Many Internet entrepreneurs ask themselves why do they need an SSL Certificate and what are the main advantages of SSL Certificates.
In short, an SSL Certificate protects the personal information of your clients, helps you build a more secure online business, and makes the Internet safer. Here are the main advantages of SSL Certificates:
SSL Certificates protect your customers’ information
One of the main advantages of SSL Certificates, if not the main one, is the protection of your customers’ information. When your clients engage with your website, they send information from their computers to your server. If your website is not protected with an SSL Certificate, any computers and servers between your customers and your company’s destination server can see and access that data. If the intermediary computers and servers are infected with viruses and malware, then the hackers behind this spying software can see and steal your customers’ information. It can be very important information, such as usernames, passwords, and credit card information. Cybercriminals can obtain this information because it is unprotected. If this happens, there can be many unpleasant consequences for your client and for your company.
When you configure an SSL Certificate on your website and server, the information that your clients send becomes unreadable to anyone except your company’s destination server. It is possible because the SSL Certificate secures the data with encryption keys.
The encryption keys of the SSL Certificates vary between 48 bit and 128 bit in strength, depending on the size of your company and depending on what level of security you want. Small companies can use 48 bit type certificates. It contains a trillion possible key combinations, which is very hard to break. The cost for 48 bit certificates is lower than the cost of the certificates with a higher level of security. If you are a medium or large company, you need an SSL Certificate that has a superior level of encryption.
SSL Certificates secure the users’ authentication credentials
Thanks to its encryption capabilities, SSL Certificates help you secure the users’ authentication credentials on your website. When your website uses an SSL Certificate, the information that your users enter will go straight to your server.
Criminals can sometimes connect to your wi-fi network, office or home Internet modem, or hack into your Internet service provider’s networks. By hacking into these networks, the cybercriminals can monitor the data that passes from your users to your website’s server and steal the personal information of your users.
SSL Certificates’ main purpose is to help you, as a website owner, avoid all these threats. You can protect yourself and your users from personal information theft by using an SSL Certificate.
SSL Certificates help you gain your customers’ trust
Studies show that users are more likely to trust a website that has visible signs of security enhancements. Also, users are more likely to buy from a website that belongs to a real, registered, and accountable company. The SSL Certificate can provide all these proofs to your customers on behalf of you and your website. The padlock and the HTTPS link will tell your customers that whatever information users enter on your website – the SSL encrypts it. The company info in the SSL will assure the users that your website is reliable, it belongs to you, and your business is a registered legal entity.
You cannot buy your customers’ trust and loyalty, but you can earn and deserve it. You just have to take all the necessary measures to make your users feel safe when shopping on your website. As you saw above, the advantages of SSL Certificates far outweigh their costs. At SSL Dragon, you can get any type of SSL Certificate for any online project.