About The SSL Certificates That You Need To Know
If you’re getting ready to take your business online, one of the things you’ll need to do is get an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate for your website. A small business guide to SSL certificates, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a protocol that encrypts information between your website and visitors’ web browsers. This helps protect sensitive information, like credit card numbers and passwords, from being intercepted by third parties.
SSL is also a stamp of trust. When visitors see that your website has an SSL certificate, they’re more likely to trust your site with their personal information or make a purchase.
Benefits Of Having SSL Cert
Before we go deeper, let’s take a quick look at the benefits of buying an SSL certificate:
- An SSL certificate provides encryption for your website, which protects your customers’ information from being intercepted by third parties.
- An SSL certificate helps to build trust with your customers, as it shows that you value their privacy and security.
- An SSL certificate can give your website a ranking boost on Google, as the search engine considers sites with SSL certificates to be more trustworthy.
Types Of SSL
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a look at the different types of SSL certificates available for small businesses:
- Domain Validated (DV) SSL Certificates: These are the most basic and affordable type of SSL certificate, and they can be issued quickly. However, DV SSL certificates don’t offer the same level of trust as other types of SSL certificates, as they only verify that you own the domain, not that your website is legitimate.
- Organization Validated (OV) SSL Certificates: These SSL certificates offer a higher level of trust, as they verify both your ownership of the domain and your organization’s identity. OV SSL certificates can take longer to issue than DV SSL certificates, as the CA (Certificate Authority) needs to verify your organization’s identity.
- Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificates: These are the highest level of SSL certificates, and they offer the greatest level of trust, as they verify your ownership of the domain, your organization’s identity, and your company’s legitimacy. EV SSL certificates can take the longest to issue, as the CA needs to verify all three of these factors.
How To Determine The SSL Cert Is Suitable For Your Website?
If your website has low traffic, then an entry-level Domain Validation Certificate will be enough. It will help develop credibility for your site and brand and protect against malware. The certificate is cheaper and issued quickly, but it’s not as valuable as other options. If you’ll be collecting sensitive customer information, consider buying an SSL Certificate that offers more than just organizational validation.
If you are just starting out and anticipate a decent volume of website visitors, but cannot afford to spend a lot of money on an SSL certificate for your optimized website, you may want to consider an Organization Validation (OV) Certificate. This will assure customers of the safety of their sensitive information, like credit card or bank account numbers, or PayPal details. An EV SSL offers the highest level of protection, but it is also a very expensive certificate. As a small business owner with a limited budget, you may not be able to afford the high price of this certificate.
However, because the EV SSL is the gold standard in SSL, it is worth investing in one if you want to deliver peace of mind to customers. This is especially a good option if you expect to scale up quickly or generate high sales volumes. Don’t let poor security stand in the way of customer trust!
If you’re not sure which type of SSL certificate is right for your small business website, our guide to SSL certificates can help you decide. Talk to us.
Not All CAs Are Trustworthy
Most web browsers trust SSL certificates that come from Certificate Authorities. However, some of these Certificate Authorities can be rogue, and issue certificates that can be used to intercept user communications without the user’s knowledge.
In recent years, the number of rogue digital certificates has increased. For example, in 2011 it was discovered that the Dutch CA Diginotar had been compromised and that it had issued fraudulent certificates.
Google has stepped up its efforts to tackle rogue certificates by launching the Certificate Transparency program. Under this initiative, users and browsers from all over the world will collaborate to develop a near-real-time index of all the certificates seen in the wild, to increase the likelihood of rogue certs being detected. Click here to get more information about Google’s initiative.
From Where Can We Pick Our SSL Cert?
Once you’ve decided which type of SSL certificate is right for you, the next step is to choose a provider. There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing an SSL provider, like price, features, and support.
SSL certificates are available from a variety of providers. Some of the most popular include:
1. DigiCert
DigiCert offers a variety of SSL certificates, including domain validation, organization validation, and extended validation. They have a wide range of price points, so you can find an SSL certificate that fits your budget. DigiCert also offers a variety of features, like wildcard certificates and multi-domain certificates.
2. GlobalSign
GlobalSign offers domain validation, organization validation, and extended validation SSL certificates. They have a wide range of price points and offer a variety of features, like multi-domain certificates.
3. Comodo
Comodo offers domain validation, organization validation, and extended validation SSL certificates. They have a wide range of price points and offer a variety of features, like multi-domain certificates and wildcard certificates.
4. Symantec
Symantec offers domain validation, organization validation, and extended validation SSL certificates. They have a wide range of price points and offer a variety of features, like multi-domain certificates.
5. SSL.com
SSL.com offers domain validation, organization validation, and extended validation SSL certificates. They have a wide range of price points and offer a variety of features, like multi-domain certificates and wildcard certificates.
