One of the most important components of online business is creating a trusted environment where potential customers feel confident in making purchases. SSL certificates create a foundation of trust by establishing a secure connection. To assure visitors their connection is secure, browsers provide special visual cues that we call EV indicators — anything from a green padlock to branded URL bar.
What is an SSL Certificate and How Does it Work?
SSL certificates create an encrypted connection and establish trust.
SSL certificates have a key pair: a public and a private key. These keys work together to establish an encrypted connection. The certificate also contains what is called the “subject,” which is the identity of the certificate/website owner.
To get a certificate, you must create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) on your server. This process creates a private key and public key on your server. The CSR data file that you send to the SSL Certificate issuer (called a Certificate Authority or CA) contains the public key. The CA uses the CSR data file to create a data structure to match your private key without compromising the key itself. The CA never sees the private key.
Why should you buy a SSL certificate?
Get search engine rank benefits and increased user trust from installing SSL site-wide.
Google recently announced that having an SSL Certificate is the easiest thing site owners can do to boost SEO ranking. The big question in the mind of site owners, administrators, service providers, and SEO experts now, is: What SSL Certificate should I buy? The Google search boost for using SSL applies to all sites, whether they have personal information or not. That means that even if your site doesn’t have a checkout page, login pages, or any financial or sensitive personal information, you can still get SEO benefits by installing an SSL Certificate on your site.
