SSL Certificates

Secure your website data and transactions with a trusted SSL certificate. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. To be able to create an encrypted connection, a web server requires an SSL Certificate.

How much do they cost?

Web Directions can provide your website with an SSL certificate. Payments for this will be included in your monthly direct debit, along with your hosting and email services.

SSL Security - Standard
(Plesk)

£36.72 +VAT per year
£3.06 +VAT per month

Domain Validation (DV) – checks domain ownership
Per single domain
Great for small businesses that handle sensitive data
Assists your ranking in search results

PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE RATES, PAID MONTHLY TO US VIA DIRECT DEBIT, WILL RISE ON THE 29TH OF AUGUST EACH YEAR IN LINE WITH INFLATION.

SSL - Security - Advanced
(Names C)

£66.12 +VAT per year
£5.51 +VAT per month

Organisation Validation (OV) – checks organisation information
Per single domain
Great for large businesses that handle E-Commerce transactions and / or sensitive data
Assists your ranking in search results
Increased warranty

PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE RATES, PAID MONTHLY TO US VIA DIRECT DEBIT, WILL RISE ON THE 29TH OF AUGUST EACH YEAR IN LINE WITH INFLATION.

Do I need one?

This is important because the information you send on the internet is passed from computer to computer to get to the destination server. Any computer in between you and the server can see you or your clients credit card numbers, usernames and passwords, and other sensitive information if it is not encrypted with an SSL certificate.

It is not just payment details collected by E-commerce websites that should be protected, but it is also important to protect data submitted through a contact form.

Please note if you do not have a SSL Certificate your website will function perfectly well aesthetically and will always be picked up by Google. However, Google favours HTTPS-encrypted websites over non-encrypted HTTP websites, and will therefore push them higher up in the search results. An SSL certificate shows Google that the website’s ownership has been ‘Authenticated’, it has ‘Data Integrity’, and is ‘Encrypted’. So, if you have the extra £5.00 + vat in your monthly budget, it is something for you to consider. This cost is added to your domain, hosting, and emails payments as applicable.

How does it work?

SSL Certificates are small data files that digitally bind a cryptographic key to an organisation’s details. When installed on a web server, it activates the padlock and the https protocol and allows secure connections from a web server to a browser. After the secure connection is made, the session key is used to encrypt all transmitted data. The browser connects to a web server (website) secured with SSL (https). The browser requests that the server identify itself. The server then sends a copy of its SSL Certificate, including the server’s public key.

Do I already have one?

The simple way to check if your website has an SSL certificate, is to look at the browser address bar. If the website URL starts with https:// then it has an SSL certificate. If it is just http:// then it doesn’t.