Websites · Small Business

SSL certificate: what it is, why every site needs it, and what happens without it

Edson Feitosa de Oliveira Junior
Edson Feitosa de Oliveira Junior Founder & Lead Engineer · PruPru Digital Services

SSL is the technology that encrypts communication between the visitor's browser and your site's server. In practice, it's what turns "http" into "https" in the address bar and puts the padlock next to the URL.

What happens without an SSL certificate

Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) show an explicit "Not secure" warning in the address bar for sites without SSL — that scares off any visitor, even if the site is completely trustworthy. On top of that, contact forms or logins on pages without SSL are vulnerable to data interception.

SSL also affects Google

Sites without HTTPS are penalized in search ranking — Google has prioritized secure sites for years. So, on top of the scary warning for the visitor, you also lose organic search position for not having this basic item configured.

Is an SSL certificate expensive?

No. Today there are free, automatic SSL certificates (like Let's Encrypt), used by most modern hosting providers and any well-built professional site. There's no longer a technical or financial excuse for a new site not having SSL configured from day one.

Business sites with SSL included

Every business site we deliver already comes with SSL configured and the padlock active — no extra cost, no fine print.

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