SSL Certificates

What is an SSL Certificate?

And if you own a website why you should care?

Have you ever noticed in the address bar of your browser that some websites start with the letters HTTPS:// and they have a green lock symbol followed by the word “Secure”?  This means that the website is protected by an SSL certificate and all visitors to this website have a secure and private connection.

But why should you care?

Because in July 2018 Google, the world’s largest internet search engine, will start to alert visitors to any websites without an SSL cert that the site is “Not Secure” which could potentially reduce the number of visitors to your website and Google also plans to rank those companies not using an SSL cert lower in their search engine rankings than those who do.

This is all part of Googles plans to make individuals more aware of online security.

In addition, if you use your website to collect personal information thought contact forms it would be considered best practice to have an SSL cert and it could be seen as a standard security requirement under the new GDPR regulations.

OK, so what can I do?

The first step is to get an SSL certificate for your website and this costs around €90+VAT per year.  Then you will then need to arrange for your website to be transferred from a HTTP:// domain to a secure HTTPS:// domain.  The time involved to do this will vary depending on the type of website you have.

It may also have an impact of your website ranking for a short time while the site is moved over, however, it should in time, improve the overall ranking of your website.

So, if you have a website we would highly recommend that you consider getting an SSL certificate and for more information you can email lbermingham@deycom.com or if you prefer you can call us on 059 9130777.