Secure online forms

When your site uses only simple web forms, consisting of fields like Name, Email, Subject, you don't have reasons to think of using secure forms. But when you create advanced web forms, that require sensitive data from customers, you should consider using secure online forms.

Secure online forms are exactly like regular web forms, but the the entire form content (fields and entered data) is encrypted. Usually, this is done using a SSL certificate, which is installed on the server that hosts the forms. After installing the SSL certificate, your visitors can access the forms through the HTTPS protocol, and they can be confident that the data they enter in the forms will be seen only by the form owner.

Installing a SSL certificate is not an easy task, and usually requires assistance from your hosting company. Also, SSL certificates have to be bought, and they cost from $25 to $500, depending on various options and settings you wish to use. This is why it is much easier to use remote secure online forms, created with 3rd party form processors. While there are a lot of options out there, let me show you the best three I found: 123ContactForm offers secure order forms if you choose the $19.95 Platinum plan; Wufoo offers SSL encryption starting with the $29.95 Bona Fide plan; FormStack offers SSL forms starting with the $14 Starter plan.