsers will automatically warn visitors of danger whenever browsing on an unsecured website. Does this happen on your website?
2. Search Engine Visibility
Popular search engine, such as Google have embraced and supported SSL technology for a long time. They understand that for website to succeed on the Internet security is crucial. For this reason, search engines have recently started using SSL as ranking parameter in their algorithms. The means that website running SSL will be ranked higher that non secure websites automatically.
3. Your Customers Demand It
Customers using your website are becoming more aware of security concerns and their web browser will now warn them if your website is unsecure. You will therefore provide peace of mind and confidence to customers when they are able to confirm your SSL certification, normally denoted by a padlock icon shown next to your website address. Savvy customers may also click this icon to learn more about your chosen certificate issuer and other details about your organisation.
4. Website Functionality
As website offer more modern functions to web users the need for SSL certification becomes more evident. Recently launched technologies from web browsers simply require SSL to work. This is even more required when customers use mobile devices for their browsing, which provide improved mobile experiences, but require higher security standards. We expect these functions to continue to increase and for SSL to be a minimum requirement for your website.
The risks of delaying SSL are clear and the benefits of adopting a more secure Internet are also very obvious. The next step is to contact your website provider and request SSL certification for your website. When switching to SSL you should take steps to ensure that the process is seamless and smooth for your customers. These include creating a redirection map of old URLs to new ones using redirections as well as updating your search index settings. Search engines such as Google provide tools to accomplish this without losing your ranking.
With over 25 years of experience, Webcraft provides full SSL certification services and can assist your business in going through this process to secure your websites and other online security services. Contact us today if you require assistance.