With the proliferation of the Internet, there has been a considerable increase in hacking activities by cybercriminals on both small and big organizations. This has made web security even more critical with companies such as Google rewarding businesses using SSL by providing a boost to their website rankings. Primarily if your company deals with sensitive data and information, it’s essential to secure data to boost the confidence of your customers and improve the credibility of your website.
Why is an SSL certificate essential for every business?
HubSpot research report states that 85% of the people do not prefer to browse sites that are not secure. In January 2017, Google also made an announcement that was applicable for sites that relied on financial information such as credit card transactions. Today users tend to abandon websites that display ‘not secure’ warnings, which can be disastrous for sites not using SSL certificates as they might lose their potential customers.
Also, SSL is known to play a significant role as a ranking signal as Google has stated that although two websites may have equal rankings in the search results, the one with SSL is likely to achieve high ranking than the other one. SSL is mainly a security layer used for creating an encrypted link between your web server and the browser, and it ensures the security and privacy of the data transmitted between them.
On the other hand, if your website does not have an SSL certificate, then a secure connection will not be established, which means it is not encrypted and has an impact on the confidence and trust of your customers. This, in turn, can influence your SEO rankings as sites without SSL may not be able to reap the advantages of gaining online visibility for their brand and reaching out to targeted visitors.
Key reasons for investing in SSL certificate for your website
Enhance your website security
SSL certificates can help in safeguarding your personal or customer-related information which may include payment information, password and login details, etc. Thus, all your visitor-related data may be protected from hackers as the information is in an encrypted form which prevents misuse by them. SSL certificates help to avoid security breaches on websites with strong authentication as the data is inaccessible from any device residing on the same server.
Once you install SSL, it helps to verify the credentials that include the certificate holder, serial number along with expiry date, and signature of the certificate-issuing authority.
Helps to improve user experience
Most visitors may not be willing to share their personal information on websites that are not secure. But with an SSL certificate, they feel more confident as it helps them to navigate and transact on your website as they know it’s safe and their information is always protected. This is especially important for e-commerce sites where payments need to be made using secure methods to boost your conversion rates and enhance your business growth.
Boost customer trust with secure authentication
Customers are becoming more aware regarding security and realize the need to protect their personal details, including bank passwords and other transaction-related information. Most of this information is exchanged using a cloud platform which requires a secure mode of authentication by offering data protection.
Comodo SSL certificate is an economical way of providing security to your online business and securing customer transactions. Besides its low cost, it also provides an excellent value to both small and medium enterprises.
Increase your brand value
In 2018, Google announced its algorithm update by adding HTTPS as a ranking signal for websites in the search engine results page (SERP). There is a distinct ranking advantage for sites on the search engines that use SSL certificates.
Additionally, it improves brand perception in the mind of the customers, and they are likely to purchase your products.
Reap SEO advantages
One of the most significant benefits of using an SSL certificate is to get a boost in SEO rankings as Google provides slightly higher rankings to HTTPS sites that are encrypted. Even though the ranking may not be substantially high, using an SSL can give your business a competitive edge when compared to other websites.
Get assured safety for all your subdomains
When it is time to secure subdomains, you cannot miss the wildcard SSL certificate. This certificate helps in securing both the leading site along its subdomains using a single SSL certificate. This can be of great advantage, especially if you are a business owner or need to maintain large websites with multiple subdomains. However, if you are using a standard SSL, then you need to have separate certificates for each of your subdomains.
Protect your website from phishing attacks
With an increasing number of internet users, there are a more significant number of cyberattacks, including MITM and phishing attacks.
On the other hand, websites that have SSL certificates assure visitors regarding the authenticity of your website. Thus, if users find the certificate validation on their browser, they feel more confident to browse and transact on your site and know that there is no phishing scam involved in the process. Users can easily find the difference between fake and real websites.
Ability to maintain PCI compliance
Every website has a different method for accepting payments, and they do not necessarily adhere to high standards of security practices. The Payment cards industry needs to maintain specific standards that need to be fulfilled as per their guidelines. This is where HTTPS can play a vital role in ensuring data encryption which means that hackers will not be able to tamper with personal and credit card related information.
Conclusion
SSL certificates are necessary for running successful websites as they instill trust and confidence among your site visitors and provide a safe browsing experience to them. With proper implementation of SSL certificates, you can get improved search engine visibility for your brand and promote your products and services effectively.
