If you have a website, you may have heard a lot of chatter about SSL certificates recently. So what’s the big deal with these certificates and do you really need one for your website?
What is an SSL Certificate?
First things first, SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. Once an SSL Certificate is installed, it provides an encrypted connection between your website server and a visitor’s browser.
Basically, it changes your URL to start with “https://” instead of “http://”. This communicates to visitors that your website is secure and entering in their personal data will be safe.
Do You Need One?
Late 2014, Google announced that security was going to be a ranking factor. That meant that having an SSL certificate installed on your website would give you a small boost in Google page ranking.
In 2017, Google Chrome started marking webpages that collect login and credit card information, as not secure.
The most recent development, as of July 2018, affected everyone. That’s when the Chrome browser started marking every site that doesn’t have an SSL certificate as ‘Not Secure’. Whether your website collects data or not, Google is signaling that secure sites will now be the standard.
Throughout 2018 new roll-outs will occur and Chrome will no longer designate secure sites with a green padlock. Instead, SSL-secured sites will black text and (eventually) no padlock at all, indicating SSL being the standard. Non-SSL sites, however will get a Not Secure warning appear in red in the URL bar.
To answer the question, “Do you need an SSL Certificate?”, if you accept credit card payments, utilize a log-in page, take user information through a webform, or want a better search engine page ranking, the answer is an emphatic and resounding YES.
What would happen if you don’t?
On a small scale, if you do not have an SSL certificate installed, you may take a hit on your Google search ranking. You may also lose some loyalty and trust from your more tech savvy visitors that notice the difference between a secure and non-secure website.
However, if you are requesting credit card data through your website and you do not have an SSL certificate installed, you may be in violation of PCI DSS (Payment Control Industry Data Security Standard). This is a set of security standards designed to ensure that ALL companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. This standard is administered and managed by the PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council) and enforced by payment brands, such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB.
The penalities for non-compliance of PCI CSS can be catastrophic to a small business. The payment brands may, at their discretion, fine an acquiring bank $5,000 to $100,000 per month for PCI compliance violations. Furthermore, the bank will also most likely either terminate your relationship or increase transaction fees.
How can you get a FREE SSL Certificate?
Many hosting companies have paired with Let’s Encrypt to provide their customers with a free standard SSL Certificate. Bluehost, Hostmonster, and SiteGround are a few of the hosting providers that are offering free certificates. The process to install the certificate is pretty straightforward and each hosting company usually provides an installation tutorial.
If your website is not hosted by a company offering free SSL certificates, there are a few options:
- You could manually apply for a certificate through free services such as, Let’s Encrypt, Cloudflare, or FreeSSL. The downside would be that the installation process is a little more time consuming and you would most likely have to manually renew and reinstall your certificate every year.
- Another option would be to pay for a standard certificate through your hosting provider. This eliminates the hassle of having to manually renew and install your certificate each year.
As always, if you need assistance or have questions about SSL certificates, don’t hesitate to contact me. I will be more than happy to install your free certificate or help you navigate the many certificate options available.
