What is an SSL?

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a security standard that lets a web server and an internet. It makes sure that all information moved stays secret. You might have seen the lock symbol in your location bar next to the URL. That means that SSL is used to protect the site.

Why should you get an SSL cert?

Your website is more than just a bulletin board; it’s a way for your business and your customers to share information. When a visitor comes to your site, information, like their IP address, moves from one server. Your guests expect that your business will keep this information safe. Without a protected association, the information they share with you could end up in the wrong hands, putting their security at risk. This could hurt your business in a big way.

So, your site should have to purchase SSL certificate, especially if you deal with money. This layer of security will protect you from information leaks and give your guests a good reason to give you sensitive information. Also, SSL helps your search engine rankings even more.

SSL Certificates: How They Work

With all the technical terms and abbreviations, it can be hard to figure out what SSL certificates mean. To give you a simple but accurate example of how SSL certificates work, let’s say that our friend Michelle is going to her favorite site, hubspot.com.

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Michelle opens her computer and types “hubspot.com” into her Google Chrome web browser. Michelle’s PC accepts HubSpot’s SSL endorsement through a public key and confirms it with the authentication authority while Google Chrome is loading the site.

Encryption

From here, Michelle’s computer and the hubspot.com server decide on the type of encryption they’ll use to send and receive information safely. The way data is coded and translated between the PC, and the server is what makes this connection safe. Security attacks are most likely to happen when information is being moved from one place to another, so scrambling the data in a coded language or private key keeps everything safe until it gets where it needs to be.

Verification

When Michelle’s PC uses the private key to decode the information, a lock symbol appears next to the site’s name in the program’s inquiry bar.

Michelle can look at hubspot.com with the knowledge that any information she shares is safe and won’t be taken by bad programmers.

What does an SSL cost?

Depending on how much security you need, your SSL can cost anywhere from nothing to hundreds of dollars. Here are the different kinds of SSLs, from least secure to most secure (and, in general, from least expensive to most expensive):

Domain Validated (DV) Certificates: For sites that don’t exchange customer information, like blogs or small business websites.

Organization Validated (OV) Certificates: These are for sites that don’t exchange sensitive customer information, like business sites with forms and lead capture tools.

Extended Validated Certificates offer the highest level of security and can handle sensitive information like financial transactions.

The type of SSL you choose will depend on what you want people to do on your site.