Secure vs non-secure websites
Not so long ago Google announced a new initiative to recommend that all websites should provide a secure environment for visitors when they visit the website. To encourage this it has also become part of Google's ranking signals to assess the safety aspect of a website, which in turn will help the website perform better in the search results.
Websites that do not have SSL certificates installed may find their search engine performance being impacted by this, which can result in lower rankings. This is a push from Google to encourage more websites to provide better protection for end users. Google has now started flagging plain http connections as insecure in its Chrome browser.
Here is an example of what a Chrome browser user sees when they arrive on a non-secure website. A secure website will display a padlock instead.
Statistics reveal that more than 70% of desktop website visits come from a Google Chrome browser. Followed by the other most commonly used browsers Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari which make up the largest percentage of remaining browsers used to find websites online. These browsers will inevitably follow suit and flag non-secure websites in the near future.
Why an SSL certificate is important for your business
Whether you sell products on your website or operate a service business with a website that promotes your business and takes enquiries online, an SSL certificate is vitally important if you want your website visitors to trust you.
If someone lands on your website and sees that it is not secure then there is a greater chance that they will be reluctant to enter their contact details into your website enquiry form. If on the other hand they see that your website is securely protected then they will have the confidence in knowing that any personal details entered into a form sent over the internet will be encrypted and be safe from prying eyes. It's almost impossible to intercept and hack these details with a high strength SSL certificate correctly installed.
But how much does it cost? And how can you be sure you're getting a quality certificate installed?
Well the good news is that SSL certificates have dropped quite significantly in price and are no longer the preserve of companies with deep pockets who spend thousands on large and expensive websites. And with the certificates we install you can be sure of a certificate of high quality that covers every aspect of your website, including sub domains.
On our monthly website hosting packages SSL certificates can be added at the cost of just £2.50 per month.
If you have any questions, or require more information, please give us a call or email us anytime.
* Please note that we only install SSL certificates for existing web host clients