As the Internet expands, new websites become available day-by-day, each with goals ranging from sale of products to the advertising of specific contents.
Along with this growth of the digital world, we see a rise in problems, such as individuals trying to advantage of security weaknesses and use them for their own benefit.
If your concern is making your online radio station a safe environment for your audience, your website visitors, and all who listen to your station on their mobile phones, understanding and having an active SSL certificate is extremely important.
Therefore, we’ll explain what the SSL certificate is and why it’s so essential.
Check it out!
What is an SSL certificate?
SSL certificate is an abbreviation for Secure Socket Layer, which is a global security protocol with the main objective of guaranteeing a safe connection between your audience and your website.
It guarantees the security of the data being shared.
This security is made through cryptography, that is, coding which prevents that the data shared between your site and its users could be intercepted by malicious individuals.
Not only that, the SSL certificate prevents that any information being shared between visitor and website, or vice-versa, could be changed in any way.
In other word, with a verified SSL Certificate, your visitor is guaranteed access to your radio station and its legitimate content; completely unaltered by a third party.
Also, any data that the user inputs on your website will be safely received by no one except you, in its full and original form.
A website without SSL certification can have its data traffic intercepted by hackers, and all data exchanged can be intercepted or altered.
By applying an SSL certificate, the data traffic is protected by cryptographic algorithms which in turn prevent third parties from accessing information.
You can easily notice that all the large websites already possess a security certificate.
It’s indispensable for a working website, as well as for the protection of people who browse it.
The importance of this tool is so great that in 2017 Google sent out and official notice, informing that it would henceforth provide and explicit warning during web browsing, showing users which websites did not contain a verified SSL certificate.
How to identify a site containing an SSL certificate?
Now that you know the importance of the SSL certificate, the next step is checking if your radio station has this tool, and that it’s active.
As you access your website using Google Chrome, check the warning displayed on the address bar.
Sites which contain an SSL certificate show a closed padlock, It means that this specific website has a safe connection.
As for sites without SSL certificate, you’ll see an icon with the letter ‘i’ in its center with a ‘not safe’ message displayed next to it.
There is a third variation of the message; when only an icon with the letter ‘i’ is displayed.
This means that the website itself has the SSL certificate, but one of its specific elements does not.
This could mean that an image, script, document, or even your station’s streaming still lacks this security certificate.
In some browsers, Internet Explore for example, this warning may be displayed in the lower portion of the screen.
What guarantees safety in an SSL certificate?
An SSL certificate uses cryptography on all data shared between the user’s computer and your website.
Cryptography is a technique of encoding information, making it accessible only for those who have a key to decode the data before reading it.
For SSL certificates, only the user’s computer and your website have the access key to decode the cryptography, making data interception by third parties impossible.
The benefits of the SSL certificate for your radio station
Security
The main benefit to be considered in activating an SSL certificate in your station is without a doubt, security.
Due to the cryptography of a website, set in HTTPS (that being, with a verified and active SSL certificate) your website’s and users’ security will be elevated.
Visual aspect
A station without an SSL certificate is negatively affected by the “not safe” warning displayed by browsers.
Having a website with an SSL certificate, therefore guarantees that the user is able to focus on what’s important for them; your station’s content and not negative warnings on their screen.
Credibility and the user’s trust of your website
As consequence of the first and second benefits, the users will visit your website even more and not feel concerned about their information while listening to your station.
This will make your credibility increase as whole, resulting in more people accessing your radio station and listening to it for longer periods of time!
SEO
SEO (Search engine optimization) is extremely important for obtaining a good position on Google search.
Being ranked highly on Google search will consequently make you reach even more listeners and visitors for your radio station.
One of the key elements for good positioning on Google is having an SSL certificate.
Websites that do not possess SSL certificates are negatively affected by Google’s ranking algorithm.
This could make a significant difference between an stagnant station and a station that grows daily.
Conclusion
Having a radio station with SSL certificate is no longer a luxury or something optional.
Not only it guarantees your station’s security and trustworthiness, but the SSL certificate also guarantees better positioning in Google’s search mechanisms.
It also causes a better impression on the users since these who will not receive negative messages informing them that your website isn’t safe.
BRLOGIC is a pioneer and its online radio station system is fully integrated with SSL certification, at no extra cost.
It means your radio station will be streaming on the web under a HTTPS address, easily and without the need for additional configurations.
Learn about all of BRLOGIC’s features through our free trial period!
It’s 7 days to test our features, without commitment. Are you interested?
Click here to create you station now!
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