SSL (Secure Sockets Layer, though modern implementations technically use its successor, TLS) is the technology behind the padlock icon in a browser's address bar, and behind the "https" instead of "http" at the start of a web address. It's gone from optional to essentially mandatory for any legitimate website.
SSL encrypts data transmitted between a visitor's browser and a website's server, preventing that data from being intercepted and read by anyone in between. This matters enormously for anything involving sensitive information — passwords, payment details, personal data — but has become a baseline expectation for every website, not just ones handling obviously sensitive data.
Browser warnings. Modern browsers actively flag sites without SSL as "Not Secure," which visibly damages trust the instant a visitor lands on the site, regardless of how legitimate the business is.
SEO impact. Google has confirmed HTTPS as a ranking signal, meaning a site without SSL is at a real, direct disadvantage in search results compared to otherwise-similar competitors that have it.
User trust. Even visitors who don't consciously understand SSL technically still register the visual cues (the padlock, the lack of a warning) as a baseline signal of legitimacy.
Most modern hosting providers offer free SSL certificates (commonly through Let's Encrypt), and many now enable this automatically by default. There's rarely a good reason to skip SSL today, given how accessible and often free it's become — a site still running without it is usually the result of oversight rather than a deliberate choice.
Domain Validated (DV) certificates are the simplest and most common, verifying only domain ownership — sufficient for most standard websites. Organization Validated (OV) and Extended Validation (EV) certificates involve more rigorous verification of the actual business behind the site, sometimes used by financial institutions or businesses wanting to display additional visible trust signals, though the practical difference for most small businesses is minimal.
Look for "https://" and a padlock icon in the browser bar when visiting your own site, and check for any "mixed content" warnings, which occur when a page is technically served over HTTPS but still loads some resources (images, scripts) over the older, insecure HTTP.
SSL encrypts the connection between visitors and a website, and it's now a baseline requirement instead of an optional security feature — affecting browser trust signals, SEO rankings, and basic visitor confidence. With most hosts now offering it free and often automatically, there's little reason for any modern site to be running without it.
SSL (technically superseded by TLS, though the term SSL stuck) encrypts the connection between a visitor's browser and your server, so anything typed into a form — a password, a card number — can't be read if it's intercepted in transit. Without it, that data travels in plain text.
Beyond security, it's now effectively mandatory for other reasons: Chrome and other browsers flag non-HTTPS sites as 'Not Secure' directly in the address bar, and Google has confirmed HTTPS as a (minor) ranking signal. Most hosts now issue free certificates automatically via Let's Encrypt, so there's rarely a reason a modern site should be running without one.