Secure Your Website With An SSL Cert
SSL certification might once have been seen as the preserve of e-commerce websites, but if you do any kind of business online, an SSL certificate can now be thought of more as a necessity than an option.
What Is SSL?
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and, in short, it’s the standard technology for keeping an internet connection secure and safeguarding any sensitive data that is being sent between two systems, preventing criminals from reading and modifying any information transferred, including potential personal details such as customer names, phone numbers, addresses and credit card numbers.
Basically, it allows secure connections from a web server to a browser – it does this by allowing the browser to request the server identify itself before the server sends its SSL certificate, which includes the public key. You can spot a website which possesses the SSL certificate from the ‘https’ prefix in its address (s standing for secure), the padlock symbol, and sometimes the green ‘Secure’ text next to it. Have a look at our own website above as we use SSL.
So What Are The Benefits?
Website Security
SSL certificates provide encryption with their securing of a browsing session. This allows users to protect any sensitive data which they might hold, as well as guard against fraud, identity theft, data tampering and phishing. Essentially, if you are a business operating online, you are minimising the risk for you and your customers.
Better Google Rankings / SEO
By not using an SSL certificate, you might be giving your online competitors the edge. That’s because Google will pick up on the absence of an SSL certificate, and display an ‘unsafe website warning’ on your site. How many potential customers will this deter?
An SSL certificate not only provides a stamp of reassurance, it can also help give you a rankings boost if you did not hold certification previously. More information on SEO can be found here https://www.baldwindigital.ie/what-is-seo.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
GDPR has come in to affect since May 25th 2018 and has harmonised data privacy laws in the European Union, changing the ways in which organisations shape their data privacy policies, and giving EU citizens greater protections over their personal data.
Included in the GDPR regulations is the assertion that information must be protected with “appropriate technical and organisational measures,” making SSL certificates potentially vital thanks to their encryption capabilities. More information on GDPR can be found on our May 2018 blog post found here https://www.baldwindigital.ie/10-steps-website-gdpr-compliant.
Web Browsing
The SSL certificate can now be seen as a business norm and gives you a big advantage over your competitors who do not have SSL on their websites. In other words, if you do not implement it, you risk falling behind a large share of professional websites. It will give you credence as an online business and allows you to take payments on your site.
Google Chrome web browser from July 2018 will mark all http sites as “not secure”. Read more on the Search Engine Land website below;
Considering An SSL Certificate?
One of the advantages of hosting on Baldwin Digital servers is our provision of SSL certificates. For more information, contact us today.
