Have you got a current SSL certificate for your website?
August 28th, 2017If you haven’t got a current SSL certificate for your website, you really need to get one.
Here are three reasons why:
- First and foremost, Google prefers websites with SSL.
- Secondly, an SSL Certificate makes your website more secure.
- And finally, the SSL Certificate gives your customers confidence.
Google have made some changes recently, now, any website that doesn’t have an SSL certificate installed will be marked as insecure.
To you and I, this means that anyone visiting your website will be aware that any details entered on your site could be easily accessible to hackers. Consequently, if you collect ANY form of data on your website even through a contact form or use a content management system, you need to act now!
What is an SSL Certificate?
An SSL Certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates the identity of a website, encrypting any information sent to the server (it does this using SSL, Secure Sockets Layer technology).
Think of it as an electronic passport for websites, making it easy for a customer / user to see whether a site is safe to use / do business with or not.
Benefits of SSL
In addition to our initial reasons for obtaining an SSL Certificate, there are many other benefits:
- Encrypts Sensitive Information
- Provides customer trust / confidence: most obviously by use of the ‘secure’ padlock symbol you see on the left of the search bar)
- Provides authentication
- Protects against phishing
- HTTP/2 can speed up your site (if available)
- Required for PCI Compliance
- Favoured in Google Search results
How do I get an SSL Certificate?
The first step is to contact your web host, they should be able to get the ball rolling for you easily. When you speak to them ask which certificates they offer and which is best for your website*
* For smaller websites we recommend Let’s Encrypt, which is a free certificate.
For larger sites, ecommerce websites or those holding confidential information, you should definitely get yourself a paid certificate.
How do I install an SSL Certificate on my website?
In most cases your hosting company will install the certificate for you, but will also require some configuration changes to be made to your website. This will generally include:
- Changing all the URLs in the database from http to https
- Adding URL rewrite rules to Htaccess
- Checking and correcting any mixed content errors
- Ensuring pages redirect correctly
- Updating your Google Search Console / Analytics settings
Need help making sure you are SSl Certified?
Finally, if you haven’t got an SSL certificate and you need help getting one setup on your website, don’t panic! We can help you in the following ways:
• We can liaise with your hosting company to ensure you get the correct certificate.
• Make the necessary configuration changes to your website once the certificate is installed.
• And we can update your Google Search Console / Analytics settings.
If you’re still not convinced
Google Chrome is notifying sites that have not yet migrated to HTTPS, urging site owners to migrate to HTTPS and fix the problem.
If you need more convincing: WordPress now only recommends hosting partners that provide SSL certificates by default.
Now is the time!
If you have any questions or you want us to start the ball rolling for you, just drop us a line here: