Have you been noticing the red locks and warnings during some of your Google searches lately? You might also have received notifications from your website host informing you that your site is not secure and that you should purchase a Secure Sockets Layer (or, SSL) certificate. You may be thinking, “but I don’t sell to consumers, I have a B2B site, and don’t offer products online.” Don’t be complacent, read on to find out what an SSL is and understand why obtaining an SSL certificate is vitally important for your business’ website.
What is an SSL?
Have you ever typed in an URL that uses “https://” instead of “http://” ? Well, that extra “s” actually means something important and the technology behind it is referred to as “SSL.” A website with an “https://” signifies that your connection to that website is “secure” (hence the “s”) and a safe connection has been established between a server and a client. In simpler terms, that extra “s” is how businesses ensure that customers can browse, buy products or services and share information safely and privately online.
Before you roll your eyes and think to yourself that your site is “too small to be a target,” bear in mind that most hacks are done electronically, without a human deciding who is attacked. Hackers don’t care how big your business is or what it is about. They only look for vulnerabilities in your site. Once discovered, the infiltration begins.
How SSL works
A website with SSL will form an encrypted connection between your visitor’s browser and the server. This secure session is established via a “handshake” process involving a back-and-forth between the web browser and the web server, which occurs without interrupting the browsing experience.
You might be thinking “I don’t sell items on my site, I shouldn’t need an SSL.” But SSL works to protect a range of valuable information passed between two parties, not just credit card information. Even if you do not collect money, your site does collect information if you have any type of form or search bar on it. You may only be collecting the most basic information such as name and email address, but chances are your web visitors would not want that information shared.
Most search engines are now informing “searchers” when a site is not secure. Some users are passing up websites that aren’t secure, which can hurt business. If you do not have an SSL certificate, your site can be identified as non-secure. Giving your web visitors that extra layer of security is a great business decision.
Why you should not ignore this
Google is the driving force behind the call for an SSL. This year, Google started flagging sites without an SSL in order to make its users feel more secure. If you are searching on Google (or any other search engine) and there is no SSL, you will see a “Not Secure” message in the URL bar instead of the secure “Green Lock.” Would you click on a site with a security warning? It will definitely make you think twice. We think the green lock helps the credibility of your company — and so does Google — and they are making this a priority. Which is why you are getting notifications from your host because they also see the importance of this green lock. And guess what? The green lock or “https” also helps your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ranking. So people will more easily find you during a search.
So, if you recently got a notification from your host about adding an SSL certificate to your site, go ahead and sign up. Be aware that some host companies offer full implementation of your SSL certificate, while others just issue a certificate. If the latter is the case, then you need to install it, which can be a bit tricky. If you run into any problems, just give us a call and we can help you get it all set up.
