How to Identify Secure Websites when Shopping Online

If it scares you to buy stuff online, it's probably because you don't know whether the website or the online merchant is safe or not. And it is only human nature to be afraid of something we don't know. If we are to evolve, however, and take advantage of the Internet has to offer, then we should learn how to shop online wisely.

Merchants who want to earn money selling products on the Internet know that if customers don't trust them, then they wouldn't make any sales. So a great number of businesses has taken the leap from brick and mortar to ecommerce. Ecommerce lets businesses reach customers from all over the world without having to spend a dime on travel expenses. And because of this, they have to find a way to gain the trust of customers, even without seeing them personally!

And thus was born encryption technology. Experts in ecommerce have developed this in order for merchants to accept payment from customers who order online with their personal information and credit cards on hand. They figure through encryption technology, people can send their information without the fear of being scammed. Through encryption technology, important information that should never be shared are kept secure and inaccessible by computer hackers.

How does it work? Encryption technology scrambles numbers and words so that they become indecipherable as they transfer from your computer to the merchant's system. Only system administrators with access to the merchant's account can decode the information for payment purposes.

Does this knowledge make you feel more secure? Not yet. How do we know that the merchant is using encryption technology? Any website that is capable of accepting payment should have an order page that has a different url address than any other page in the entire website. The so-called "checkout" or ordering page should start with https in its url address bar. Usually the address bar is highlighted in blue or yellow. Also, on the checkout page, you will notice a padlock on the bottom right corner of the screen. If you see an unbroken key at the top/bottom of the screen, it is also an element of a secure website.

There are plenty of ways for online shoppers to know whether a website is secure. Some elements that appear in a website such as pop-up ads and email solicitation should be considered red flags. Even though pop-up ads can be justified as a form of advertising, it is intrusive. And so is a website that is trying to get your email upon your first visit.

Knowing the difference between fake online stores and real merchants is a skill everyone has to learn in the Information Age. There's so much out there in the Internet jungle that we can explore, if only we learn to investigate and protect our online safety.