Shopify now offers SSL Certificates on most of their online stores. Although Shopify’s checkout has been SSL enabled since their inception, the front end or catalogue portion of stores was traditionally not part of the SSL certificate, simply because it isn’t required to be secured at that level. What this new feature means is that visitors to your Shopify store will feel safer while shopping on your store, knowing that any information they enter anywhere on your store is perfectly secure. The SSL feature will also be available to all Shopify stores which signed up through uAfrica.com.
This is just another way that Shopify is improving both your experience as a merchant as well as your visitor’s experience to your store.
What is an SSL certificate?
An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates the identity of a website and encrypts information sent to the server using SSL technology. Encryption is the process of scrambling data into an undecipherable format that can only be returned to a readable format with the proper decryption key.
A certificate serves as an electronic “passport” that establishes an online entity’s credentials when doing business on the web. When an Internet user attempts to send confidential information to a Web server, the user’s browser accesses the server’s digital certificate and establishes a secure connection.
Why is an SSL certificate important for my store?
An SSL certificate is important for information security and building trust. Every visitor to your store will want to know that their information is kept private, and by offering SSL security, visitors will understand that they are protected from identity theft by visiting your store. While Shopify’s checkout has been secure since the platform’s inception, the new SSL feature will also allow you to secure the front end of your store, thereby allowing visitors to feel extra safe, and more trusting towards your site. This should help to reduce abandoned checkouts and increase conversion of sales on your store.
In addition, some of the major search engines, for example Google, are also offering minor rankings boosts to websites that are secure through SSL. This is good news then for organic traffic too.
Do I need to buy my own SSL certificate?
Absolutely not. Shopify will activate an SSL certificate on your store, for free, so there’s no need to buy your own.
Do I need to do anything after I have setup my SSL certificate?
That depends. If your store is registered with Google Webmaster Tools you will need to submit a new sitemap to Google for indexing. If you don’t use Google Webmaster Tools, then you don’t need to do anything. View more information on Google Webmaster Tools.
How can I activate SSL security on my store?
Inside your store admin, go to ‘Online Store’ then ‘Domains’, scroll down to the ‘SSL certificates’ section and click ‘Activate’. It’s that easy.
If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Shopify directly or email the team at support@shopify.com.
