Cheap SSL Certificate UK: Why Costly Certificates Are Not Worthwhile?
Normally, we think expensive price tags indicate that a product is high-quality, in daily life. However, things seem to be different when it comes to SSL certificates. Cheap SSL certificate UK is almost like a buzzword we all love, but expensive ones we never discuss.
This post from Grid Hosting will discuss the reasons behind it. We will see why the best SSL certificate UK does not necessarily have to be pricey.
This is no listicle post. We are not going to mention the top 10 SSL certificate providers.
Why Should You Try to Find an SSL Certificate At First Place?
SSL certificate protects your data and client-server communication. Moreover, it encrypts every bit of information, which is crucial when dealing with customers’ sensitive data—for example, passwords, addresses, credit card numbers, etc.
Also, it provides authentication to your website and helps achieve SEO goals. Google’s utmost priority is to keep users safe from scams. They changed their algorithms in 2014 to prioritize HTTPS enabled websites.
SSL improves customer trust. Yes, today’s customer is wiser than ever and know very well about SSL certificates. You have to buy SSL certificate UK to survive as an online business.
So definitely, taking some time to find the best SSL certificate for eCommerce site would be very wise of you. The price is another topic, and we are about to jump to that side.
Recent Developments in Favor of Cheap SSL Certificate UK
Gone are the days when expensive SSL certificates were in demand, and companies used to earn big revenues from their sales. Today’s era is all about finding the cheapest SSL certificate UK.
There were times when the green address bar of the SSL certificate was the symbol of trust for your audience, and it still is to some extent. However, hefty rates for that have lost their meaning.
The first developments happened at the end of 2018. Google declared that they would be giving less importance to HTTPS certificates in their search rankings now.
The second incident happened in mid-2020. Google and Apple announced that they will limit the validity of security certificates to one year before they start showing browser warnings.
The added impact of these two moves was the declining significance of expensive SSL providers. For sure, that doomed the future of the companies making an obscene profit from selling SSL certificates. The trend shifted towards cheap SSL certificate UK and even free of cost. Every UK SSL certificate provider had to adapt to the changing web landscape.
Does Expensive SSL Certificate Make Your Website Any Special?
Browsers displaying your website differently was the selling point of extended validation certificates in the past. Green address bar differentiated it. The aim of this greenery was to give visitors additional trust in your website and make you appear more legit.
However, this is history. Browsers are not making that distinction any longer. Even if you visit websites with presumably one of the most vital SSL certificates in the world, like PayPal, you will not notice anything green in the address bar.
Does that signify PayPal is no more different than your eCommerce store? No, but that means paying hefty prices for expensive certificates does not make sense.
The Similar Levels of Security
Security has been democratized by open-source and widespread encryption tools. Similar levels of encryption are available to sensitive banking systems and ordinary websites.
The math of encryption has nothing to do with price tags. It works in either case. So spending on heavy price tags is not worthwhile when you can find the same level of security in any cheap SSL certificate UK.
Paid SSL certificates are expensive. Renewals can even cost you more than hosting.
Should You Prefer Free SSL Certificate Over Cheap SSL Certificate UK?
The answer is no. Free SSL certificates are great, but removing the price tag cannot be reasonless. Looking for the best-paid SSL certificates and doing SSL certificate price comparison is more considerable than buying any random free certificate.
However, we have to shed light on some basic concepts to explain those reasons.
Free SSL Certificates
Web owners can use as many free SSL certificates as they need. However, one certificate will not work for more than one domain. There are two kinds of free SSL certificates. First is self-signed, and an authority signs the other.
Here are the limitations that free SSL certificates come with:
Only Domain Validation
It is limited to domain validation (DV) only.
Limited Use
Businesses require financial data collection, which free certificates are incapable of. However, blogging websites with no data collection can work fine.
Dedicated business owners and website owners need Organization Validated or Extended Validation certificates. Otherwise, they can’t prove their legitimacy.
Validity Period
You have to renew it every one to three months.
Non-reliable Technical Support
Do not expect excellent technical support. However, you can rely on the forums where free SSL users gather to discuss free SSL issues with each other.
Level of Trust
There is no assurance of proper encryption and protection in free SSL certificates.
Warranty
Free SSL certificates do not provide any warranty. When data breaches and cyber-attacks happen, warranty money is the only resort to rebuild the company’s website and pay for the data breach penalties.
Paid SSL certificates
Paid SSL certificates come in these three options:
Domain Validated SSL
Domain Validated certificate only checks against the domain registry. Therefore, there is no complex vetting process required to acquire it.
Organization Validated SSL
These SSL certificates comply with particular standards that show all necessary information to validate an organization. Finally, the Certificate Authority (CA) authenticates the identity of the Organization. That may take a couple of days.
Extension Validated SSL
CA conducts a strict validation for Extended Validated SSL. Trained agents authenticate the business identity. They use the business registry databases that the governments host.
Putting It All Together
The paid but Cheap SSL Certificate UK is better for your websites as compared to both the expensive ones and the free ones. It gives you various choices, extended validity periods and excellent technical support.
Feel free to reach out to the Grid Hosting team if you want to inquire more about SSL certificates.
