An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that encrypts information sent to a server using SSL technology as well as authenticates the identity of a website.
By using an SSL certificate data is scrambled into an undecipherable format that can only be unscrambled to a usable format with the proper decryption key.
With an SSL Certificate on your hosting account, you are able to securely process sensitive information include user data, passwords and financial (credit card) data.
SSL Certificates can be added to the Small Business and Business hosting plans for $80.00/year; this includes a Dedicated IP ($30.00/year value) at no additional cost.