I’ve mentioned before that it’s an unfortunate sign of the times, but today in 2017, having SSL security (Secure Sockets Layer) added to a site is highly recommended. If you accept credit card payments or have a form where the user submits any confidential information (social security number for example), a SSL is required. But even for a more standard, information-based website, having a SSL certificate installed and having the green padlock in the address bar is strongly recommended. There are two main reasons for this – first, Google and second, users.
Google has not been shy in saying that they want the World Wide Web to be fully secure. One reason behind this is that spammers will have a difficult time getting approved for a SSL certificate which would help improve their search results even more. Google has even gone as far already as to provide a slight boost in search engine ranking to sites that are secure and have a SSL certificate installed as opposed to those sites that are running without one. While it’s not a huge boost, any search ranking improvement is helpful.
The second reason – and the main reason as far as I’m concerned – to have a SSL certificate is because most users prefer seeing that the site they are on is secure. It’s easy to tell if a site has security enabled simply by looking at the address bar. If you see a green padlock on the left side of the address bar (like you do on this site you’re reading now), then that site has a SSL certificate installed and working. If you look to the left corner of the address bar and don’t see a green padlock or worse yet, you see a gray triangle with an exclamation point in it, that site either does not have SSL protection installed or it is not working right. Seeing that a site is secure provides a bit of reassurance that you are looking at the site of a legitimate company, a company that is offering the high quality product or service that you need.
For those two reasons alone – increased search engine ranking and improved user experience – the choice to add SSL security to your site should be a no-brainer. Adding one is easy; if you host your website with Full Scope Creative, simply email me and let me know you’d like to add SSL to your website. We will go over pricing options and can get one installed in about a day.
