Why Do You Need an Ssl Certificate?

Why Do You Need an Ssl Certificate?

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private data via the Internet.  Utilizing SSL, certificates are issued by third party providers (Certificate Authority) and are one of the most important tools you can use to help increase customer confidence, thus increasing your customer sales and click through rates. 

 What are SSL Certificates Used For?

SSL Certificates are used to prevent hackers from stealing private information.  They do this by encrypting the data; utilizing two different keys, a public key and a private key.  The public key is what everyone sees.  The private key is secret and is known only to the recipient (such as a credit card processing company).  URLs that have an SSL connection will use https instead of http.  The ’s’ at the end of http stands for secure. 

Do You Really Need an SSL Certificate?

If customer payments are being processed by a third party provider such as PayPal, you will not need an SSL Certificate.  However, if your customer transactions are being processed through e-commerce, an SSL Certificate is a must.  People ask, “Why should I get an SSL Certificate when my hosting provider has a shared one?”  But here lies the problem: your customers will receive an error message about the validity of the certificate because it is shared.  This will cause your customers to purchase from another, more trusted website.  The only way to avoid this is to obtain your own SSL certificate. 

Here are some reasons why you should consider using an SSL Certificate:

Keep Your Customer Information Private – An SSL Certificate will keep your customer information private and help ensure that their personal data is not stolen or tampered with.

Gain Customer Confidence – A secure site will help you gain customer confidence and increase your chances of converting clicks to sales.  Many savvy customers are smart enough to look for the ‘https’ in the url to ensure that their data is kept private and will seek out another, more reliable website to conduct their transactions.

Give Yourself a Competitive Edge – A secure site will help you gain a competitive advantage over those who do not secure their customer data.  Again, savvy customers will click away from a website when conducting transactions or giving private data if the site does not appear to have secure areas.

Help Your Site Appear Legitimate – An SSL Certificate will help your site to appear legitimate and trustworthy. 

The bottom line:  if you want to increase your sales and encourage customers to purchase from your website, then you need an SSL Certificate. 

 

Watch the video related to SSL certificate

An overview of VeriSign SSL Certificates.

Help answer the question about SSL certificate

Is an SSL Secure Server the same as having a certificate?
I want to sign up for BlueHost and in the features is says SSL Secure Server is included. Does that mean I'll have a shared SSL certificate? If not does BlueHost have shared SSL certificates? Are they included or cost more?
It also says Free Generated Certificate under the e-commerce features.

About Author

Robert J. Miller provides web hosting information, free webmaster scripts, articles and resources at TenBestWebHostingSites.com

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9 Responses to “Why Do You Need an Ssl Certificate?”

  1. rorybellows says:

    If all of their personal information is being gathered through Pay Pal then no there is no reason to get an SSL Certificate. Just let them politely know that they will be making their secure purchased through Pay Pal.

    If you are gathering information such as their name, address and other personal information it could be wise to have an SSL on your site. For example, will it be a shopping cart software that stores all their information, and just for payment send it off to Pay Pal? If so, you want the SSL protecting the part where the user is logging in and editing personal information.

  2. Bunny Doctor101 says:
  3. Linda Leigh L says:

    I know on windows if you get that error, you have to make sure the date, time abd year are correct on the comp. and make sure the comp. is in the correct time zone. Im not sure if its the same with a mac, but its worth a try.

  4. Crazy Man says:

    You only need a SSL certificate if you want to offer secure transactions on your web site. You would only need this if you are going to want people to enter private information such as credit card numbers. SSL allows that information to be encrypted before it is sent from the browser to the server. If you don't have SSL, the credit card numbers would be sent unencrypted, and anyone could intercept them.

    If your web site isn't going to be doing any transactions with sensitive information like that, then you don't need a SSL certificate.

  5. argh.pirate says:

    yes and no. you do have to have an ssl certificate for ssl to work, but if you create your own, it is not a publically trusted certificate. the person on the other end has to trust that you are who you say you are. you may say, but i am. that is correct, but I also could pretend to be you.

  6. d4d9er says:

    No is the short answer: the long answer is: this is a protocol for transmitting data securely over the World Wide Web SSL creates a secure connection between a client and a server, over which any amount of data can be sent securely, SSL can be seen as complementary rather than competing technologies. SSL, many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers.By convention, URLs that require an SSL connection start with https: instead of http:.

  7. KING says:

    no, the web server needs the cert. the db server does not.

  8. gibbywmu says:

    An SSL is a secured way to send encrypted data, and SSL certificate is a real good sign of people entering there credit card information (even if you are doing it with E-Junkie or whatever merchant service providers).
    So yes, you would need SSL.
    You must have observed that https:// is very much secure way for your target customers to enter the site and buy your goods / products, in your case its dog treats.

  9. jacobjohnfrance says:

    you can buy one from anyone who sells them. I like GoDaddy.com

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