You have probably noticed that some websites sometime redirect you to a “https://” version of a page on their website. These pages will often display a green padlock or some other variant indicating that the webpage is secure – that’s because there’s a valid SSL Certificate behind it. While you often see big website making use of a SSL Certificate, any website can use one, and if you’re running some kind of e-commerce website, you should. On top of that, with a provider like GoDaddy, a SSL Certificate is affordable for most.

SSL Certificate Definition

In short, a SSL certificate is a little piece of software that encrypts the information that goes from and to the website of the Certificate owner. The Certificate basically protects the exchange of information between the website and its visitors from being compromised by a third party, whether it’d be intentionally or accidentally.

Typically, a SSL Certificate will contain information such as the Certificate owner’s name, whether it be an individual or a company, the Certificate’s serial number and expiration date, the Certificate owner’s public cryptographic key and the digital signature of the authority who issued the Certificate.

How Does a SSL Certificate Works

When a visitor enters a website that is protected by a SSL Certificate, a number of things happen sequentially:

1. The browser of the visitor ask that a secure session be initiated from the server hosting the website;
2. The server sends a digital copy of its certificate to the visitor’s brower;
3. The visitor’s browser then verifies that the certificate is a valid one, that it is used by the website for which it was issued, and that it was issued by a Certificate Authority that is trusted by the browser;
4. If the browser deems that certificate to be valid, it will generate a one-time session key, that it will encrypt using the server’s public key;
5. The browser will then send the encrypted session key to the server so that both the server and the browser have a copy;
6. The server will decrypt the session key with its private key;
7. This whole process which is called the SSL Handshake is now complete, and a secure connection is now established;
8. Looking at the web address bar, the visitor will see a padlock icon as well as “https://” at the start of the URL. This indicates that a secure connection is established. If you’re using GoDaddy’s Premium SSL Certificate (see below), the visitor will also see a green address bar that includes the Certificate owner’s name.

GoDaddy SSL Certificates

If you’re looking for a SSL Certificate, we recommend the GoDaddy SSL Certificates; they are reliable and reasonably priced. In fact, GoDaddy is the leading provider of SSL Certificates in the world. Here are some of the main features of GoDaddy’s SSL Certificates:

• Certificates are fully validated
• Up to 256-bit encryption
• 99% browser recognition
• 24/7 customer support
• Unlimited number of servers covered

GoDaddy offers two types of SSL Certificates, Standard SSL or Premium SSL.

The Standard SSL starts at $69.99 per year for a 1 year term, $62.99 per year for a 2 year term and $59.49 per year for a 3, 4 or 5 year term. Meanwhile, the Premium SSL is available at $99.99 per year for a 1 year term and $74.99 per year for a 2 year term.

***Special Offer by GoDaddy***
Use this link to purchase a Standard SSL Certificate for $12.99 per year

Learn more:
GoDaddy Web Hosting Review
GoDaddy SSL Certificates Purchase Information