The world of e-commerce is booming with virtually everything now being done from the digital domain. Consumers today have evolved to what is known as “digital consumption.” They love the flexibility of transacting online, i.e., doing everything online- from buying food online to ordering drinks, playing games, betting online and much more. The attractive bit has got to be the convenience of doing things online not to mention that it tends to save a lot on costs and time. From a business perspective, it’s also quite cheap running a business online when compared to running it from brick and mortar stores. The real hurdle though has got to be ensuring that online business space is always secure from the ever “hungry” hackers around the world. Thankfully, this is where SSL Certificates come in very handy to any online business. Wondering what the heck is SSL certificates and why you need them in online businesses anyway? Well, Let’s delve deeper and expound more.
What are SSL Certificates?
If you a web enthusiast then you must have heard of the term SSL certificates before. Well, SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer that provides encrypted communication between client and web server. The client, in this case, is the user browser which needs to communicate in a secure paradigm with the server. So, SSL certificates are cryptographic files installed on a web server to secure bidirectional communication between the servers and the user. Now that you have the idea what SSL certificates are all about, the next question we need to answer is why you need these certificates in your online business.
Benefits of SSL Certificates in Online Businesses
It Will Encrypt Vital Information
One of the principal uses of SSL Certificates is to provide the secure connection between the web browser and the servers where information is being exchanged. This is quite colossal if your business is handling things like credit card information, Social Security Numbers or any other sensitive data. You will certainly not want these to fall into the wrong hands through a breach like a Man in The Middle Attack (MITM). SSL certificates ensure that this doesn’t happen by converting original info send from either the server or the browser into unreadable characters. These characters are more or less gibberish for anyone without a proper key to decrypt them hence ensuring that it becomes difficult for third parties to eavesdrop on your content.
SSL Improves Search Engine Rankings
Did you know that SSL can affect your SEO rankings? Yes, that’s right! Ever since 2014 Google inculcated HTTPS as a ranking signal which means that your online business is bound to rank higher if you have SSL certificates installed. As you know Search Engine rankings can be the difference between you beating off some completion in your online business niche.
SSL Improves Consumer Trust
The real beauty about SSL certificates is that they build trust among your consumers and even lure some new consumers into trying out your online business for the first time. As a matter of fact, research done by many companies concur that consumers are influenced by the security measures implemented in an online store. For instance, research done in 2015 by CA Security Council, a collective of leading global certificate authorities found that only 3% of users of the respondents in the survey would give out their credit card information to a site without that padlock symbol in its URL. Moreover, over half of the respondents did recognize the padlock sign indicated security while 42% knew that the green bar means enhanced security.
Data aside, SSL certificates give users visual cues that translate to increased trust. This is also very for good in improving brand power keeping in mind that advanced SSL certificates come with recognized trust seals implying to an added level of assurance among customers.
SSL Protects Consumers against Phishing Attacks
One of the most usual attacks on the web these days is what is known as phishing attacks. This is where an attacker masquerades as you or rather as your site with the aim of duping your users into giving out sensitive information like credit card data. Building a website that is similar to yours would not be hard for any phishing attacker but getting an authentic SSL certificate would be somehow hard. Thus, your users would be able to differentiate between your site and any other fake website designed to scam them.
Which SSL Certificate Should You Buy?
You now know the essence of SSL certificates in your business but which SSL certificate should you go for?
There are three sorts of certificates: Domain Validated certificates (DV), Organization Validated certificates (OV) and Extended Validation certificates (EV).
DV SSL certificates are validated against domain registries while the OV SSL certificates are validated by real agents against business registry databases. EV SSL certificates, on the other hand, provide even stricter vetting before getting the certificates.
Based on types of SSL certificates, the next step to buy SSL certificate is to choose trusted SSL certificate authority like Comodo, RapidSSL, Thawte, GeoTrust, and Symantec. For it, ClickSSL is one of the trusted SSL providers who is in this SSL industry since 2009 and providing these all certificate authorities SSL certificate at an affordable cost.
You will need to pick between DV, OV and EV SSL certificate depending on the nature of your online business. For the higher level of authentication EV SSL is recommended, and also it is the best recommendation for e-commerce websites. Where the need to secure only single domain. But if the requirement to secure main and its subdomains then Wildcard SSL certificate is the best solution. For small to medium size business, DV or OV SSL would be fine.
Conclusion
In conclusion, every online business craves security and SSL Certificates are the first step towards creating a perimeter wall to protect your business and consumer’s data. If you haven’t invested in an SSL certificate, then it’s time you bought a quality SSL certificate for your online business. After all, prevention is always better than cure!
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I’m a tech enthusiast, entrepreneur, digital marketer and professional blogger equipped with skills in Digital Marketing, SEO, SEM, SMM, and lead generation. My objective is to simplify technology for you through detailed guides and reviews. I discovered WordPress while setting up my first business site and instantly became enamored. When not crafting websites, making content, or helping clients enhance their online ventures, I usually take care of my health and spend time with family, and explore the world. Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or read my complete biography.