An SSL certificate is a small amount of data which verifies the integrity of a pair of cryptographic keys unique to your domain. Once installed on your server, it communicates with your users when they visit your website, both encrypting all data in transit and verifying the authenticity of that data. When your website has a valid SSL certificate, it will communicate with users using HTTP Secure (HTTPS), which will be marked with a green padlock in the browser:
SSL is first and foremost a security tool, allowing you to have an encrypted conversation with your users, safe in the knowledge that any potential eavesdroppers won’t be able to understand the messages. If you are asking your users to submit any kind of sensitive information, eg passwords or credit card details, it is essential this information is encrypted. It also verifies the identity of your site to your user, so they know they aren’t seeing a fake or cloned version of your site.
When you use HTTPS and show your users the green padlock, you are demonstrating that you care about the integrity of their data, which is important if you want them to keep using your service or product. Data is a hot topic today, and if you want to build a brand that people trust, you need to demonstrate that you are implementing the necessary steps to protect any data you handle. Your users will increasingly come to expect HTTPS as standard too, with Google reporting approximately 70% of Chrome traffic in 2017 using HTTPS.
Furthermore, it’s not just your users who will expect you to be using HTTPS - it’s also Google. Back in August 2014, we blogged about how Google was considering tightening the security of web traffic in order to protect users by introducing HTTPS, thereby encouraging webmasters to make the switch by offering a potential ranking reward. As of last month, Chrome started marking all sites using regular HTTP as “not secure”, and it’s reasonable to expect other browser vendors will follow suit.
Sites using HTTPS will rank higher than their HTTP counterparts in Google’s search rankings, so there are SEO benefits to be had as well.
Google’s decision to mark HTTP sites as non-secure is one of many examples of how fast-moving the web and the industry surrounding it can be, which can feel overwhelming. Here at Indulge, we keep on top of these developments and can handle them for you, so you can get on with what really matters - your business.
There are loads of different options when it comes to securing your site, so contact us if you want to learn more about how we can help.
Photo by James Sutton on Unsplash.
