Read More to Find Out How having a Business Website Without an SSL Certificate can Deter people from Shopping or Endorsing your Web page which might make you lose Potential customers that are crucial for the Growth of your Website if your site deals with eCommerce.
Imagine having a new baby, you give her an identity in the form of a name, a place and the conformity of having you as her parent. Nevertheless, you decide that a Birth Certificate is irrelevant since you think it is obvious that people who socialize with her will know the details of who she is, maybe. However, what happens to her education? How would the society accept her if she doesn’t have a Birth Certificate when the cost feels efficient? What will happen if somebody else impersonates her in the future? Even if the birthed hospital does request money for the Certificate, wouldn’t that be an important cost to concur deeming its relevancy to her life?
An SSL Certificate is the child investment for your business website, that’s how important it is. A website can be an informational or an entertainment blog, an education forum, a marketing medium or an eCommerce/shopping site, but regardless of the genre, a website needs an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate in this perilous online world as an assurance and security to protect its interests.
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Still, do you have no clue about what an SSL Certificate actually is?
Back in 1996, a security protocol for safe transmission of data on the internet was developed by Netscape, called as an SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer). As the abbreviation suggests, a Secure Socket Layer Certificate is an integral part of Web Servers and browsers, which provides various layers of protection for the data transferred to the client and the server. This ensures that any level of data entered in the site stays secure as no unauthorized person could get any access to it. Your site may require the exchange of Credit Card details, Google sign in, or your client’s personal information for any need that arises, but if you do not own an SSL Certificate, chances are that your client might not prefer shopping or join your website or forum, as cyber crimes, hacking credentials, and cyber looting has become a norm that even a basic hacker can perform this easy feat of accessing user information.
An SSL Certificate is crucial in data protection for websites, which plays the good cop role as it closely protects all the data through algorithm-based encryption. It is easy to determine the level of protection that your site might need by the kind of business you own and the sensitive nature of data entered through your website.
The authentication for an SSL Certificate has to be signed by a CA (Certification Authority) to validate a Digital Certificate through security protocols. There are many types of SSL Certificates, which can be chosen, based on the level of validation needed for your website and the number of Domains or Sub-Domains that you wish to add to a certificate. The SSL Certificate provider or the Certification Authority chooses to provide Certification for your site over a set of rules set up for the servers.
How Much More Is An SSL Crucial For Your Site?
Whether you own a Small business, or a Start-up or an established firm, an SSL Certificate is now made essential for a website these days, as Google and other search engines prefer only secured sites to display in their search results than non-certificated sites. Moreover, a well, tightly secured site gains more momentum in boosting up the ranks for your site.
Well, a better-placed ranking in the Google Search Results would be a win-win for your site and your business, isn’t it? If your site does not have a certificate, chrome flags your site as unsafe for the sake of security risks that could occur if your site asks for passwords or other credentials, and upon encountering this, it’s pretty obvious that the visitors to your site may not continue to look around.
Browsing Through Types of SSL Certificates
- The validation based SSL Certificates starts from basic (Cheap) to a high security (a bit costlier) level which are Domain Validation (DV) Certificate, Organization Validation (OV) Certificate, and, the Extended Validation (EV) Certificate.
- Then, there are SSL Certificates based on the number of domains or sub domains that needs to be secured.
As a small business owner, to invest more in an SSL Certificate for high-level Certification (EV) is most likely impossible. The only positive outcome, if you cash out more money is that you will build your website base and customer relationship over trust and a sense of security. However, it is useful, only, If your site requires payment transactions and password enrolment. For a basic level eCommerce site, an OV Certificate might be more prudent. Unless, you are just an online education, discussion or an entertainment forum for which a DV SSL Certificate is more than enough.
Types Of SSL Certificates As Per Validation Level
Domain Validated (DV) Certificate [Security Level- Low]
The Certification Authority (CA) validates only the Domain ownership of the host and clarifies only the right to the domain. It does not provide any more security than that. SSL certificates like RapidSSL, Comodo Positive SSL is the cheapest and the easiest certificate to obtain, and the whole process can be done entirely online in a matter of minutes.
This basic level SSL can be a useful one for smaller websites such as a blog or a discussion forum or an entertainment platform but it does not provide a security promise if your site entertains online shopping or payments. The CA does not validate the organization name or any documents to sign this SSL Certificate, as it is just a DV Certificate.
Organization Validation (OV) Certificate [Security Level- Medium]
To issue an OV Certificate, the CA validates the Domain and also the company’s registration and reputation through public databases. This certificate is highly recommended for low-level eCommerce sites mostly small businesses to medium level businesses as it provides encryption services for sensitive content like payments and credentials.
In addition, as the CA validates the organization’s name, the name of the company will be mentioned in the certificate, which brings out a safe and secure feel to the clients. This price is bearable than the EV Certificate and can be a profitable investment for the growth of small businesses.
Extended Validation (EV) Certificate [Security Level- High]
Huge Business Sites, Wide-Spread Shopping Portals, and Banks use an EV SSL Certificate for their website as this provides a high level of encryption, many levels of security, validations and a great after support service. The CA validates the Organizations name, registration and it’s business history to issue a high-security protocol for an Extended Validation (EV) Certificate.
This Certification provides the organization’s name and information in the address bar, and the address bar is enabled a green https sign for the site. This Certificate has many advantages ranging from high-security level, which satisfies the clients to a bump in Google rankings for your website and many more. This is a high maintenance Certificate and requires a lot of money that can be afforded mostly by established and high-level websites.
As the validation level is chosen, there is also a need to choose the number of domains or sub-domains to be certified before buying the Cheap SSL Certificate.
Types Of SSL Certificate As Per Quantity
Single Name SSL Certificate
A Single Domain SSL Certificate is provided for only one domain, mostly the main domain of your website. This Certificate does not include Certification for Sub-domain in your site, such as payment or forum, which are a part of your website, referred to as sub-domains. This Certificate can be applied to any one domain or one sub-domain, but it cannot include more than one. The Single Name SSL Certificate is more recommended for small businesses as most small businesses have a very limited number of sub-domains or domain.
Wildcard SSL Certificate
The Wildcard SSL Certificate adds more sub-domains along with the main domain in its Certification. This Certificate is useful for eCommerce sites whether small or a large enterprise as the certificate can be added for more pages in terms of payments, membership or personal profile. This Certificate provides security for only one Main Domain but many sub-domains; the amount of sub-domains that is added is different for many Certificate providers.
Multi-Domain SSL Certificate
This Certificate is for those businesses that own many numbers of domains and sub-domains. You can add as many domains as you wish as per the limit provided by the CA. This Certificate provides security and protection for all the sites that you add and this may cost a little bit more than the others. It is highly recommended for established companies that could afford to invest in this Certificate.
Conclusion
As discussed, it is better to sit down and contemplate the type of SSL Certificate that would be useful for your small business website as it is not a matter of choice if you need one, since it’s obvious that every website needs an SSL Certificate. These Certificates can be bought through your hosting site, which some sites like WP Engine automatically adds the Certificate installation as you purchase a domain or you can acquire them directly from SSL providers like GeoTrust, Thawte, Symantec or GoDaddy, etc. The installation process is quite easy and you can carry out the steps all by yourselves in a matter of few minutes.
