With credit card fraud and identify theft on the rise, consumers are more cautious than ever about shopping online.\u00a0 If you are running a store online, this means that potential customers are more reluctant to buy products and services from your site.\u00a0 In order to boost consumer confidence and make them feel safe, you need a reliable security mechanism that keeps their personal information secure.\u00a0 What you need is an SSL certificate.<\/p>\n
What is an SSL Certificate?<\/strong><\/p>\n Secure Sockets Layer or SSL, is a security protocol that enables encrypted communications between the customer’s web browser and the server your store is hosted on.\u00a0 This is accomplished by what is known as a handshake, a process where the server’s identity is confirmed and a secure connection created.\u00a0 SSL typically offers 128-bit encryption, formulated by an algorithm which generates a key that is virtually impossible to crack.\u00a0 An SSL certificate shows that your site is secure and safe for shopping.<\/p>\n How to Get a Certificate<\/strong><\/p>\n SSL certificates are offered by entities known as Certificate Authorities, with the most popular being GoeTrust, Thawte and Verisign.\u00a0 For the most part, these authorities provide certificates that give you the same level of security.\u00a0 A single certificate can encrypt the data traveling between the server and each of your customers’ web browsers.\u00a0 The average online storefront can get adequate protection from a basic SSL certificate.\u00a0 You also have the option to purchase additional services to strengthen the level of security.<\/p>\n Installing the Certificate<\/strong><\/p>\n Although many web hosting providers offer SSL certificates as add-on products, you typically have the freedom to incorporate one purchased from a third-party vendor as well.\u00a0 In most cases, you can learn how your SSL certificate is to be installed via the instructions in the control panel software or by contacting the host’s technical support department.\u00a0 Some of the most advanced control panels even allow you to incorporate an SSL certificate directly from the interface.\u00a0 Once installed, the certificate is automatically enabled.\u00a0 You will know it is activated when noticing “HTTPS” in front your URL rather than “HTTP”.<\/p>\n Designing for SSL<\/strong><\/p>\n The design of your site is very important when implementing an SSL certificate.\u00a0 In order for your web pages to be viewed as secure, all scripts, graphics and media elements must be deemed secure as well.\u00a0 You have probably visited web sites where a warning displays stating that some of the elements of a particular page are not secure.\u00a0 These messages are prompted when external elements of a web page are not called using the HTTPS protocol.\u00a0 In many cases, the certificate is valid and secure but the page isn’t designed properly for SSL.\u00a0 All the external elements of your page must be called using links that include the full URL.\u00a0 One simple graphic that doesn’t use HTTPS will generate a “not secure” error.<\/p>\n Conscious online shoppers are increasingly looking for SSL certificates and if you don’t have one, you are missing out on a lot of business.\u00a0 You can have some of the most beneficial products online but if no one feels safe buying them, they will hesitate to proceed with the transaction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With credit card fraud and identify theft on the rise, consumers are more cautious than ever about shopping online.\u00a0 If you are running a store online, this means that potential…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[186,242,480,2328,102,110,157,154],"class_list":["post-230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-e-commerce","tag-credit-card","tag-encryption","tag-goetrust","tag-online-shopping","tag-security","tag-ssl","tag-thawte","tag-verisign"],"views":136,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webhostinggeeks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webhostinggeeks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webhostinggeeks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webhostinggeeks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webhostinggeeks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webhostinggeeks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webhostinggeeks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webhostinggeeks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webhostinggeeks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}