Having your website recognised as a genuine, secure web entity gives you level of authority and legitimacy. To create a website that is trusted and secure you can add an SSL certificate to your company web identity. With the recent changes in Google’s Security, this has now become a vital element in ensuring your website ranks well.
How do SSL certificates work?
SSL certificates keep your online interactions private, even on the public internet. As SSL certificate is a short program that is placed on your web server. When a web browser connects to your website, the SSL certificate encrypts the connection, making it very difficult for others to read the interaction. In a fraction of a second, the program also provides information about your web server as it establishes the encrypted connection. This identification information can ensure users that your website and your business is well-established and has been certified by an outside certification organisation.
It happens in five steps.
- Someone browsing the internet attempts to connect with your website, which is secured with an SSL certificate. The browser requests that your website identify itself.
- Your website server sends back a copy of its SSL certificate.
- The browser checks the certificate to see if it trusts the SSL certificate. If it establishes trust, it sends a message back to to your website server.
- Your website server sends back a digitally signed acknowledgement and begins its encrypted session.
- The encrypted data is shared between your website server and the browser.
When you get an SSL certification, all your customers will immediately know because you will be entitled to use the “https” website address instead of the “http” command. The “s” stands for secure.
SSL as business identity:
The SSL certification provides credentials to establish the identity of your company. A trusted third party (a trusted certificate authority) will also vouch for the credentials you have received (the SSL certificate). “SSL” stands for Secure Sockets Layer protocol, that enables browsers and target servers to make encrypted connections.
The SSL certificate is a kind of identity card that serves as a standard trusted identifiers in the cyber world. Each SSL certificate uniquely identifies a specific domain and specific web server. The cyber world and particularly Google puts its trust in the issuers of SSL certificates and the organisations that issue them. Trust is an important part of World Wide Web commerce. Browsers want to connect to websites they can trust. The SSL certificate enhances the level of trust potential customers can have in your website and, by extension, your business.
How to get and SSL Certification:
If you want an SSL certification, you can go to one of a number of authorised SSL issuers. When you request an SSL certificate, the SSL issuer will help you generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) for the web server you wish to certify. If you do not manage your own server, you can get your web host or internet service provider to request a CSR. You can select from a number of SSL contracts offering different levels of security and different lengths of time.
- The most secure SSLs are best for credit card processing websites as well as financial transactions.
- The middle level SSLs will secure enterprise applications on business websites.
- The basic level SSL is best for securing internal servers and private websites.
You can also buy different levels of identity validation and visual displays of your security level for different life spans.
- The higher levels offer a prominent visual display to assure your customers and boost confidence.
- Intermediate levels provide visible assurances that this website and domain are in fact tied to your organisation.
- The basic level displays an SSL encryption padlock icon.
As instances of online theft and identity theft increase, Google is now protecting its online visitors by looking for signs that websites can be trusted. The logos and assurances that go with SSL certificates provide the assurances that customers and web site users demand.
eSense Web Design will help you make your website pay and save you any drama with Google Please contact us to learn more about how we can help you get an SSL Certificate.
