As the Internet has evolved, finding information has become easier… but so has taking information that doesn’t belong to us. Cybercrimes are a serious that needs to be protected against to the best of our abilities. One way to do that is by using an SSL certificate. In our topic today, we are going to discuss what an SSL certificate is and three reasons even nonprofit organizations benefit from having one on their website.
What is SSL?
An SSL (Secure Socket Layers) certificate authenticates, or establishes the validity, the identity of the website and encrypts all information sent to the server hosting the website. As of July of 2018, Google decided to mark all HTTP, or website with an SSL certificate, sites as “not secure.” If you have a website marked HTTPS then you already have an SSL certificate, which means you would see a locked keypad.
Increases Website Security
By having an SSL certificate, you are protecting the data being sent to and from your website. As a nonprofit, it might seem like you have very little information that needs protecting… but the truth is you likely have a lot of information that needs protecting. Any time someone types information into a newsletter signup, donation form, any type of contact form, or login details, there is data being entered that needs protecting. By encrypting the data, it helps to make sure the people who see the sensitive data are the ones who were intended to see it and not someone that isn’t associated with your organization.
Trust and Credibility of Visitors
When people see the locked keypad symbol in their browser, it helps to show your visitors how serious you are about protecting their data. That added security helps website visitors feel more comfortable with typing any of their information onto your website, especially if it involves using their credit card information to invest in your mission to make a difference in the world. Keep in mind, if they aren’t seeing the locked keypad then there’s a good chance that they will see the phrase “not safe” instead. Visitors that see the “not safe” message are less likely to offer any sensitive information on that website… making it even harder to gain new donors
Search Engine Optimization
With Google putting more time and effort to show Chrome users which websites are secure, it is likely they will be rewarding those same secure websites. That reward is in the form of some extra search engine ranking points, which will help your website show higher up on search results. Likewise, the websites that do not have a secure website will likely see a loss in search engine ranking points. Although it will not likely be a substantial increase to your search ranking, it will help you rank a little higher than the organizations who are focused on a similar mission but have a website that is not secure.
Conclusion
Protecting sensitive data is key to even a nonprofit organization. With the help of SSL certificates, you are more easily able to make sure all data being transferred is encrypted. The added security to transferred data not only makes Google happy and willing improve the search engine ranking of your website… but it also helps the visitors to your website feel like they can trust that you take the protection of their data very seriously.
