When you rank on search engines, especially if it is on Google, the overall security for your site matters a lot, which is incredibly important for your business and also the same goes for everything else as well. As a default, all communication between the webmasters or web servers and client takes place over a clear text connection that leads to exposure of the data in the communication open for hackers thus making communication vulnerable to cyber-attacks. As a solution, you could prevent and secure information through SSL certificate, which stands for Secure Socket Layer.
This type of security is mandatory for sites that particularly collect financial information, such as bank account and credit card numbers. In addition to securing critical, valid data and communication between the client and the web server, SSL also confirms the identity of the web server to the client systems.
It is actually used much beyond that, and it is expected to be required for all websites before much longer. So then, why not stay ahead of the game? From enhanced online security to a boost in search engine rankings, installing an SSL certificate for your website offers numerous benefits, and it is fairly simple and cost-effective procedure. Let us explore the benefits of SSL certificate or the newer Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols that are used to secure the data transferred between the client and server.
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Why should you get SSL certificate
Google has recently made it obligatory that all website must be SSL certified to be considered in SERP ranking. This has now become the new ranking parameter apart from these SSL Certificates securing and protecting user’s confidentiality. However, despite the huge impact of SSL Certificates, many marketers neglect it and avoid installing it.
When it comes to e-commerce sites or other transaction taking place on websites, SSL Certificate plays a major role in assuring the user’s security. It creates a sense of trust for the users when the address bar shows a green padlock in the address bar of the website with the label ‘Secure’.
In addition to this, if you migrate to HTTPS website, you likely to gain an edge in digital marketing as you can generate more conversions through your website. I will explain how.
Let say a person searches a particular keyword and finds your website via Google. He then clicks it, lands on your homepage. When he intends to fill a form, he instantly sees a message from Google Chrome indicator that the website is not secure. He immediately quits the site in seconds. If too many website visitors do exactly this, Google notices this behavior and ultimately demotes your website in the SERPs.
How to get SSL Certificate
The procedure of encrypting all web communications between the client and the server systems is known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL Certification). It is also known as secure web access that takes help of the HTTPS protocol over 443 ports. HTTPS is the acronym for “hypertext transfer protocol secure”. A secured website’s URL will begin with https://. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is what enables HTTPS to provide you with that additional level of security. You can set the SSL Certificate in two steps.
- To start with, you need to create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) created for you by the web server. This is then sent to the Certificate Authority from whom you have to purchase your certificate.
- The next step is to install the certificate that you will receive via email on the server.
- After installation, every page requested using the https:// prefix will be sent over a secure connection.
- Your web host can assist you with the entire procedure.
Note
One has to be cautious of the issues that can occur due to the use of SSL Certificate like duplicate content which affects SEO efforts. Whenever a page gets accessed through both a secure and non-secure connection, these two separate pages are seen as duplicate pages that result in a negative impact on search rankings.
In order to avoid these duplicate content issues on the website, you need to do the following:
- Secure your entire website, not just sensitive sections. It does not make any sense to do it partially as it leads to confusion pertaining to redirects.
- Change every link on your website from http:// to https:// if you have specified the protocol in your links.
- Change all your images and resources URLs to reflect new secure address.
- Redirect all requests to the non-secure http:// versions of the pages and resources to the new secure location through the 301 Moved Permanently redirect on your server.
- Update all the canonical URLs.
If you wish to pertain and thrive in today’s online world, you need to have an encrypted website. As your users are getting more and more aware about security on websites, make sure that you have an appropriate SSL certificate for your site and that it is 100% encrypted and safe for your site visitors. This will also have a deep influence on the search engine ranking in the years to come.
Aviv Digital is one of the leading institute providing Digital Marketing Courses in Kochi, Kerala. We offer a wide variety of globally recognized certification programs which includes SEO, SEM, SMM, Email Marketing and Inbound marketing course.
