The Internet has provided an array of opportunities for business owners. It allows them to reach thousands of customers in a short time. Imagine how the Internet has empowered a craftsman, shoemaker, or any other small business owner from a remote place. They can showcase their products and sell them to someone from another part of the country or even abroad. However, the Internet is not safe, and small negligence can cost you dearly.
Hackers are finding new ways to access sensitive data like credit card or bank account details. If you are a small business owner, it is essential to secure your website with an SSL certificate. It encrypts your customers’ information and prevents hackers from accessing it. Besides, there are other benefits of using an SSL certificate. In this article, we will explore the benefits of SSL certificates and why small business owners should get them. Let’s get started!
What is an SSL certificate?
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, is a security protocol that helps in establishing a secure connection between computers on a network. It helps in safeguarding the sensitive data from users’ browsers to the server. SSL certificate is a digital certificate that uses encryption algorithms and a cryptographic key. It converts the data entered on your website to unreadable format so no criminal can decode it.
When you use an SSL security certificate on your website, it shows HTTPS and padlock before the URL. The users realize that the website is safe, and their sensitive details will be debit, and credit card numbers, pins, and passwords will be secure, and no third party can access it. To do so, a low-priced cert like a RapidSSL cert, DigiCert cert, comodo SSL certificate is an excellent way to secure your website as it comes with 256-bit encryption and builds trust among the customers.
Benefits of SSL certificates
An SSL certificate not only encrypts users’ data, but it comes with many other benefits. Before using this digital certificate on your website, you should know about all the benefits.
It makes your website authentic
Your website is the most crucial online space for doing business online. You display your products or services there, and customers can place orders. Besides, it also gives essential information about your business. That’s why it has to be a secure place. No customer will feel safe providing their payment details on an unverified and unsecured website. An SSL certificate makes your website reliable as customers know it is a verified website, and their details will be encrypted.
Prevents man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks
A man-in-the-middle-attack happens when a criminal steals information when it passes from the user’s browser to the website server. They can view and modify the data. When you use a digital certificate on your website, it encrypts all the data entered on the site. Be it the login or payment details, a website with an SSL certificate will prevent hacking and identity theft.
Eliminate security alerts
You must have noticed that when you visit some websites, Google shows a warning like, “Your connection is not private.” Will you feel secure providing your payment details on such sites? You won’t; now imagine what your customers will do. If your website shows this warning, hardly any customers will shop from there. Using an SSL certificate will ensure no such alerts are displayed. It will help in earning the trust of your customers.
Protect from Google warning
If you want to grow your business, your website must have a good ranking on search engines. It helps people find your products and services when they search with relevant keywords. However, Google and other search engines give poor rank to websites that don’t have an SSL certificate. Various studies have confirmed the correlation between SSL certificates and better search engine ranking.
Prevents phishing
Phishing means creating a clone of the main website and misleading the customers to steal their information or do a financial transaction. A website with an SSL certificate is verified, so it’s not possible to get a certificate for the cloned website.
Why is an SSL certificate necessary for small businesses?
When you launch a website for your business, you either sell products or services online or collect information from the customer. When you sell products through your website, you need to collect customers’ payment details like credit or debit card information. You may also collect their personal information like name, address, phone number, email address, and other data through a contact form. You need to protect these details from cybercriminals. The best way to do it is by using a valid SSL certificate which makes your website trustworthy, and users will feel safe providing their personal and sensitive details.
Is an SSL certificate mandatory for my small business website?
If you are collecting visitors’ personal information or payment details on your website, you must ensure the security of those details. You can do that in two ways; either you hire a third-party security agency that will take care of the security of your website and protect customers’ data. The other option is to get an SSL certificate as it encrypts users’ data and prevents hackers from accessing it. If you are a small business owner, buying a comodo SSL certificate as discussed above can be a better option as it is less expensive than hiring a cyber security agency.
How do I buy an SSL certificate?
You can easily buy these digital certificates online from certificate authorities (CAs). Depending on the type of certificate, different levels of validation are required. For a domain validated SSL, you only need to respond to an email from the issuing authority. For a higher level of security certificates like organization validation (OV) or extended validation (EV) certificates, your personal and organization details will be verified before issuing them.
Conclusion:
Incidents of cyber-attacks have increased significantly causing massive financial losses for many individuals and organizations. If you are running a small business, you must ensure your website is secure because nobody will feel safe sharing their details on an unsecured website. A suitable SSL certificate is an excellent way to prevent phishing, MITM attacks, and identity theft and boost your website security within a tight budget.
