What is SSL Certificate & Why is it Important to a Website?

05 Jan 2021

What is an SSL certificate? And How it benefits your website?

An SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer Certificate) is a digital certificate that is issued by a certificate authority. It is used to confirm the identity of a website (which is usually a company or a server) and the validity of the data sent (usually data being passed by an end user) to the website.

Digital certificates are used to secure communications in the internet. They offer a means for a web server to authenticate its identity to the web browser, ensuring that the information being communicated is secure. This certificate is used to verify the identity of the website so that the computer user can be sure that the site is who they think it is.

If SSL does not encrypt your website with a certificate, any computer between the user and the server can view the user’s payment card details and other critical information. By creating a secure connection and keeping client information secure, this safety feature for your website builds a foundation of consumer confidence.

How can you tell if a website uses SSL?

If you’re browsing online and see the following security indicators, your website is likely using SSL: https:// in the URL bar, a padlock icon in your browser’s URL bar, a Secure symbol in your browser’s address bar. This means that your information is encrypted while traveling through the Internet.

The following indicators shows that your information is not encrypted: http:// in the URL bar. This means that your information is unencrypted while traveling through the Internet.

Why SSL is Important for your website?

When people think of encryption, they usually think of a padlock that appears on pages that use https rather than http. However, https is more than just a padlock. It’s the name of the protocol that prevents eavesdroppers from seeing the contents of your communications. The term SSL refers to the certificates used to protect the https connection.

SSL certificates provide an extra measure of security and privacy when browsing the web. HTTPS (SSL + TLS) encrypts data in transit between your computer and the website you are visiting, making it more difficult for someone to intercept and tamper with the data. On a computer where you have administrative rights, you can create this encryption certificate to secure all future web traffic. You can also create an digital certificate for a website you are currently developing, or to add an additional layer of security if you are in a shared hosting environment.

Google has made the decision to flag websites that do not have the padlock icon updated in the address bar. If someone fails to comply with this standard, all of the world’s most popular internet browsers, such as Google Chrome and Firefox, will penalize them by displaying a ‘Not Secure’ warning notice in the website URL bar.

You cannot manually fix the cause of the warning as a visitor. The only solution to remedy the problem is to make your website HTTPS.

You can gain the following benefits by incorporating this protection feature on your website:

• It safeguards your website as well as all of its subdomains.
• End-to-end encryption is provided through Secure Sockets Layer.
• It’s a reasonable way to gain your visitors’ trust.
• Better search engine ranking (SEO) & priority by Google
• Protect your site from cybercriminals
• Secure payment gateway via SSL on your website.
• Secure the login process and web forms
• SSL helps you satisfy PCI/DSS necessities
• Helps to gain the trust of the Customers
• Provides SEO benefits by improving the rankings of the website

You can implement this digital certificate to secure your website with the following approaches,

• Free SSL: Cloudfare was the first company to offer free SSL/TLS encryption in 2014, and they were the first to do it. Owners of several domains can acquire a free edition of Cloudfare by signing up for a free account on the their website.
• Premium SSL: Premium certificates are, of course, more expensive, starting at a few dollars per month. However, it is divided by validation degrees, and you can choose according to your needs. The installation of these security certificates is relatively straightforward. If something goes wrong, accommodating assistance goes a long way.

Types of  Certificate

• Domain Validation:

Domain Validation SSL Certificates (aka. Thumbprint Certificates) are used to verify the identity of a domain.

This certificate is valid for a single domain name only, so it will not work for more than one domain. This certificate is only intended for use with your valid domain name. If you are trying to secure multiple domain names, we recommend that you create separate certificates for each one. If you create separate certificates, you will need to create separate signing identities.

• Organization Validation:

The certificate authority (CA) issues it to the applicant after verifying his or her registered business and proving that he or she is legally responsible. The certified applicant’s domain and firm name are included in this proof document.

• Extended Validation:

 The Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificate is a unique and trusted, yet flexible, certificate authority. This certificate is designed to meet the requirements of the standard and is available for use in the industry. The EV SSL certificate is a certificate with an EV signature, which is a cryptographic signature that provides assurance that the certificate is genuine

• Multi Domain SSL Certificate:

Multi Domain SSL Certificates provide the ability to use a single certificate to secure multiple domain names. This single certificate can be used to secure all subdomains of a single domain, or a single domain and one or more subdomains.

An SSL certificate contains the below-mentioned Information,

• Owner’s name.
• Expiry date and the serial number of the certificate.
• Public Key copy of the SSL holder.
• Certificate issuing authority’s digital signature.

What are you waiting for now that you know how critical this security feature is for your website? If you want to secure your website and ensure best practices by giving your visitors a secure feeling, contact us right away.

We’re a reputable web development firm with a track record of reliability, quality, and ease. We provide the greatest levels of security for your websites and network infrastructure, as well as a way that is both efficient and low-cost.