An SSL certificate is a digital certification used to verify a website’s authenticity and trustworthiness to visitors. Furthermore, it encrypts data or information transmitted from the visitor’s browser to the web server.
SSL certificates are provided by Certificate Authorities (CAs), which are reputable third-party companies that confirm the legitimacy of the website and its proprietor. When a website has an SSL certificate installed, the communication between the website as well as the visitor’s browsers is encrypted and secured. Thus, hackers will find it considerably more difficult to intercept and steal your personal data.
SSL certificates are essential for those websites that deal with sensitive data, such as online retailers (like eCommerce websites) and financial services. If a website has an SSL certificate installed, many web browsers (like Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc) will show a green padlock in the address bar. There are several types of SSL certificates and most of you haven’t heard of them, each has its unique set of capabilities. Below are different SSL certificate types you can choose the right one for your website.
- Standard SSL Certificates
- Wildcard SSL Certificates
- Extended Validation SSL Certificates
- Multi-Domain SSL Certificates (MDC)
- UCC SSL Certificates
- San Certificate
- Code Signing Certificate
1. Standard SSL Certificates
A standard SSL certificate is the most basic type of SSL certificate that can be provided to any website. When providing a standard SSL certificate, the Certificate Authority (CA) will do a common set of verification on the applicants. After confirming the website’s domain authority and ownership, the certificate authority (CA) will provide a domain validated (DV) certificate, which is the kind of SSL certificate used by the majority of websites. These certificates were issued using the CA/B forum’s approved technique. They provide a basic level of security and are typically used for websites that don’t handle much sensitive information. Standard SSL Certificates are an excellent solution for beginners, small enterprises, and personal blog websites.
2. Wildcard SSL Certificates
Wildcard SSL Certificates are a good choice for websites that have multiple subdomains. With a Wildcard SSL Certificate, you can secure all of your subdomains with a single certificate. For example:
payments.yourdomain.com
login.yourdomain.com
mail.yourdomain.com
checkout.yourdomain.com
other.yourdomain.com
3. Extended Validation SSL Certificates (EV SSL)
Extended Validation SSL Certificates are the most secure type of SSL Certificate. Extended Validation SSL certificates provide an exceptional level of security and protection, which ultimately boosts customers’ trust. EV SSL certificates provide a high degree of protection against phishing scams, email frauds, as well as other online threats.
It includes your company name in the URL, indicating to consumers that the company is legitimate and has been confirmed by a reputable SSL certificate authority (CA). This will increase your online traffic which ultimately boosts your business’s growth.
Another feature of an EV SSL certificate is the ability to safeguard numerous domains (up to 100) with just a single EV certificate. Its name is “EV Multi-Domain SSL certificate.” Extended Validation SSL Certificates are suitable for big organizations or eCommerce websites.
4. Multi-Domain SSL Certificates (MDC)
Multi-Domain SSL Certificates are a good choice for businesses with multiple websites. With a Multi-Domain SSL Certificate, you can secure up to 100 different domains with a single certificate. For example:
www.yourwebsite.com
yourwebsite.org
mail.yourwebsite.net
yourwebsite.anything.com.au
checkout.yourwebsite.com
secure.yourwebsite.org
5. UCC SSL Certificates
UCC SSL Certificates stands for Unified Communications Certificate, are also great choices for businesses with multiple domains. UCCs were first created to safeguard servers for Live Communications and Microsoft Exchange. Today, anybody who owns a website can employ these certificates to allow securing several domain names with a single certificate. UCC Certifications are organizationally certified and displayed as a padlock in a browser. UCCs can be used in place of EV SSL certificates to provide the maximum confidence level to website visitors by adopting a green address bar. To choose the appropriate SSL certificate for your website, you must know the many kinds of certifications.
6. San Certificate
Subject Alternate Name (SAN) certificate is a kind of digital security certification that enables the security of several hostnames to be provided by a single certificate. There are many other names for SAN certificates, including Unified Communication Certificate (or UCC), Multi-Domain Certificate (or MDC), and Exchange certificate (or EAC). San Certificates are good for businesses with multiple websites or online stores.
7. Code Signing Certificate
A Code Signing Certificate is a digital certification that a Certificate Authority (CA), such as GlobalSign, issues and contains information that identifies a company. A public key is mathematically connected to a set of private keys and is linked to an organization’s identification via a digital certificate. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is the application of both private and public key systems. To authenticate the developer’s identification, the end user utilizes the developer’s public key to sign code with the developer’s private key.
Conclusion
As you can clearly see, keeping confidence with your customers and visitors depends on having a trusted bond. With a proper and authentic SSL certificate not only you are protecting your website but also you are winning your visitor’s trust. After all, there is nothing more essential in the digital world than assuring that your personal data is kept safe and secure.
Here are three essential SSL things to keep in mind:
- If a website uses HTTP rather than HTTPS, the browser transmits all the data to the web server via plain text format. Anyone who is keeping an eye on that online traffic will access that data. But with HTTPS you have encrypted your data, thus no one can see it.
- Your web traffic is encrypted if your website uses HTTPS as its protocol of choice in addition to having an SSL certificate installed on its server. It is crucial to secure any customer’s personal data by encrypting it.
- Last but not least, Google rewards those websites with SSL certificates by providing them with a higher position in its organic search results or your SERPs will boost.