The success of every website depends upon several factors. Digital marketing and user experience are some of the most important factors every website owner must invest in to succeed. Each of these elements has multiple factors that influence them, but it is at the SSL certificate where the two meet. This article will briefly discuss the fundamentals of UX and digital marketing, and SSL certificate. We will then see how SSL certificates impact the two elements.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is a broad subject of discussion. It is a form of marketing that employs digital or electronic media in conveying promotional/advertisement messages to target recipients. Usually, digital marketing appears on computers, phones, tablets, or any other electronic device and can take the form of videos, social media ads, or other forms. Digital marketing is an important aspect of every business with an online presence. A Content Marketing Institute’s survey points out that close to 86% of marketers and eCommerce store owners will significantly intensify their brand awareness by employing just a single digital marketing channel.
But where exactly does an SSL certificate fit in digital marketing? What role does it play? Which type of certificate is best for digital marketing? If you have these questions in mind, just hold on a little longer. We will tackle them later.
User Experience
User Experience is another significant subject that focuses on the most important element of a website- Users. It addresses the question of how website visitors interact with your website. What happens when website visitors land on your website? Is it easy for users to flawlessly browse your web pages? Will they navigate your website with confidence? How secure are users as they navigate through your website? UX answers all these questions. But it is the security element that brings in the need for SSL certificates. I will expound more on the impact of SSL certificates on user experience. For now, let us look at what an SSL certificate is.
SSL Certificate- UX and Digital Marketing
HTTP and HTTPS are two transfer protocols that help transmit data between website visitors and website servers. The S might seem a slight difference, but it is very significant. What differentiates the two transfer protocols is that HTTPS has an SSL certificate. There are many ways to describe what the SSL certificate is, but it is easier to understand it as a tool that facilitates the encryption of data as it travels through the internet. Think of it as a padlock that locks all sensitive data from unauthorized entries.
But then, what has a security tool have to do with digital marketing or user experience? Isn’t the work of the SSL certificate just data encryption? The certificate is primarily concerned with data encryption, but it also has other roles on websites.
SSL Certificate as a Tool For Digital marketing
Search engine optimization is one of the most notable aspects of digital marketing. SEO focuses on all the strategies, mechanisms, and procedures that aim to improve the visibility of your web pages in search engines. There are numerous factors that can help to boost your ranks in search engines. One of the most pocket-friendly ways to achieve top ranks in search engines is migrating your website from HTTP to HTTPS. And to do this, you need an SSL certificate.
The SSL factor entered the list of search engines’ ranking algorithms when Google announced that websites operating over the HTTPS protocol would rank higher than HTTP websites. This move was primarily meant to trigger internet security by rewarding those who valued their customers’ privacy with high search engine rankings.
Ever since Google announced the use of SSL as a ranking factor, more and more HTTPS pages have continued to occupy the first pages in search engines. This explains why the HTTPS protocol served most web pages (89%) that loaded on Google Chrome in January 2021.
Previous studies seem to concur with the fact that HTTPS websites receive much priority in search engine rankings. According to a 2015 Moz Study, the relationship between HTTPS and high rankings in search engines is slightly positively correlated.
SSL certificate is thus an excellent digital marketing tool that will put your website right at the feet of your customers and prospects. To receive the marketing benefits of HTTPS, you will have to purchase an SSL certificate. Comodo SSL certificates, GeoTrust SSL certificates, and Rapid SSL certificates are among the most prominent names you can consider when choosing an SSL certificate.
The Impact of SSL Certificates on UX
When discussing the relationship between SSL and UX, we have to look at it from two perspectives. First, we have the security perspective.
Like I mentioned earlier, security is the primary role for the existence of SSL certificates. Your website’s sensitive data becomes susceptible to public view without the certificate. And intruders and unauthorized people with ill-intentions will access the data and do what they want with it. Now, imagine how horrible it will be for users when their data is exposed to third parties.
Users know the essence of SSL certificates, and this is the reason why before transacting with you or sharing any sensitive information with your website, they will first do their due diligence to establish if or not your website is secure. And most know how to check if or not a website has an SSL certificate. They will simply check the URL address. Users understand that websites whose URLs start with HTTP are insecure, whereas those whose URLs begin with HTTPS are secure. Security gives your web visitors a sense of confidence as they browse through your site. They are sure of their safety and will share all their sensitive information without fear.
Secondly, we should look at the relation between UX and SSL certificate from the Trust perspective. It is true that the internet is now home to an uncountable number of fake websites out to extort money and resources from unsuspecting victims. Cases where website visitors share their sensitive information with scammers, are now so common. Website users have become wary and will want to establish whether or not your site is genuine before they share any data with you. The SSL certificate is a sure way of showing your users that you are genuine and not just a scammer masquerading as an actual website but with ill-motives of stealing from users.
The simple logic behind the trust factor with SSL certificates is that before a Certificate authority (the organization providing the certificate) issues an SSL certificate to a website owner, the CA will first establish that the person or company requesting the certificate is genuine. If the requestor’s validity is in doubt, the certificate authority will suspend the issuance of an SSL certificate. Furthermore, all information about you or your business will be attached to the certificate. As such, your website visitors will browse through your website with confidence, which is a great thing for their user experience.
Conclusion
SSL certificates are without doubt indispensable ingredients of every website security. Without them, your website will be vulnerable to attacks. Apart from security, they also play a crucial role in user experience and digital marketing. This article has explained the impact that SSL certificates have on UX and digital marketing.
