The observant amongst you may have noticed a slight change to the asone.co.uk site recently, we have gained a green padlock signifying we have installed an SSL certificate on our website. We thought we would lead by example as we encourage all of our clients to protect their websites with the secure encryption and additional benefits of using an SSL certificate.
What is an SSL certificate?
An SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate is a way of showing your customers your website is a safe, secure and protected environment. You can tell if a website is using an SSL certificate by looking out for the green padlock and the site will be displayed over https:// rather than the default http:// more advanced certificates display a green bar and provide the company name in the browser’s address box.
SSL certificates can only be issued by Certificate Authorities that provide various levels of security checks depending on the type of certificate you purchase. At the most basic level they check that you own the domain you wish to secure, at more advanced levels (Extended Validation) they provide checks on the company itself to determine you are who you say you are. Think of SSL certificates as online identification cards.
How does an SSL certificate work?
When you visit a website using SSL, the device you are using connects to the web server and verifies the SSL certificate with the Certificate Authority. If the lookup is successful, the device and the web server form an initial connection known as a handshake to determine what kind of encryption they will use. If it is not successful, you may see a warning that the certificate has not been verified or is invalid and you will be asked to continue at your own risk.
After the handshake is initiated, the device sends the server an encrypted public key to the web server, the web server receives this and uses its own private key to decrypt the data. What this means is that any data sent over the connection is scrambled while it is being sent between the two devices and unscrambled when it reaches the other side.
With an SSL certificate all communication on your website between customers and your website is encrypted and secured.
Who should use an SSL certificate?
Although SSL certificates are more common on e-commerce platforms, we would recommend every website should use one.
What are the benefits of an SSL certificate?
There are a variety of benefits to using an SSL certificate. Most importantly of all is the security of your content and connections to your customers. For example, on an e-commerce platform by using an SSL certificate you are ensuring all of your customer’s data such as their name, address, contact details, passwords and any other data is stored securely.
If you wish to take online payments and store credit card information through your website (without redirecting to a payment provider) then an SSL certificate is a must and is required before a payment provider will integrate to your website.
Your customers will feel more comfortable visiting your website knowing that the connection is secure and the content is your own and cannot be tampered with. On an e-commerce platform, customers may be more likely to perform business with you knowing their details will be kept secure.
It benefits your SEO! In 2014 Google announced they would be giving preference to more secure websites in search engine rankings and picks out sites using https as a ranking signal. They have suggested using an SSL certificate may add further importance to your search engine rank in the future so don’t delay in purchasing your SSL certificate.
How can I get an SSL certificate on my website?
All you need to do is contact our team and inform them you wish to add an SSL certificate to your website. Give us a call today on 0161 368 9100 if you would like all the benefits of an SSL certificate on your website.
We offer a range of options on SSL certificates such as the number of years you wish to purchase the SSL certificate for as well as the type of certificate you can use on your website.
What do I need to do?
This will vary depending on the type of certificate you wish to purchase, for the lower level certificates you simply need to inform us of how long you want the certificate for as we include installation in the cost of the certificate.
For the Extended Validation certificates, we will require further information about your company such as your registered address and VAT number. The Extended Validation certificates can make the process slightly longer and are more expensive than the basic level certificates but they provide further security measures and the green bar verification exclusive to this type of certificate.
With cybercrime on the rise we highly recommend purchasing an SSL certificate regardless of your websites platform. Contact our team on 0161 368 9100 to secure your website today.
In Summary
- Encrypted connection between your customers and your website
- Stores your content and your customer’s data securely
- Protects your website from hackers
- Customers will feel safer visiting your site, particularly on e-commerce platforms
- Used in SEO algorithms to add weight to your ranking
- With EV certificates your company is checked and validated to your website
