What is an SSL Certificate?

Let's talk about what an SSL certificate is and why is it important for you to have one.  
SSL is an acronym for secure socket layer. When a website is protected with an SSL certificate, the connection between the visitor’s browser and the website is encrypted.

You can tell if a website is protected when you see the little green padlock at the beginning of a web page’s address. This padlock confirms you have a secure connection from your browser to the website.

In the past, SSL was used to secure credit card transactions and data transfers. However, having an SSL certificate is now the norm.

As more of our business communications and interactions shift online, website security is front and center. It’s so important that Google is now making SSL security a priority.

Google will now flag urls that remain on the HTTP non-secure protocol with a red "not secure" notice in the URL bar of the surfer’s browser.

The non-HTTPS "not secure" status can also affect a website’s search ranking, as WP Engine reported in their blog post, Google announced, they are pushing hard to phase out the older, less secure HTTP web protocol.

How do you know if you and your website visitors are secure? First, always look for the green padlock icon at the beginning of the URL. You’ll also notice that the URL starts with HTTPS instead of HTTP. If a site starts with an HTTP then that page is not secure.

Visitors - Check the SSL Certificate

To ensure you are browsing a secure website, look at the URL of the website. If the URL begins with “http” instead of “https” the site is not secured using an SSL Certificate. SSL Certificates secure all of your data as it is passed from your browser to the website’s server. To protect your data (and your wallet) do not give up any personal or financial information on an unsecured website. If you are a regular customer of the business website, let them know they are falling behind with their website security!

Website Owners - Get Your SSL Certificate Installed Today!

Contact your website host and ask how to protect your website with an SSL certificate. Here are the basic steps:

Step 1: Buy your SSL certificate
Step 2: Activate the certificate
Step 3: Install the certificate
Step 4: Update your site to use HTTPS.

However, if you are a SOLID customer, just get in touch today to have your site protected with an SSL certificate!