SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and it allows encrypted communication between web browsers and websites.
In July 2018, Google made SSL mandatory and without an SSL certificate it will show “not secure”.
While visitors browsing the Internet this sign shows that their information is not safe and secure.
When SSL certificate is present on the website then the URL of your website will be “HTTPS ” and you will see a green lock sign. This means that your website is secure.
HTTPS also indicates that the website keeps secure user’s information and ensures that the user is joined to a genuine site.
What is SSL Certificate?
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. It is a security protocol that is used to keep a secure connection between web browser and server.
SSL uses encryption technology and it encrypts data between users and servers.
when users come on a secure website, the website establishes SSL connection with the user’s browser with the security key. That key is used to begin a secure session.
This process begins the SSL “handshake” transfer of secure information between the server and web browser.
SSL certificates hold the below information:
- Certificate holder name
- The serial number of certificates and expiration date
- Certificate holder’s public key copy
- Digital Signature of the certificate-issuing authority
Without SSL certificate, it’s not possible to establish a secure connection between users and servers and not secure websites.
This makes a direct impact on customers’ confidence in your business.
It’s also Google’s ranking factor to rank your website, and without SSL certificate it’s difficult to rank.
For more details or to know the importance of SSL you can read below article:
What is SSL Certificate? Top 7 Benefits – Why SSL Certificate?
What is HTTPS?
HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It is an extended secure version of HTTP.
This protocol is used to communicate between the website and the internet browser.
Ex- If your website is secure, then it will show “https://” instead of “http://”. To get HTTPS to your website then it needs to be secured on your website with SSL certificate.
How Does SSL Relate to HTTPS?
When you use SSL certificate it shows your website is secured with HTTPS. These two protocols are related to each other and can’t use one without the other.
Generally, your website URL is preceded with HTTP or HTTPS and which shows how you send and receive data.
SSL certificate does not cost too much, you can get a free SSL certificate without cost with DomainRacer.
There are two types of protocol to access web pages: HTTP and HTTPS. With HTTP protocol everything is unencrypted data. So anyone can change the data along the path, this is a type of “man-in-the-middle” attack.
With HTTPS protocol your data is encrypted along the path so no one can read it.
Google Says HTTPS and SSL are mandatory
Since 2014 SSL certificate has been Google’s ranking factor.
With time, the importance of SSL also grows and this is good for your business. It gives business advantages over who does not have SSL certificates on their website.
In July 2018 Google started to display the security of the website to the address bar of Chrome and marks all HTTP pages to “Not Secure”.
This “Not secure” message on the website is visible to users and they think the website is not secured.
Importance of HTTPS
1. Using HTTPS helps search ranking
STTPS helps you in the security and SEO ranking.
From 2014, Google gives better search ranking to sites that use HTTPS and SSL.
2. HTTPS enables new features
With the HTTPS you can get some advanced features on the server.If you are offline, the server loads faster and also provide some functionality.
Progressive Web applications are a hot trend in Web development. They give the power and speed to installable applications while residing on the user’s browser.
Moving HTTP to HTTPS
Changing your website from HTTP to HTTPS can be a difficult task. There are a few issues that can occur during switching.
Choose the hosting provider that offers the latest version of SSL. The old version can cause security issues.
- Purchase or obtain SSL certificate through a reliable certificate authority.
- Redirect HTTP request to HTTPS.
- Update all possible links that point to the HTTPS version.
- If any problem fixes immediately.
The best time to move the website to HTTPS is during a slow time such as a holiday. If something goes wrong you can roll back to the previous version.
Once Your website is working properly with HTTPS then users have better security and your website gets high ranking in a search result.
Secure Your Website with an SSL Certificate
To secure your website is important to build trust with your customers and to compete with your competitors. The most common way to secure your website with HTTPS.
You can also rank your website with the help of an SSL certificate and secure your website.
