Viralogy

When a shopper visits your eCommerce store, they are willing to do business with you based on two assumptions. The first is that your eCommerce store products are as described and that they are not falsely advertised, and the second is that your site is secure and safe.While secure and safe are commonly overlooked, sites that are commonly associated with words like “shady” and “sketchy” aren’t likely to get much business.

As mentioned, a sites security is important especially when it comes to eCommerce sites. With that said, one way that an eCommerce site can improve it’s security is to utilize an SSL Certificate or Secure Sockets Layer Certificate.

What is an SSL certificate?

By definition, an SSL Certificate is an encrypted protocol that provides secure communications on the Internet for such things as web browsing, email, Internet faxing, instant messaging and other data transfers. SSL is the technology that SSH uses. In layman terms, an SSL Certificate creates a secure connection during online communications. An easy way to think about this is to imagine an SSL Certificate as duct tape. When you send a package, you want to seal it so that it is secure. Thus, duct tape is needed.

Why You Need An SSL Certificate For Your Site

In the event that your site doesn’t utilize an SSL Certificate, users may find themselves on pages like this:

Sites that don’t have an SSL Certificate are putting their customers are risk by creating situations where there information such as passwords and credit card numbers may be vulnerable to malicious attacks.

How To Get An SSL Certificate

To get an SSL Certificate for your eCommerce site, there are many services that can provide you with one. Sites like VeriSign can help your customers feel safe and also will provide you with some extra security on your site. Also, a big factor in creating a ’safe’ environment for your shoppers is the SSL Certified logos. VeriSign logos for example are commonly found on many of their client sites which is an indicator that the site is secure.

If you aren’t sure if your site has an SSL Certificate setup, be sure to check out our eCommerce store grader, Grade Your Store, to see if your site gets a ‘passing’ grade!