Feeling safe and secure is a basic human need. Having a website that doesn’t look secure can make your customers feel nervous and afraid to do business with you.
To make your site more secure and prove to customers that it’s safe, you need an SSL certificate.
Why Do SSL Certificates Matter?
Google has acknowledged just how important security is and they now expect all sites to be encrypted, even if they don’t collect any customer data. Google’s algorithm will now penalize any sites that don’t have an SSL certificate and give preference to those that do.
When you have an SSL certificate installed on your site, a green padlock will appear next to your URL in the search bar. It may also say “Secure” or display your company name. It also displays this nice message when you click on “Secure:”
During the Chrome 56 update, Google will slowly roll out security warnings for sites that don’t have an SSL certificate. This warning gives visitors a bad impression and can make them feel unsafe entering data on your site. At the time of writing this post, Google is displaying the following security warning:
What Is an SSL Certificate?
An SSL certificate is a small digital file that encrypts the data sent through your website. Even if someone intercepts this data, they won’t be able to read or use it fraudulently since they don’t know your encryption key.
Using SSL encryption turns your website into a secret agent that won’t ever give up your customers’ confidential information. SSL certificates are good for you and good for your customers, so get one.
How to Install an SSL Certificate with Cloudflare
Some companies act as Certificate Authorities (CA) and can issue certificates directly to websites. These paid certificates give you the green padlock and put your company name next to it. Generally, they’re best for e-commerce sites that ask visitors for credit card information.
Most sites don’t collect credit card information, so they don’t need a paid certificate. If this describes your site, then consider installing your own certificate from a free service like Let’s Encrypt. Or, skip the installation process by going with Cloudflare. Here’s how:
Create a free Cloudflare account and log in.
Click on the Crypto tab of your account.
Under the SSL section, make sure your certificate is set to Flexible.
Next scroll down to Automatic HTTPS Rewrites and set it to on.
Your changes should automatically save, but you can also double check that it worked a few days later by visiting your site and checking the navigation bar.
There you have it. In just a few minutes you set up an SSL certificate for your site, don’t you feel proud of yourself?
A More Secure Site for Free
Creating a secure site is easy, free, and just a few steps away. You can’t get a better deal than that.
Want more tips like this? Sign up to receive helpful advice here. Want help setting up your own SSL certificate? Contact us and we’d be happy to help.
P.S.
We’re pretty obsessed with security. Every website that we maintain is backed up regularly, encrypted, protected from hacker bots, and uses high-security passwords. If you’d like to learn more, let’s chat.