What is a digital certificate?

Digital certificates are online credentials that validate the certificate owner(s) and encrypt communications/data/software using public key infrastructure (PKI) and digital encryption keys.
Digital certificates, in a nutshell, safeguard websites, documents, emails, servers, and other assets from cybercriminals.

The Benefits of Using an SSL Certificate on Your Website

Advantage number one: Data Security

When a website visitor submits a contact form, completes a survey, or enters credit card information at a payment gateway, the information must be kept safe until it reaches your server. While in transit, the data is in an unencrypted format, leaving it subject to eavesdropping and data theft via session hijacking and man-in-the-middle attacks.

With an SSL Certificate set on your website, all data is delivered securely across a secure HTTPS channel, providing data encryption between your website's server and your visitors' browsers. Because of its scrambled nature, this material is safe from reading, interpretation, change, or theft. This ensures that your website visitors' data is protected while in transit.

Advantage number two: website identity verification.

An SSL certificate for a website can only be issued by a publicly trusted certificate authority (CA). Each website has its own public and private keys. In the SSL certificate, it is the CA's obligation to associate the proper public key with the correct hostname (the domain name of the website).

To determine if you own the domain for which you have applied for the certificate, the CA uses a stringent verification procedure defined by the CA/Browser Forum (CA/B Forum). The verification procedure for business-verified certificates is substantially more stringent.

In this method, the CA ensures that web traffic is sent to the proper website's server. All commercial CAs give a warranty. As a consequence, if something goes wrong with the certificate and your company suffers a financial loss as a result, the CA is obligated to compensate the victim up to the guaranteed amount.

Advantage number three: Visual Indicators

Most browsers will display an irritating "Not secure" sign in front of your website's domain name in the address bar if you do not have a valid SSL certificate or none at all. The warning will still appear if a person surfing your site clicks on the "canceled padlock" indication.

When you install a Valid SSL certificate on the server where the site is hosted, the "Not Secure" indicator is replaced with a padlock icon, indicating a secure connection.

In the case of an EV (extended validated), Certificate, your company's name will also show in the address bar.

Furthermore, all good business CAs offer free site seals, often known as trust seals. To get the most out of your seal, position it at the bottom of your website, on checkout pages, next to subscription tabs, or in any other strategic location. These little symbols indicate that a reliable CA is vouching for your site's information security by utilizing their secured SSL certificates:

Advantage number four: Customer Trust

Any internet business relies heavily on customer trust. These days, people are growing more digitally sophisticated. They examine new websites and abandon them appear to untrustworthy.

When your domain name has a "Not Secure" indication placed in front of it, people are more likely to quit and go to another, most likely your competitors' website. This will have an impact not just on your company's financial line, but also on its reputation.

An SSL certificate for your website is the only option to eliminate this type of warning and display the secure padlock symbol in front of your domain name. The padlock symbol and site seals are both visual cues of trust. 

Your clients will feel more confident and trusting of your site when they disclose financial information such as credit card details, bank account numbers, and personally-identifying information thanks to the site seals and security padlock (PII).

Advantage number five: SEO Benefits

Google, like all search engines, wants to keep its users safe. As a result, Google has made HTTPS one of the factors in its ranking algorithm since 2014. If all of the elements are equal, the HTTPS-enabled website will be given a higher ranking in Google's search engine result pages (SERPs). A good SEO posture necessitates a significant amount of time and money.

However, if you fail to obtain an SSL certificate, your entire SEO strategy will be compromised.