The best SSL for your personal website

So you need an SSL. But how do you know the right one to choose? There are so many on the market, so it’s understandable if reading about the many options available leaves you a little confused. Particularly if you don’t have multiple sites or a high-earning e-commerce store to look after. What if you just have a basic website for personal use or a small business venture? Then you should probably go for the perfect entry-level certificate: Positive SSL.

Read on to find out more about PositiveSSL and all its benefits. First, a quick reminder of what SSL is.

Why SSL?

PositiveSSL is a type of SSL certificate. SSL is an important security addition to any modern website. Not only does it ensure that any data sent between your site and a user’s browser is encrypted (impossible to read by prying eyes), it can help boost your site’s SEO and will guarantee your website works in major web browsers. Most browsers today expect websites to have SSL certificates. No exceptions. When a website doesn’t have an SSL, browsers send messages to potential visitors flagging the site as “not secure”. Most visitors turn away at that point. Basically, going without an SSL will probably lose you a lot of users. 

Okay, so that’s your SSL primer out of the way. But what sets PositiveSSL apart from other SSL certificates on the market?

The benefits of PositiveSSL

The nice thing about PositiveSSL is that it’s an affordable, no-frills certificate, perfect for simple websites that don’t require much interactivity from its visitors. If you have a blog, portfolio, or static informational website, PositiveSSL is likely the way to go. 

PositiveSSL is the cheapest SSL you can get, probably because it offers Domain Validation (DV). Validation level is the level of assurance an SSL can have, referring to the amount of background checks the issuing Certificate Authority (CA) will perform before giving you your SSL. This can range from minimal to extensive. DV has very minimal checks. The CA will simply verify that you have access to the admin email of the site you wish to protect and then issue your SSL. This also makes it one of the fastest SSL certificates to get. 

Low-level assurance might sound bad, but high-level assurance is really only necessary for big e-commerce sites. This is because the more checks the CA performs, the more information will be included in the SSL about the company. This is important for websites that ask for credit card information or personal details from users because users want to verify who’s behind the website and whether or not it’s legit. If you’re just using your site to display information, it isn’t as big of a deal. 

But don’t think the low level of assurance somehow makes it weaker than other SSL certificates. A fun fact about SSL is that the majority of SSL certificates available in today’s market offer the same level of encryption: 256-bit encryption strength with a powerful 2048-bit signature key. So you don’t need to worry about your website somehow being less safe. It will be just as protected as a site with the highest validation level.

Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you learn more about SSL and whether a PositiveSSL is the right fit for you. If you have a simple site that needs SSL security, you should strongly consider giving PositiveSSL a try.