At present, when the vast majority of financial transactions is conducted via the Internet, and websites are required to fulfil rigorous standards for personal data protection, having an SSL certificate becomes a necessity. The investment in SSL certification is not only a requirement (The Chrome 68 edition is out now and it marks websites without SSL as “not secure”), but there are many practical reasons to own one.

Having an SSL(Secure Socket Layer) certificate brings some serious benefits to all involved parties – for both a website owner and their visitor. The certificate is responsible for the encryption of data when a connection is made between a user’s browser and a website server. Owing to this, Internet users’ personal data is secure, which has critical significance, when online shopping and money transfers are conducted. Still, having an SSL has some considerable advantages for a website owner.

Why is it a good idea to invest in SSL certification?

Undoubtedly. An SSL certificate should be introduced on each website that processes data of its users. But what are the exact benefits a website owner gets while employing the SSL technology?

Phishing protection  – phishing is a situation in which a fraud creates a website that is strikingly similar to ours, and it has even got a similar Internet address. Upon entering such a website, a user inserts their logon data into the from provided, and this data is immediately transferred back to the fraud. A safety-aware user, therefore, will refuse to log on to the website which does not have a green padlock icon next to its address.

A guarantee of trustworthiness – using an SSL is a clear sing for an Internet user that our website is trustworthy. Even if they have no knowledge of SSL, and what the implications of a green padlock and the „https” prefix next to an Internet address are, their Internet browser usually quickly brings them up to date. For example, Chrome displays an alert message saying that a website is „not secure”, whenever a page without an SSL certificate is accessed. Nobody wants to visit a website like this, let alone logging onto it.

SSL improves your SEO rank – an SSL certificate is indispensable if you want your website to achieve high ranking in the Google positioning system. User refusal is a significant factor here – when Internet users enter a website that is accompanied by a number of safety alerts, they will most problably leave it at once. The websites with a high denial rate, in turn, are not exactly topping the Google positioning rankings.

You are not the one left behind – having an SSL certificate is simply a necessity nowadays. Online stores cannot practically go without it. Firstly, using such a certificate is a requirement enforced by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard norm, which is concerned with credit card payments online. Secondly, an SSL certificate is required in order to merge a store with a Facebook profile. Still, using an SSL certificate improves the trustworthiness of your website regardless of whether or not online payments take place there.

Maximum profit with minimum investment

So, what is the actual cost of an SSL certificate? Some may find it hard to believe, but SSL certification has not been created in order to drain Internet enterpreneurs out of their funds. In other words – it is very cheap.  The Cheapest SSL Certificate may be obtained for as little as $4.74 net/year (Check: Comodo PositiveSSL)
Everything depends on the kind of the website you are running and what SSL certificate would be the most suitable for it. For example, a certificate may cover only a single domain, but it may also cover all of the subdomains (the cheapest ssl Wildcard certificate  starting from $66.00 net/year – check:  Comodo PositiveSSL Wildcard). It is important what profile your website is, and to what extent user data is stored and processed within it. Looking for more prestigious SSL certificates with the guarantee of top-notch security?
Check: the cheapest SSL EV certificate  with a green bar: Comodo PositiveSSL EV available from $80.85 net/year.
Another matter of importance is the fact that SSL certification is the fastest and the most convenient method to fulfil the sensitive data protection requirements enforced by European agencies.