Why an SSL Certificate is Important for a Website

For this #kTip, we discuss what an SSL Certificate is and why it’s important for your website.

All right, another kTip for you from Kak Varley. This one is going to be just a little more technical, this one involves websites… 

If you would rather learn about my #kTips by video, you are welcome to scroll to the bottom and watch the video.

Online Safety Certifications

 So why is an SSL certificate important for your website? Well, let’s first start with what an SSL certificate is. I want to explain this in the simplest way possible; it’s a certificate that you buy that essentially makes your website secure. I want you to look at your website or any website that you’re on right now and take a look at the top left where the HTTP is. You’ll see a website URL that starts with HTTPS:// and then the website domain. That was the old way of doing it. What you should see now, as you look at that, is HTTPS. That is the SSL certificate making your website secure. Now let’s get into why that’s important. 

Security is Key

If you’re doing any business online, particularly if you’re collecting any kind of personal information, security is vital. Let’s take an example, you’re an eCommerce business, and you are selling products online, which means that you’re accepting payment via credit card and personal information. You absolutely, 100% need an SSL certificate. 

This certificate secures your website so that private information doesn’t get hacked. I’m sure you’ve heard or read in the news in the past about a company that had been hacked, and social security numbers and credit card numbers were stolen as a result. Now I’m not saying that that hack was definitely from a website but it’s the same type of thing that will happen on a website if you don’t have an SSL certificate. 

When you go on the top left of your browser, you’re always looking for HTTPS, and you’ll see a green lock there that means that website is secure. You don’t ever, as a consumer, want to buy from a website that doesn’t have that HTTPS. In fact, Google has made it such that if a website is only an HTTP, it will blatantly say, “not secure.” So if it says not secure, don’t buy from that place. 

Using SSL to Secure Sales

Now here’s the thing, you see why it’s important to have SSL certificates, but it’s also important in terms of actually making sales. As I’ve just suggested, I’ve just told the entire consumer and buyer community not to buy from a website that is not secure. So, if your website is not secure, guess what? You’re not going to get as many buyers. 

Furthermore, we know that Google is actually not giving great ranking preference to websites that aren’t secure. They’re driving them down in the rankings because they feel that they have a duty to make sure that everybody who is selling online is a legitimate business. That’s also why SSL certificates are hugely important. 

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Kak Varley
Kak VarleyChief Digital Officer
Kak Varley got the internet bug right at its inception. He started kakvarley.com in 2015 to help businesses grow and scale using various sales and inbound marketing methodologies. With 25+ years experience in Sales and has certainly mastered the sales craft and now focuses on helping businesses grow and scale.