Absolutely! It gives creditability feature to your customer that the shopping pages of website are perfectly encrypted with Security Layers! More Importantly it also provide security also
it is definitely a must! Majority of customers do not shop on the Internet for fear of credit card breach etc. Having a SSL definitely increases their confidence and assure that they are safe shopping on your site.
If you accept credit cards on your site, you must use SSL. It add security to pages where a user inputs their information. It is unnecessary for other pages unless the entire site itself should be secure.
I don't know about the 75%. But I am not going to buy anything online if the server is not secured Spot on
Let me put to you this way, can you afford & cover the costs of litigation if someone sues you because their credit card information was lifted from your website? If you've answered no, then having SSL is very important.
SSL is not required by any means, you won't get sued for not using a SSL certificate. However, it is not just a novelty and actually does secure your websites by encrypting your requests using their algorithm before the information is sent so the amount of "bit" that is included with your SSL is extremely important (e.g. 2048 bit, 1048 bit) because of the 'real' amount of encryption you are getting with your certificate. Without SSL, you will get a significant amount of reduced sales and people will lose confidence in your whole site. Even if you do not process credit card information, other sensitive information is just as important as credit card information and should be treated as so if you want a large amount of people to trust you and your brand. Which SSL certificate you buy is also important, because of the brand (e.g. VeriSign is the world's most recognized seal) and will depend on the conversion rates and the quality of the encryption. Green bar with Microsoft's IE browser is a way for Microsoft to generate income by using a special algorithm to make the bar 'green' so whether that is there is not really a matter unless you are a big organization. It does not matter if people know what a SSL is, browsers use it to tell if a site is insecure or not so users can easily close their browser and stop you from gaining profit you would of gained otherwise. That extra investment into a secured environment is well worth it considering the massive boost you get in sales from the confidence and assurance you give to your 'potential' customers knowing you have gone to extra lengths to keep their information safe.
While I do agree that most people don't know what SSL is or even look for the https, the cost of a cert is so low that it would only take one lost sale to make up for one. Right now Positive SSL has certs for $9.95 per year. Pretty hard to beat. By the way, I'm in no way affiliated with Positive SSL, but I do own a couple of their certs. Brandon
No, SSL isn't required unless you use an integrated payment processor or shopping cart. You can rest assured if you use PayPal or a major payment processor that has their own processing pages and SSL protection. Customers won't disclose CC info without SSL. High majority of customers can see the little lock on their browser to see if it has SSL or not and if it doesn't they're not going to jeopardize their payment info. You gotta remember new net people may not know what SSL is but they are ALL paranoid of internet scams and know what the lock means. You can get SSL for free if you use openSSL. It's easy to use.
For the pros: its gives your site a sense of credibility. Most online shoppers are very cautious when it comes to purchasing online. This is just me, but when i see the SSL brand logo on the online store i'm browsing, i become more confident that i can trust them. Some brands may be too pricey though.
Nice mix of preferences. I would say yes depending on the payment types accepted. You really don't need it if you use PayPal only... at least I don't think.
It's not a must but... it's a huge advantage. If you are serious about online commerce business then why not?
During the acceptance of payment there needs to be SSL implemented. The PROs are that you get to keep your merchant account (since it's usually a requirement for accepting payment) and your customers are more likely to trust you. The CON is cost and the implementation can be tricky based on your hosting set up. You want SSL available; else the liability of stolen credit/debit card information will be in your hands (liability insurance, anyone?