Do you need a SSL Certificate on your website?

The short answer: Yes

Your website needs an SSL certificate if you’re asking for any personal information (which most do by having an online form which requests a name, email address or contact number.

But that’s not all there is to it. Search engines are cracking down on perceived ‘non-secure’ websites. Any websites without the SSL certificate will remain http while those with encryption will show https in users’ browsers. Chrome, Firefox and other browsers have began issuing warnings that non-https sites are insecure. Some anti-virus programmes will also mark a site as insecure when a user goes onto it and it doesn’t have SSL security.

Additionally, Google recently announced SSL is a ranking signal, so unless you have SSL your site will be harder to find, impacting on your traffic and revenue.

How do I tell if a website has SSL or not?

If you’re not sure whether your site has SSL, you can easily find out by checking the URL of the site in the bar that you type the website address into, in your browser.

If it starts with HTTP, the site is not secure. If the website address begins with HTTPS and has a closed padlock in front of it (without a cross through the padlock or a warning sign, then the website has an SSL certificate and is secure.

At Canterbury Website Design & SEO, we see SSL security as a vital part of your website’s security and credibility. As such, all of our website bundles include SSL.