What is an SSL Certificate?

An SSL certificate is a digital certificate purchased by a website owner to create an encrypted connection between a website and website visitor’s device. This security tool allows private information like credit card details to transmit securely. Websites with an SSL certificate implemented feature ‘https’ instead of a ‘http’ at the beginning of the domain.

Do I need an SSL certificate for my website?

As a website owner, it becomes crucial to implement an SSL certificate to build trust with your web visitors and promote the type of interactivity and data sharing you need to be successful. Websites without SSL certificates can trigger warnings by browsers (see below) and are treated unfavorably in Google search engine result rankings (Medium.com).

How do I purchase an SSL certificate?

If you’re building your site on a platform like Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, or most managed WordPress products, SSL is handled for you automatically — it’s pre-installed and you won’t need to touch it. If you are self hosting a website, or utilizing a platform where an SSL certificate is not provided, you can buy SSL certificates directly from trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs) like name.com. name.com offers SSL certificates and domain names in bundles along with hosting, email and other web services.

How much does an SSL certificate cost in 2026?

In 2026, an SSL certificate cost ranges from completely free to over a thousand dollars per year, depending on the level of validation and features required. For a basic website with no or limited data sharing, free domain validation certificates are often sufficient. However, businesses that handle a lot of sensitive financial or healthcare data for instance may need a premium extended validation certificate, which costs more but provides the highest level of trust and identity verification.

Benefits of an SSL certificate

Installing an SSL certificate provides three main benefits: faster loading speeds, robust website security, and the elimination of browser warnings.

When using an SSL certificate to secure your website, you gain:

• Enhanced Loading Speeds: A secured website will typically load faster and have enhanced performance due to modern protocol efficiencies.
• Website Security: Secure communications make it much less likely that information will be intercepted or manipulated by malicious actors.
• Eliminate Browser Alerts: Visitors to an insecure website will see a warning that may deter them. SSL eliminates these alerts, which will help customers trust your online presence from the very first click.

Can I secure my domain without an SSL certificate?

No, you cannot achieve a fully secure HTTPS connection without a valid SSL or TLS certificate. Without it, web browsers will flag your site as not secure to visitors.

What are TCP ports?

TCP ports are standardized network endpoints that allow communication between two devices over the internet using the Transmission Control Protocol. Out of 65,535 available ports, only specific ones handle secure traffic.

Some of the most commonly used default TCP ports include:

• 21: FTP
• 22: SFTP/SSH
• 80: HTTP
• 443: SSL
• 990: FTPs
• 3306: MySQL

Each port serves a specific purpose, such as secure file transfers or database connections. Secure ports like 443 are encrypted through SSL certificates to protect your top level domain (TLD) traffic.

How does SSL work with HTTPS vs HTTP?

HTTPS uses SSL to encrypt data transmitted over the internet, whereas standard HTTP leaves data unencrypted and vulnerable. The most common place you will find HTTPS is on secure websites, such as online banking portals. SSL works with HTTPS through symmetric encryption using session keys and a series of TLS handshakes. The process breaks down into four straightforward steps:

1. Two communicating parties open a secure connection by initiating a TLS handshake and exchanging a public key.
2. Each party generates a session key, which encrypts and decrypts all communications after the initial handshake.
3. Both parties consistently use their temporary session key to securely send data.
4. After a session is complete, the old keys are discarded, and a new secure connection will require a new handshake.

This symmetric encryption allows two parties to securely decrypt and re-encrypt messages throughout the same session.

SSL vs TLS: what is the difference?

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the original cryptographic protocol used to authenticate connections, while TLS (Transport Layer Security) is the modern, upgraded version of SSL.
Is there a practical difference between SSL vs TLS? Yes. TLS 1.3, the standard in 2026, implements crucial security vulnerability fixes and offers faster handshake speeds than its predecessor. While people still use the term “SSL certificate”, modern certificates actually utilize TLS technology.