What is an SSL certificate & What Are The Benefits Of Having One?




As malicious attacks become more widespread, aggressive and advanced, security is becoming more important than ever. While there are hundreds of ways you can increase the security of your website, there’s something basic you can do to lay the foundations of a secure platform: getting an SSL certificate. We explore what it is, how SSL works, and the benefits of being certified.


What is an SSL certificate?
Firstly, what does SSL stand for? SSL is short for secure sockets layer, which, in practical terms, means certification provides a secure connection over the internet – most commonly between a user’s browser and the website they’re visiting. By encrypting that connection, SSL prevents interception of the data being transmitted over it, which comes with additional benefits.


What does an SSL certificate do?
As you begin to better understand how SSL works, you’ll realize just how beneficial certification can be for your site. First and foremost, an SSL certificate acts as visual confirmation to users that your website is a safe and secure environment, with encryption in place to prevent attacks. This is especially important if you’re offering a transactional process that requires a user to input personal and payment information.


Similarly, ensuring your website is SSL certified helps to build trust with users, who will immediately recognize more legitimacy in your offering than those sites without the certificate.


How do I know if I’m using SSL?
If you’re visiting a website that has a valid SSL certificate, there’ll be two obvious indicators. You’ll see a padlock icon in the address bar before the URL of the site:


And the full URL of the page will contain the letters ‘https://’ at the beginning, rather than ‘http://’.


It’s not a rarity either – over 60% of websites now employ SSL and HTTPS as their first line of defense.