Have you heard? You need an SSL certificate on your website. It may sound like another thing the internet world is trying to sell you, and in a way, it is. But it’s important and inexpensive. Before we get into all the details, let’s answer a simple question: What is an SSL?
What is an SSL Certificate?
Great question – glad you asked. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. But you don’t care about that, do you? Let’s get to the meat of it. An SSL, simply put, encrypts your website. When you store things like passwords, credit card details, personal information, etc. anyone with minor hacking skills can get access to it, unless it’s encrypted.
You may notice on some websites there is a green lock or bar that has https:// before the domain name. The little “s” tells the world, users, and search engines that you are a secure, trusted site and that any information they place on your website will be encrypted.
Why is an SSL important?
Another great question. SSLs are important because they encrypt communication. By now, we all know our information is being gathered by governments, search engines, other websites, etc. What you are offering your visitors is peace of mind that the information they are adding to your website (like a credit card during an online checkout) is safe and encrypted – not even you have access to their data!
An SSL helps boost your SEO and tells Google you are a trusted site; in addition, just a few days ago Google announced they will begin flagging sites without an SSL with a long term goal to flag all sites as insecure without an SSL. (This means not having an SSL will seriously hurt your conversion and online marketing efforts).
How do you get an SSL?
We, at Skillful Antics, have great news. Our company offers SSL certificate on any website hosted with us for FREE! We do all the legwork for you: communicating with the server, contacting the certificate provider, installing and verifying the certificate, etc. You don’t have to lift a finger – typically within 24 hours we’ll have your website on our servers and have an SSL installed!
If you want to know more about our SSL certificate, the $100,000 warranty, or more premium SSL options, get in touch with us today!