What is an SSL Certificate?
An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates the identity of a website and encrypts information sent to the server using SSL technology. Encryption is the process of scrambling data into an undecipherable format that can only be returned to a readable format with the proper decryption key.
A certificate serves as an electronic “passport” that establishes an online entity’s credentials when doing business on the Web. When an Internet user attempts to send confidential information to a Web server, the user’s browser accesses the server’s digital certificate and establishes a secure connection.
Why Do I Need An SSL Certificate?
SSL Certificates protect your sensitive information such as credit card information, usernames, passwords etc. It also:
- Keeps data secure between servers
- Increases your Google Rankings
- Builds/Enhances customer trust
- Improves conversion rates
Where Do I Buy An SSL Certificate?
SSL Certificates need to be issued from a trusted Certificate Authority. Browsers, operating systems, and mobile devices maintain list of trusted CA root certificates.
The Root Certificate must be present on the end user’s machine in order for the Certificate to be trusted. If it is not trusted the browser will present untrusted error messages to the end user. In the case of e-commerce, such error messages result in immediate lack of confidence in the website and organizations risk losing confidence and business from the majority of consumers.
Companies like Metropolitan Host are known as trusted Certificate Authorities. This is because browser and operating system vendors such as Microsoft, Mozilla, Opera, Blackberry, Java, etc., trust that Metropolitan Host is a legitimate Certificate Authority and that it can be relied on to issue trustworthy SSL Certificates. The more applications, devices and browsers the Certificate Authority embeds its Root into, the better “recognition” the SSL Certificate can provide.
Amaretto is a New York-based content writer and lifelong learner with an ongoing curiosity to learn new things. Founder of a positioning and branding firm that helps consultants to increase their fees by up to 2,000%
