An SSL certificate is a secure socket layer, while an SSL Certificate is what is used to create an SSL encryption to securely connect to a web server. You may have heard these terms before and be wondering what is so important about having an SSL Certificate on your website. That’s where we come in. In this post, we want to cover why having an SSL Certificate on your website is important and why your website may be flagged if you don’t have one. The Certificate allows the client who is visiting your site to securely connect to the web server that is hosting your website. This will ensure that your information is encrypted and that the data cannot be read. Depending on who you ask, nowadays an SSL Certificate is often referred to as a necessity and no longer an option.
Having an SSL certificate protects your data so that only the recipient, in this case the browser or server, receives that information. This is especially important if your website offers the option for visitors to make purchases or put in their ID names and passwords. SSL can give both you and your visitors peace of mind knowing private information won’t be passed from computer to computer. Another pro of having an SSL Certificate is that users will be able to know that the identity of your website is what it says it is. It’s far too easy to become the victim of a scam these days, and a SSL Certificate can put both you and the visitor in a safe position to send and receive information. This alone can help you build a sense of trust between you and your site visitors, and they will feel confident sharing sensitive data or browsing on your website.
Google has somewhat recently changed their algorithm to make things easier for HTTPS-enabled websites. Therefore, if you are looking to help improve your search engine ranking, this is a necessity. Having an SSL Certificate is now a ranking signal on Google that can provide a small boost when a website subject like yours is searched for. It is important that if you do choose to have an SSL certificate you are aware that your website will need to be configured for HTTPS in its entirety so that it both helps provide added security and improves SEO, search engine optimization, which will allow visitors to find your website more easily when they search.
Google made this algorithm change in 2014, and now they have begun to crack down on flagging sites without them as insecure. Based on the information above, it is safe to assume that if your site is flagged it will take away from more than just the traffic of your visitors. It can take away the trust that visitors have in your site and the SEO success your site may have had with an SSL Certificate. If you don’t have an SSL Certificate, this can cause distress for your business or website. If your website does not yet have an SSL Certificate, now is the time to act. To ensure the security of both you and your visitor’s data, it’s important that you make having an SSL certificate a priority or risk losing traffic, losing security, and losing support from Google thus decreasing SEO results.