HTTPS Certificate

You have finally finished that great product, and now you are ready to start selling it online - Congratulations! Before you start accepting credit card payments, there are a few important steps you should complete to ensure both your security and your customers'.

Credit Card Merchant Account

Obtain a credit card merchant account. Services such as Paypal.com are good to consider, or your bank/financial institution may offer credit card processing services as well.

Obtain an HTTPS Certificate

There are many companies (called Certificate Authorities) that offer HTTPS Certificates. These certificates are a way of helping ensure your customer's security of their sensitive information (such as their credit card information). Many of these companies offer affordable HTTPS Certificate services, many for $100 a year or less. You'll want to consider a higher-end certificate if your website requires more resources or has a large volume of sensitive information.

Through an HTTPS website or page, the information submitted is encrypted at the time the visitor submits the data on its way to the server to be processed.

Benefits of an HTTPS Certificate

HTTPS Certificates are important to help ensure your customer's sensitive information. They also help visitors feel more comfortable with your site, since many website users will looks for HTTPS in the URL or for a security symbol before entering their credit card information into a website.

HTTPS Certificates have universal browser compatibility, so they should work regardless of the web browser your customer is using.