The Importance of an SSL Certificate on your Website

Solutions By Design

How we access information has changed significantly in the past few years alone. From websites to mobile phones, the amount of information we can consume is endless, all accessible right in our pockets. Internet privacy has been at the forefront of nationwide discussions for quite some time. With the potential of having thousands of users visit your website, you want to ensure your users are safe and deem your website as a trustworthy source. This is where an SSL Certificate comes in. Online security is an important factor in how we use and experience the internet.

What is an SSL Certificate? An SSL Certificate stands for Secure Sockets Layer. Its purpose is, “[having] an SSL ensures that the sensitive data of your website's visitors will be transferred over a secure network.” according to Forbes. All the information users put in your website will remain secure. Implementing an SSL Certificate on your website is an easy process that Solutions by Design can help you with.

Do I Need an SSL Certificate? The short answer is Yes! SSL Certificates tell Google (and other search engines) your site is secure. It increases your website’s security. If your website accepts payment information, has login details, sign up forms or a place where users input their personal information, an SSL certificate protects your visitor's data and personal information.

Having an SSL Certificate authenticates your website and tells your visitors your website is trustworthy. Not having an SSL Certificate will show up like this to your website visitors. “Your website will be displayed with a security padlock in the address bar of the browser. This will indicate that the connection is secure and will show your website’s visitors that you take their privacy seriously. If your website doesn’t have a certificate, some browsers may label it as “unsafe,” according to Forbes.

Another benefit to having an SSL certificate is an increase in rankings for your SEO campaigns. Google and other search engines recognize the secure website and prioritize it over websites that do not have an SSL certificate.

If Solutions by Design hosts your website, we can help set up your SSL certificate on your website to keep your website visitor's information safe.

Google decided in 2018 to make websites have an SSL certificate, making it mandatory in 2018. According to Google, “Beginning in July 2018 with the release of Chrome 68, Chrome will mark all HTTP sites as “not secure”. This is an effort to make the internet safe and keep user's personal data safe. Google will flag websites that do not have an SSL certificate and will let users now their website is marked as unsafe. Here is what it may look like, depending on what type of internet browser you are using.

It’s 2021 and the way we access information, shop, set up appointments and ask for information is through websites. Your users personal data should be secure. Contact Solutions by Design for more information on SSL certificates or if you need one set up.