What is an SSL certificate? And why do you need it?

What is an SSL Certificate

Online business success highly depends on a trusted environment to make potential customers feel confident in dealing with. Notably, there are many security technologies we have. SSL stands for Security Sockets Layer used to establish an encrypted connection between a web server and a browser. It creates a security circumstance to assure that all data transactions between the web server and the browser remain safe and private.

A website with SSL certificate has ‘https://’  before the site URL. Here ‘s’ after the ‘http’ indicates that the data transaction between the website and the webserver is secure. So, SSL is such a system where an encrypted connection can be established between a web server and a user. When a user opens a secure website in a browser, the web server sends encrypted data to the browser and no third party can read this data. This is how the SSL certificate secures the website data.

There are certain types of SSL certificates such as Extended Validation (EV SSL) certificates, Organization Validated (OV SSL) certificates and Domain Validated (DV SSL) certificates. Each type has almost the same encryption levels where the data transaction between a browser and a server is completely safe.

The purpose of using SSL certificates

The main purpose of using SSL certificates is to secure a website including all its data while sending from the webserver. Besides, there are some important purposes behind using SSL certificates.

SSL keeps all sensitive information private

SSL certificate protects all information from being hacked. For example, as a user when you’re signing up to an unsecured website, the data you’re sending to the web server like username, password, credit card information and other credentials can be hacked. By using an SSL certificate only the single and valid user will have the permission to get access to the information and no outsider will be able to decrypt this.

SSL Authenticates data

Data authentication means to give an individual access to the system based on his identity. SSL provides authentication to data and information that means the data you are sending to the server won’t be stolen by a pretender. SSL certificates must be trusted certificates issued by Certificate Authorities when users will pass their verification procedures. It typically contains your domain name, company name, your address, city, state and your country and makes them validate with the procedures.

SSL makes customer’s trust

SSL secures the online data of many people every day during the transaction by improving customer trust. A website with an SSL certificate can assure your customers that their connection is safe with you and they will simply be intended to deal with you and want to purchase your service or product. 

Better Search Engine ranking

SSL helps to have a better ranking in the Search Engine because Google always gives a good priority to the HTTPS-enabled websites and boosts them as usually. For example, you are searching for a particular keyword and a website is showing on your browser. When you enter into the homepage, a google chrome indicator will instantly greet that the site is not secure. By noticing this same behavior of other visitors Google will ultimately demote that site in the SERP. 

Last Words

It’s a matter of thought about how safe the data you’re sending to the server or the server to you. Getting an SSL certificate is very important to have a secure connection and to protect information by installing it on the server. Google makes SSL mandatory in 2018 in order to give a safer browsing experience. Visitors always search for a secure connection and Google always flags the websites having no SSL certificate. Popular web browsers like chrome, firefox will simply warn the visitors that the sites are not secure. No matter which website you have, SSL is required if you don’t want to lose your traffic. 

So, an SSL certificate from a trusted web hosting service provider can upgrade your website to an upcoming version. You can make your choice with MyLightHost’s web hosting service with a free SSL certificate to have a dependable web connection between the customers and the server.