Why Your Site Needs a Security Certificate

With hackers gone wild and identity theft on the rise, your site needs to present a feeling of safety to would be customers.
An SSL Certificate is like an identification, such as a passport or a driver’s license. This digital certificate is designed to be installed on your hosting server and serves two primary functions:

1. It can authenticate the identity of your website to browsers and customers, and
2. It will “encrypt” (thus protecting ) private information exchanged on your site (credit card numbers / customer account information).

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. When you have an SSL Certificate installed on your server, three symbols will be displayed to reassure your customers that your site is secure:

1. A padlock symbol will appearsin their web browser when they open your site
2. There will be an “https” prefix showing preceding your URL address in their browser.
3. A Register.com Site Seal will appear on your website itself.

With an Extended Validation certificate, the browser bar on newer versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox will turn green when your site is opened, showing that your site is equipped with the very highest level of validation available.

Different sites will set you up with security certificates on different levels. Below is an example of thegrading of different types and levels of security:

Essential Security certificates are recommended for website owners who exchange sensitive  data and ecommerce businesses level of transactions up to $50/month.

Premium Security is recommended larger ecommerce sellers and medium-sized businesses with higher monthly transactions up to $250/month

Unlimited Subdomains certificates can be used for big websites and ecommerce sellers with a high number of customers, several different subdomains and multiple shopping carts or customer account sections.

Extended Validation is best for established businesses of any size who need superior customer trust Only certain types of businesses and organizations qualify for Extended Validation, which as noted turns the browser bar green when a validated site is opened in newer versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox. This type of certification also last longer than other types. Government entities, Legal corporations, General partnerships, Sole proprietors and Unincorporated associations can qualify for Extended Validation.

This is just one example of SSL certificates, and can be used as a reference when researching different companies and plans.