When a website is hosted on internet, it is open to the world. Today, number of attacks on websites are increasing day by day. Hence, it is imperative to take steps in the direction of securing your website. Your website URL should start with https instead of http. Presence of one more added ‘s’ represents security. For this, one needs to install SSL certificate.
To know more about SSL, please read about blog post Demystifying SSL https for business website <https://magicworkshost.com/demystifying-ssl-https-for-business-website/>.
You can check with your web hosting provider and install the SSL certificate to secure your website from malicious hacking attempts.
There are many good reasons why you should take this step. Let us see them one by one.
Better Google ranking
As search engine, Google as made it amply clear that it does not want to send searches to insecure websites. Its algorithm gives better ranking for the website which are secure i.e. enabled with https. If you do not secure your website in this fashion, it will lag behind the competition and in turn you may not be able to attract enough customers.
SSL means improved security
Installation of SSL certificate creates encrypted communication channel between the web browser of customer and your web server. This makes intercepting of information on the wire almost impossible for the middle man or hacker.
Updated browser label
To push the drive of more secure web, Google has added a feature to Chrome browser. When Chrome encounters the website with http instead of https, it marks it as “not secure” and displays this to the user. Just by looking at this label, user may freak out and leave your website. This will cost very dear to the business. Hence, it is important to communicate to the user that your site is safe to deal with by using https.
Increased conversions
When your website is secure and user sees a little padlock sign on the browser, the visitor would feel more confident. Even a non-technical user also would be ready to trust the website. Obviously, user may stay for more time on the website resulting in more conversions.
Many are using https
Today, https is becoming a norm and you will appear a fool if you do not adopt it. Hence it is important to make your website secure with SSL certificate/https.
SSL Certificate
‘What is an SSL certificate?’ is a very typical question in the minds of many users. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer in a communication network. Latest and modified version of SSL protocol is referred to as TLS of Transfer Layer Security. Sometimes you would find mention of TLS instead of SSL.
SSL Certificate holds information about the party who buys it and keys used for encryption. Here is a snapshot of common attributes found in it.
How to install SSL Certificate
This is very easy to install SSL certificate. Following are the steps.
- Buy SSL certificate.
- Install SSL certificate on the web server and configure your website.
- Check all pages for any errors and fix them.
- Request Google to index you web pages.
Your web hosting provider would generally help you to get all this done.
