What Is SSL?
Before we get into the impacts of SSL, we should first understand exactly what SSL is. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer which is essentially responsible for encrypting information between you, the user, and the server. This encryption is used for security against hackers attempting to retrieve data being sent to and from the server. Blue Whale Media understands the importance of having a website secured with SSL, which is why all our websites are equipped with a functioning SSL certificate.
Now that we understand the basics of what SSL is, we can get into how it affects a website.
Loading Speed
It is a popular myth that adding SSL security to your website will slow down the loading time. This used to be the case with websites using the standard HTTP/1.1 protocol, although the speed difference wouldn’t even be noticeable to the average person. Despite this, there is still a way to optimise your website to load even faster with SSL: HTTP/2. This new version of the HTTP protocol was developed to solve the shortcomings of HTTP/1.1. You can even put this to the test online by comparing unsecured HTTP/1.1 to secured HTTP/2 load times
SEO
The presence of an SSL certificate also impacts your SEO and search engine ranking in multiple ways. Firstly, Google has already confirmed that SSL certificates can boost your rankings in the search engine results page. Secondly, as discussed above, SSL secure websites load faster than insecure websites. The loading time of a website is an important factor of SEO and therefore this will boost your search engine rankings too.
The presence of an SSL certificate has been an SEO factor since an algorithm update back in 2014, and it has been given more weight in algorithm updates since.
Trust
As of July 2018, Google has started to label websites without an SSL certificate as “insecure.” This is terrible news for websites such as e-commerce – where your whole business depends on the trust of customers. According to a survey, 98% of people said they look for security indicators on websites they browse. With an SSL certificate, a website is displayed as secure and is seen as trustworthy by customers. Trust is the foundation of a customer relationship – a customer will keep returning and become loyal if they can trust your business. If not, they will simply go to your competitor.
Conversions
Users trust secure connections more and most people (if anyone) isn’t willing to risk their personal information such as bank details with an insecure website. For websites such as e-commerce, it is absolutely essential to have something as basic as an SSL certificate. An online survey has revealed that 84% of users would abandon a purchase if their data was sent on an insecure connection – that’s a lot of customers lost! An SSL Certificate will boast your websites security and fill customers with confidence when performing transactions and sending data.
Blue Whale Media
At Blue Whale Media, we don’t just create elegant websites and e-commerce, we help businesses with technical details such as GDPR compliance and obtaining SSL certificates. If you require our web and digital services, call us on 01925 552050 or use the contact form below!
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