Social Media is quickly becoming the post popular and most used websites amongst internet goers and is the new status quo for communication around the world. Due to this rise of popularity and the amount of private content people post on their Facebook webpages, Facebook is now requiring SSL certificates for all apps, including customized business webpages, if it has any embedded content from a website other than Facebook.

To start off, SSL stands for Secure Socket Layers, and SSL certificates allow for secure connections between the web server and the web browser. In general, SSL certificates are used to secure credit card transactions, logins, data, and will now be used for browsing social media sites like Facebook. Having this certificate keeps criminals and thieves from stealing your customers’ private information like their passwords, credit card numbers, and addresses.

Information flows through the internet through a chain of computers and servers until it gets to its final destination. If a website or webpage is not secure (AKA - does not have an SSL certificate) then any computer between you and the end server has the potential to see all of the information your sending. As you can imagine, this makes it very easy for people to steal valuable information.

This is where SSL certificates come into play. The SSL certificate encrypts data that is passing through the website and allows only the correct server to see the information and not one with malicious intentions. SSL certificates allow users to be sure they are sending information to the correct server through the use of https.

If you look at the web address bar on your browser, you’ll notice an “http:” before any website you visit. What SSL certificates do is add an “s” to the end of this so it reads “https:” (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) This lets the user know that the site is secure and it is okay to input private information. This important to have on your website because it helps your customers feel safe and gains their trust.

Facebook is requiring customized business pages to have a SSL certificate because there is now a setting for Facebook users to surf Facebook in a completely secure mode. So if you want to make sure your page is visible to everyone, the SSL certificate is going to make that happen. Plus, Facebook will not let you post any custom apps or webpages that are not being fed from an SSL webpage.

So what does this mean for your business page?

Basically it means that if you want your custom page to stay on Facebook (which lately is dominating the World Wide Web), you’ll have to purchase and set up an SSL certificate.  You will have to complete the Secure Canvas URL and Secure Tab URL on your Facebook account and complete the fields in the Developer App portion of your page with the related information.

SSL certificates usually go for around $50 - $100 and are valid for one year. 10 Pound Gorilla is making all this easier for you, by offering group hosted SSL Facebook pages for $50 a year.