What is an SSL Certificate and Why You Must Care About It?

Douglas Mabiria  - Expert Tech Reporter
Last updated: November 19, 2023
Read time: 20 minutes
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This guide explains what an SSL certificate is, how it works, its benefits, and how can you install it. It also features quick tips to protect yourself on unsecured sites.

THE TAKEAWAYS

Today, many websites are available; however, not all are secure to access. Yet, there is a digital process of securing a website known as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certification. This digital certification verifies a website’s identity and legitimacy, converts its URL to HTTPS, and enables encrypted data transmission between browsers and website servers. This way, it protects sensitive information from hackers and spies, assuring users’ online privacy and security while accessing the site. Let’s learn more about why an SSL certificate is crucial for websites and how you can get it.

While surfing the internet as a new website owner or user, we are sure you have probably noticed how various sites have initial address variations, i.e., HTTPS://, while some have HTTP://.

Have you ever wondered the difference the ‘s’ in HTTPS:// makes and why some sites have it, and others don’t?

It’s pretty simple. Extra ‘s’ in the HTTP:// represents security.

Owning a website can be a huge responsibility when it comes down to management and website security. No matter if you are a small blog or a large corporation, web security is exceptionally vital in this increasingly dangerous cyber world.

Improved web-based business security encourages users to sign up to your site, share it, and enhance general site traffic. This article explains what an SSL certificate is, and why you should care about that extra “S” in your favorite site’s URL. We’ll also cover different SLL certificate types and installing an SSL certificate on your website to protect your readers, precisely as Privacy Savvy does.

What does ‘S’ mean?

As hinted earlier, the ‘s’ in the HTTP:// stands for security. It’s a short notation for SSL (secure socket layer). SSL is a security protocol that enables encrypted internet communication between web servers/browsers and websites.