Secure web connections

29th June 2020

Secure Connections

Website security is becoming increasingly important to web users. When shopping online, personal and card details should be kept safe from potential online threats.

Web browsers will let users know if a website is safe or not through security certificates, and if yours isn’t up to date, you may flag as an unsecure website, driving traffic away from your site.

Why Does It Matter?

Security certificates ensure customers their details are going to be safe on your site.

Google penalises websites that don’t have a security certificate, making it more difficult for potential clients to find your website on searches and listings. Having a security certificate on your website is critical for ranking high on Google, and just by adding a certificate your business can move higher up the search results.

Without a certificate, a hacker could also intercept someone looking at your website and show them a different website under your domain name.

Security certificates give your customers confidence and trust when online.

How do I get a security certificate?

It's quick to install a certificate onto your website. Certificates can cost as low as a few pounds.

If you use a web developer, you should ask them to install a certificate for you.

If you manage your own website through a web host, most platforms will have a simple wizard to walk you through how to install one. Have a look at your portal for a section on "HTTPS" or "SSL". Alternatively, Google "How to install an SSL certificate on XYZWebhost".