SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. It is a security protocol that conveys your communications over the Internet in an encrypted form. SSL encoding is commonly employed by eCommerce websites to protect sensitive information such as credit card numbers or personal data. SSL certificates ensure that information is delivered to the server for which it was intended, without falling into the hands of third parties who could tamper with the data. You’ll recognize sites that have a SSL certificate by the URL https, rather than the unsecured http, plus the padlock icon that appears in your browser’s address bar.

Yes again! The SSL certificate is recognized by Google’s algorithm as a seal-of-quality and assurance, meaning your website will appear higher up in the search engine’s results compared to unsecured websites.

This means that you will enjoy increased traffic to your website from customer’s searching for your services on Google – all you need to do is show them that the security of their sensitive data is your priority.

It’s easy and quick to get a cheap SSL certificate for your website that will get noticed for the right reasons online. So if you are concerned about the reputation of your website or online business, and want to increase the visibility of your site on search engines, then SSL certificates are the right choice for you.

In short – ABSOLUTELY. Here’ why.

Ordering a SSL certificate is a great way to bolster your website’s reputation with customers and search engines alike. Getting SSL validation is quick and offers increased security for your online transactions. You may find a SSL certificate particularly useful if you run a web shop or eCommerce site, since you can protect your customer’s credit card and other financial information from fraudsters. As a rule, however, any website can benefit from the enhanced security and stellar reputation associated with the SSL protocol.

There are three kinds of SSL Certificates from SRN Hosting.

Domain Validation, Organization Validation and Extended Validation Certificates. Domain Validation are the most common and easily obtainable type of SSL certificate. They are appropriate for small websites, blogs, forums, and Intranet or mail servers. They can be obtained through an email-based validation process. In this case, the requesting individual verifies that he or she has control of a domain by clicking on an activation link sent to them via email.

Organization based certificates are suitable for online shops, company websites or Webmail since they offer a higher level of encryption during sensitive transactions. The validation process here requires documentation to verify the identity of the person ordering the certificate, in addition to the email verification described above. These documents might include bank statements or proof that your company is registered legally.

Extended validation based certificates employ the most rigorous validation criteria – and also offer the highest level of encryption. However, these certificates are only dispensed to websites found in a public registry, which means they are most often used by public authorities. They are the most easily recognizable type of SSL certificate, since a domain’s web address is highlighted in green in a browser’s address line. In this case, the requesting entity must prove their identity over the phone in addition to providing signed documentation.

• When your SSL certificate is issued, we send an email to let you know. What happens next depends on where your site is hosted and the options you chose when you bought the certificate.
• If you chose web hosting, Website Builder or Online Store when you ordered your cert, we take care of everything for you. If you host your website with another company or use our VPS or Dedicated Servers, please contact our support desk.
• To install an SSL certificate on Parallels Plesk Panel, cPanel and Microsoft IIS, please check our knowledgebase.

How you build your website is entirely up to you. In fact, most basic secure websites can be hand-coded using HTML.

When a visitor enters an SSL-protected page on your website, their browser bar displays a padlock icon and the https:// prefix in the URL address. While most Internet users know to look for those SSL indicators, you can also add a site seal to your website to show visitors your site is verified and secured. Visitors can click the seal to view your certificate's status and details, seeing for themselves that it's safe to send sensitive information to your website. Websites protected by GoDaddy's Premium EV SSL display a green browser bar as well, giving users the green light.

WildCard certificates secure domain names along with all subdomains of the domain. For example, Wildcard certificate issued to *.mydomain.com can be used to secure the following host names:

• mydomain.com
• www.mydomain.com
• login.mydomain.com
• secure.mydomain.com
• support.mydomain.com etc.

Certificate Authority (CA) is an organization that is trusted to sign digital certificates. CA verifies identity and legitimacy of company or individual that requested a certificate and if the verification is successful, CA issues signed certificate.

When server presents certificate to client (for example, your web browser) during SSL handshake, client will attempt to verify signature against a list of ‘known good’ signers. Web browsers normally come with lists of CAs that they will implicitly trust to identify hosts. If the authority is not in the list, as with some sites that sign their own certificates, the browser will alert the user that the certificate is not signed by a recognized authority and ask the user if they wish to continue communications with unverified site. Namecheap offers SSL certificates signed by RapidSSL, Comodo, GeoTrust, Thawte and Symantec Certificate Authorities. These CA’s are recognized by 99% of web browsers. This is the guarantee that browsers will not show any security errors when connecting to the site secured by RapidSSL, Comodo, GeoTrust, Thawte or Symantec.

• Low assurance certificates include only your domain name in the certificate. Certificate Authorities usually verify that you own the domain name by checking the WHOIS record. The certificate can be issued instantly and is cheaper but, as the name implies, these certificates provide less assurance to your customers.
• Medium assurance domain validated Certificates similar to the low assurance ones, but in addition they provide you with a dynamic Site Seal, clicking on which your customers will be able to verify the domain name and validation period for which the Certificate is issued.
• High assurance certificates include your domain name as well as business registration details (company name, address, city, state and country) on the certificate. The certificate authority will verify your ownership of the domain name and business registration (you will be asked to submit a few documents). It can take from a few hours to a few days for a high assurance certificate to be issued depending on when you submit the necessary documents.
• Very High assurance is available only with Extended Validation Certificates which are issued within 10 business days and require more paperwork than OV Certificates. Benefits of this type of certificates are: Green Bar and business name in the address bar.
• Because of the additional validation steps that you need to pass through before high and very high assurance certificates can be issued, these certificates are a significant tool in preventing phishing and online fraud.

• Domain validated certificates only verify a domain’s ownership and are not recommended for web sites with online trade and e-commerce transactions.
• Being a registered Company it’s better for you to enable a secure connection to your website with an Extended Validated Certificate. In this case you will have plenty of advantages that will attract customers. The most significant of them are Green Bar and Company name in the address bar visible to end users.
• As for Site Seals, there are mostly static Site Seals (graphic image) available for Domain validated certificates and only some of them come with dynamic ones. Extended Validation certificates allow you to install Corner of Trust or a dynamic Site Seal which will show Company information, such as domain name, company name, address, city, state and country. For your visitors that will mean that your Company is fully authenticated and validated by a Certificate Authority.
• While domain validated certificates will provide you only with Low and Medium Assurance and Warranty equalling rom $10 000 to $100 000, EV Certificates will give you Very High assurance and warranty from $250 000 to $1 500 000 depending on the Certificate Authority and certificate type.

Very High assurance available with EV certificates is an important tool for preventing phishing and online fraud because of additional validation steps that you need to take before such a certificate can be issued.