It really depends on what you are doing. If its brand based work I would suggest it, if its just a run of the mill site selling stuff you can get away with out it. Secure is secure really. In my experience its somewhat of a budget issue as well. hope that helps, Nigel
In my opinion it is helpful to sites that aren't well known. Everyone is cautious of fraud these days; something like this can add to their comfort level that it's a legitimate business. It's all about perception with users. Lee
With the help of Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificate your can prevent your website from major attacks like Phishing, Trojan, Spyware, etc,. EV certificate turns your address bar into a green bar which is a sign of authentication so Your clients would be easily find, your website highly authenticated and make purchase without hesitation. It assures that the user is corresponding to a legitimate website not a fraud site. Even social media like twitter, online payment sites like paypal, have adopted EV certificate for user safety. EV offers you dual advantage of domain and business validation. EV is superior in terms of security than any other certs. For more information visit: https://www.clickssl.com/blog/ev-ssl-certificate-helps-to-increase-revenue-and-profits/
What sort of sales volume do you currently have? If you have steady and established sales currently, and do not have EV, then it could definitely help. I did a brief writeup on trust seals a few years ago. Same concept would apply to an EV cert: http://www.ecommerce-blog.org/archives/what-is-a-trust-seal-actually-worth/ Bottom line is that if you have steady existing sales, the cost could be worth it. If this is a brand new site, I would skip it until you are selling $5,000 - $10,000 or so per month minimum. With EV definitely get the cheapest one out there. Consumers don't care if it was from Verisign or Godaddy. A green bar is a green bar.
I would tend to disagree. If you are a brand new site you need to start building instant trust with your visitors as you are an unknown. The way to do this is via an EV cert (Green Address Bar). With prices under $150 a year for EV it is not a lot to spend.
That's a good point. When I wrote that article, which was trust seal targeted, the cheapest available was the Comodo one what was around $500 per year, Verisign was about $2000. I still wouldn't go around expecting the 20 - 70% conversion increases that SSL retails go around quoting. It's very difficult to find objective A-B tests on EV effectiveness as well.
It will be difficult to get objective tests. We saw a 38% increase in conversions going 100% EV (but we could be perceived as biased). Here is a third party study on effectiveness of trust seals though: http://baymard.com/blog/site-seal-trust It is important to note that trust and security is more about perception than reality.
Definitely get a certificate. Not only to build your brand but to prevent any hackers from getting your information. Just look at the embarrassment it caused Linkedin and LivingSocial.
You need a certificate. You shouldn't run a site without one. It's my feeling that all sites should use SSL for every page. It's just good business, and it's affordable. On the other hand, in practical every day marketing and operational terms, it makes little difference what kind of certificate you're using. You can use first tier or chained, regular or extended coverage. A cheap geo-trust certificate will do what you need it to do for e-commerce. When you buy a more expensive certificate, you're still getting the same thing as you do with a cheaper certificate. The price isn't what decides the quality of it, and thought to the contrary is troubling. When you pay more, you're just getting a bundle with extra stuff, that quite honestly, you might not even need. Oh, and pretty stickers that say things like "This site was security scanned today." Silliness. Only caveat to that is to make sure that whatever certificate you buy is accepted in by all browsers. Firefox can be fickle about certain popular certificate authorities.
you'll need an IP for your Server/shared hosting. there are 100s of SSL for you to buy? from $8 -$2000