SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer (also sometimes referred to as TLS or Transport Layer Security) and it is the main protocol used on the Web to ensure that traffic to and from a website is encrypted so third parties cannot intercept data (like your credit card information). SSL is important if you are accepting payments on your website. You don’t want the private information your customers send you to be intercepted by hackers. Many people will refuse to submit financial or other private information to a website that doesn’t offer SSL.

To learn more about how SSL works, visit http://computer.howstuffworks.com/encryption4.htm.

In order to use SSL to encrypt traffic to and from your website you need an SSL certificate. There are a wide variety of SSL certificates and certificate providers. Some certificates cost as little as 30 USD a year and some as much as 4,000 USD a year. What makes these certificates different from one another, and which one do you need? These questions...