Website security certificates have become an essential requirement for all companies with online presence for safeguarding their personal information which may be sensitive in nature. Interestingly, Google gives preference to websites with SSL certificate over non-secure sites that lack this key feature to ensure safe and secure transmission of data across the Internet. Moreover, website security certificate or SSL enhances trust and confidence among visitors while navigating your website and provides assurance of having a secure exchange of information.
Let us understand more about website security certificates and their importance to your business.
What Are Website Security Certificates?
Security Certificates are essential tools used for encryption and validation of online website platforms. They are mainly used for encrypting data shared amongst the website browser and client server. Website security certificates or SSL certificates act like a digital stamp of approval from trusted third-party sources or CA’s. They certify the authenticity of the websites and signal the visitors about its safety using the green padlock symbol.
Importance of website security certificates
SSL or website security certificates provide a secure connection by encrypting data while it passes between the web server and the browsers. They prevent sensitive information such as credit card details and other personal information from being stolen and misused by hackers. Moreover, the digital certificate helps to verify credentials including certificate holder’s name, serial number, expiration date and signature of the certificate providing authority.
It allows to show your visitors that you value their security and builds trust and confidence in them while they make purchases on your website. There are different types of SSL certificates available which may be used as per the needs of your organization.
Google uses HTTPS as a key ranking signal and having SSL certificates may help to boost your search rankings and build your brand presence in the industry.
How do website security certificates work?
Website security certificates or SSL refers to Secure Socket Layer, which is closely related to another acronym, TLS also known as Transport Layer Security which is a successor to the original SSL protocol.
SSL/TLS works using a secure communication using a TLS handshake, where both the parties to communication have a secure connection for exchanging the public key. In this process, both the parties create session keys that help to encrypt and decrypt all the communications. There are different session keys which are used to encrypt communication for every new session.
TLS confirms that the party they are communicating with on the server side are genuine and it ensures that the data has not been tampered in any manner. In TLS, the HTTP data which is used by the users to send across by filling out forms or clicking and HTTP data that is sent to the users by the website remains encrypted. Thus, the encrypted data must be decrypted by the users using a key.
SSL certificates provide authentication & trust to visitors
Secure Socket Layer or SSL helps in building an encrypted link between the browser and the server and they are cryptographically signed by a Certificate Authority and every browser has a list of CAs which they trust. Thus, all the certificates assigned by the Certificate Authority is trustworthy and provided with a green padlock in the address bar of the browser. This provides credibility to the users and shows that your website is authentic and assures them that their information will be protected so that they can navigate and share their personal information with confidence.
It is possible to view the SSL certificate from the address bar by clicking on the padlock icon placed in the website address. Click on the “View Certificate” link and the dialog box will open up which provides information about the SSL certificate.
How to get security certificate for your business?
SSL security certificates act as a stamp of trust providing confidence and trust to the visitors while allowing them to make transactions within a secure environment. There are different types of certificates which are available through some of the leading SSL providers. Certificate authorities issue website security certificates only to trusted and legitimate companies that need to undergo a stringent validation process to ensure that their company has a legal right to use the domain name.
When you decide to buy SSL certificate, you can find that there are different types of certificate which are available with SSL providers used for providing various levels of protection to the website. If your business has low volume of traffic, then a Domain Validation Certificate would be most suitable option. This type of certificate helps in keeping your customer’s login and password details safe and secure from intruders. These are available at lower price and may be issued quickly.
On the other hand, Organization Validation Certificate will suit small and medium sized businesses that may have a decent volume of visitors and looking out for affordable options. EV SSL certificate offers the highest level of protection but could prove to be expensive for businesses. Moreover, if you have multiple subdomains that pointing to a main domain then, you can go with cheapest wildcard SSL certificate.
Steps for acquiring website security certificate
- Select a trusted Certificate Authority
- Purchase the certificate and verify them.
- Install your SSL certificate
- Check if your SSL certificate is working
- Update links to your website and set up redirects
- Use Google Analytics and Webmaster tools to submit a sitemap.
Conclusion
SSL certificates are needed for websites to look trustworthy and genuine to their visitors. They help in protecting sensitive information related to your customers by providing safe and secure data transmission. In addition, they can help in boosting Google rankings of online companies and can significantly boost your website conversion rates. There are different kinds of website security certificates available with SSL providers and you must choose the right certificate that fits your organization’s needs.
SSL certificates can provide huge advantages as it allows you to sell your products online with greater confidence and assurance of safety to your visitors. In addition, data encryption provides a sense of peace to online companies by preventing unauthorized access to valuable data and information which is critical to every company.
