What is an SSL Certificate?

What is an SSL Certificate and why should I care?  

You can go ahead and blame the hackers and Internet villains of the world, because in today’s world, the extra little bit of security that an SSL Certificate provides is a necessity for any website who wants to be taken seriously.  SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and when it’s on your website the public can tell because the url link at the top of their web browser will say “https” instead of just “http.”  

What does it do?  

An SSL Certificate is like a bouncer for your website.  It’s that extra bit of security that protects your connection to the site itself.  When it’s on, it provides an additional layer to help protect from information fraud, hackers, malware and other malicious activity.  As a consumer, if you are entering credit card information in to purchase something, do not do it if the site doesn’t have the “https” at the top.  This means that your credit card information could be stolen more easily.  

So, who needs an SSL on their website?

In today’s world, the answer is that everyone needs to have this installed.  In the past, online stores and ecommerce types of sites were the only ones who truly needed to have an SSL certificate connected to their website.  However, a couple years ago, Google announced that it was favoring sites that had SSL certificates over those who didn’t. This applies to any type of site, whether you gathered personal information or not.  

If you don’t have an SSL certificate connected to your website, not only will you look questionable in the eyes of consumers and website visitors, but you will slowly lose credibility with Google.  When that happens, your competitors will rank higher on rankings than you will.  In order to stay competitive, you need to have an SSL certificate connected to your profile.  Simple as that.  

Can you operate without one?

The simple answer is yes.  Your site will show up just fine and will operate the way you want to.  However, is it the way you SHOULD operate?  No.  If you want to build long term credibility with your brand and really grow, then your site needs to have an SSL certificate.  These are straightforward to purchase and install for a site through something like tinteroonline.com (a Godaddy reseller site).  

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