← Answers·websites·informational

    What is an SSL certificate and do I need one?

    Reviewed by Taylor Moses, Co-Founder, Strategy & Web·

    Direct Answer

    An SSL certificate encrypts data between a browser and a website, displayed as the 'https://' lock icon in the URL bar. Yes, every business website needs one — Chrome and Safari mark non-SSL sites as 'Not Secure,' Google penalizes ranking, and most modern hosts (Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify, managed WordPress) include free SSL via Let's Encrypt.

    Voice answer (≤30 words)

    “An SSL certificate encrypts data between browsers and websites. Every business site needs one and most modern hosts include it free.”

    Let's Encrypt SSL is free and renews automatically every 90 days when configured properly.

    Paid SSL ($50–$500/year) is rarely worth it for service businesses — only enterprises with strict compliance buy them.

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