SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, and TLS stands for Transport Layer Security. They sound complicated already, but you probably only need to know a few things about them.
They Keep Information Secure
They are both protocols that encrypt information sent between computers. They encode the information to keep it safe and secure. Websites, for example use these protocols to protect information exchanged between people using the website and servers.
When you enter information into a form on a website, SSL/TLS help to protect that information.
What’s the difference?
TLS is a newer, improved version of SSL. They work the same way and SSL is still widely used. You don’t need to worry about the difference, just think of SSL and TLS as the same thing.
They give sites The “Padlock”
In Chrome, to the left of the URL, there’s a padlock on some sites that looks like this.
That’s how chrome tells users that their information is safe.
Even if your site doesn’t exchange information with users, there are consequences for not setting up SSL/TLS. If your site doesn’t have TLS/SSL installed, the user is told that the site is insecure and is dissuaded from using the site.
It Boosts Your Ranking
Having SSL/TLS set up on your site boosts SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It raises your rankings for various search terms.
Google itself announced that having an SSL certificate is the easiest thing a website owner can do to improve their rankings.
So, How Do I set it up?
Hopefully you realize now that setting up SSL/TLS on your site is a must. Here’s how you can go about doing that. Skip to the section for your situation.
WordPress
First, you’ll need an SSL Certificate. Many WordPress hosting companies offer free SSL certificates to their users. If you’re using one of these companies, follow the steps below to turn the SSL certificate on.
- Bluehost
- SiteGround
- HostGator
- WPEngine
- Dreamhost
- InMotion Hosting
- GreenGeeks
- iPage
- Liquid Web
To turn on SSL, login to the dashboard of your hosting account’s cPanel and scroll down to the Security section.
If you’re not using one of the hosting providers listed, you’ll need to buy a certificate.
Head to domain.com and buy a certificate. Once you have purchased it, ask your hosting provider to install it for you.
Next, whether you purchased your certificate or not, you’ll need to make sure WordPress uses your SSL certificate.
To do this, I use a WordPress plugin called Really Simple SSL. Like the name suggests, it’s pretty easy.
First, search for the plugin in the plugins tab and install it. Activate it and it’ll do everything for you!
Weebly
To add SSL to your Weebly site, enter into the editor and click on the Settings tab.
Scroll down to SSL, and if it isn’t already enabled, press enable.
You may need to fill out a form before you can enable SSL.
Site from Scratch
If you’ve built your site from scratch, you’ll probably know how to do this already, but here’s an easy way.
Conclusion
By now, you should understand the basics of SSL, know why it should mean something to you, and maybe even have set it up on your site!
If you have any issues, email me and I’d be glad to help. Or, if you don’t want to do this yourself and would rather someone handled it professionally, drop me a line.
Featured Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash