SSL Certificates and SSL EV

[tristam]

I am looking into getting an SSL cert for my check out only. Although I only collect name address etc. customers have questioned me about the security of the check out page.

Have any others had improved sales from having SSL at the check out?

Will SSL EV improve people opinion that you have a secure site it further? EV tends to be quite a bit more expensive so I would like to know if it is worth the extra expense.

[Mike Hughes]

I do have SSL on the checkout but can't say it really makes any difference one way or another.

I personally wouldn't bother with EV as I think all that really does is confirm that you're not someone else pretending to be you. Not a problem I'd have thought for a pen shop, even an upmarket one.

At the end of the day, I think that although the requirement for SSL is to do with security, if you're just collecting customers delivery details for low value items then we know it's not really necessary. So it then becomes more about your customers perceived need for it (or in other words how scary they think ordering is online).

I think most people have become comfortable with ordering online now and are no longer oversensitive to the risks involved. If you think your customers might be older / more cautious / more risk averse than typical then it might be something worth considering but I probably wouldn't worry about it for a mainstream.business.

[tristam]

I can get a standard ssl from my host for £14.99 and they will install it so will probably do this. A lot of my customers are old and possibly paranoid. I had one phone me the other day and said he didn't trust my check out as I had no padlock so he wanted to give his card details over the phone instead!!!

[Mike Hughes]

Yes, I had something similar many years ago which is why I set up SSL in the first place.

SSL is cheap and easy to do these days. The only thing to watch out for is that Google has a tendency to prefer SSL over non-SSL pages so you might need to set up a canonical tag on your pages telling them to use the non-SSL version.

Mike

[tristam]

I think I will go for the Rapid SSL for £14.99 from my host and installed by them. I will put this on my check out pages to start with and then look into going site wide.