What is an SSL certificate and why is it so important for your website?

More recently, you may have heard the word ‘SSL’ being mentioned and wondered what it is, and why is it important for your website and business?

What is an SSL certificate?

In 2018 google made SSL certificates mandatory to give web browsers a safer experience. This means websites without a secure SSL certificate installed will be punished and flagged by giving a warning message of ‘Not Secure’ on the URL bar. This means your website could be blocked and not load on the browser and will result loss of visitors and customers.

The importance of online security

Trust is very important online for any website and dishonesty can result in your traffic reducing to zero and effecting your reputation.

What makes it secure

Browsers will recognize a small padlock icon in your website address that begins with “https://…”

When you hover over the padlock and click the HTTPS section on the URL bar, you’ll be able to see the security credentials of the site you’re on and certificate details.