About SSL Certificate
SSL Certificate is commonly called as the Secured Sockets Layer. SSL is integrated with the domain name of the website to make sure that the communication between the user’s computer and the webserver is protected. SSL Certificate normally protects the communication between the computer and the server.
Above image shows the website without the SSL Certificate. So normally Google Chrome will show the “not secure” warning for the website which doesn’t have SSL certificate integrated with the domain name.
On the other hand, if you check the above image of https://shiftednews.com/ , it shows the green padlock symbol which states that the domain name is protected by SSL.
So If you are having a business website or personal website or a blogging website, you should make sure that the website is protected with SSL. Also, SSL has a positive impact when it comes to SEO.
How the website works & why SSL is important?
As a normal user, if you search for anything on Google and click on any website. Then the request from the user’s computer (your computer) will be sent to the webserver where that particular website is hosted and then the data will be fetched from the server and will be loaded in the user’s computer. Same functionality happens for all the activities that you make on the internet. Communication will occur between the user’s computer and the webserver.
Each and every website will be hosted in a centralized web server from where anyone can access the website from any corner of the world. So web server is the place where your website files & data are stored.
Now, you may ask what’s the role of SSL here? Here is the answer,
When you search for https://shiftednews.com/ in your computer. Then the request from your computer will be sent to the webserver where https://shiftednews.com/ is hosted and the data will be fetched from the webserver to display in user’s (your) computer. So SSL will protect the communication which is happening between your computer and the webserver.
For example, If https://shiftednews.com/ contains any contact form and as a user if you submit your details through the form. Then SSL will protect the data and keep it secured when it transferred to the server from the user’s computer and the vice versa.
Why SSL is more important for E-Commerce websites?
Ecommerce websites like Amazon will handle of millions of traffic per day to the website and also, more importantly, users will buy many products from the website directly by making online payments.
Here comes the importance of the SSL. So when any normal user buys any product from Amazon, Then he/she will be entering their credit/debit card details to make the payment.
So when you enter the card details, it will be transferred to the webserver to process the payment. So if you have the SSL integrated, the communication will be protected and hence no one can look into your card details in intermediate. This is just an example for how SSL works in the online shopping websites.
Will SSL protect your site from hacking?
Well, you need to be very clear with how SSL works, SSL is just to protect the communication between the user’s computer and the webserver. So SSL is just to protect the communication and not from hacking.
When it comes to Hacking, the attack happens directly to your webserver via various forms. Hence SSL doesn’t have any impact on that unless you protect the website by using a firewall or other security strategies.
Example for SSL Certificate
From the above image, you can see that the banking website is highly protected with the SSL Certificate. Above image shows the image of the Barclays bank in the UK. It is protected by EV SSL certificate which provides high-end protection for the data which is transferred between the user’s computer and the webserver.
How to integrate the SSL for your website?
If you have a business website or a normal blogging website, you can integrate the normal SSL for your website and keep the communication secured. It’s not a big task, you can get in touch with your web hosting provider or it can be done with the help of professional digital marketing consultants from ClickDo. If you are planning to get basic SSL for your website, it’s available for Free and you can integrate it easily.
Even some of the web hosting companies like SeekaHost, founded by Digital Entrepreneur Fernando Raymond provides SSL for free. You can also check the blog on SeekaHost about “How to create a WordPress website” written by Dinesh Kumar VM (yes, its me 😊) where I have explained about SSL Integration in detail.
Is SSL must for all the websites?
Even if you are having a blogging website its must to have a SSL. Google has recently revealed that the websites with SSL will be given more priority in the Google Search. Hence for the better performance of your website in Google Search, you should have the SSL integrated for your website. Even if you don’t get any users data or payment details through website, it’s must for your to have the SSL integrated in your site.
Benefits of having SSL
- It reduces the chances for phishing attack
- Creates trust about your website on users mind
- Protects the data between the server and the users computer
- It helps in SEO & its an added advantage to improve the ranks
- It keeps the payments more secured (If you accept payments via your website)
These are just some of the core benefits of having SSL integrated in your website. Being a business owner, SSL is very important for your business website. You can have the basic version of SSL for blogging websites.
If your website doesn’t have SSL, then Google will show the “Not Secure” warning in the chrome browser and it will make the users to leave your website and bounce back. Hence if you don’t have the SSL integrated so far, You can just get in touch with your web hosting provider and integrate the SSL.
