Wildcard SSL Certificate: why opt for one?
The SSL certificate is a technology which allows you to quickly prove your website and your company’s identities to your online users. The Secure Sockets Layer Certificate is a file on your webserver that ensures that all communications between your website and its users are properly secured. But what are the differences between a typical SSL certificate and the Wildcard SSL certificate? What are the key benefits in opting for a Wildcard SSL certificate?
What is a Wildcard SSL certificate?
The Wildcard SSL certificate can not only do everything a basic SSL certificate does, but also protects every subdomain for any given domain. What does this mean? As an example, let’s say you assign a Wildcard SSL certificate to “*.gandi.com”. This certificate will apply to “gandi.com”, but also to any of its subdomains, such as “blog.gandi.com”, “shop.gandi.com”, “contact.gandi.com” and so on.
How does a Wildcard SSL certificate work?
How a Wildcard SSL certificate works is actually quite simple. All it requires is for you to generate a certificate for a domain name by using the following syntax: “*.example.com”. This Wildcard SSL certificate will then be applied to the main domain “example.com” as well as to all of its subdomains. It’s the asterisk (*) that makes all the difference, and it is also a quick and simple way to identify a Wildcard SSL certificate. The Wildcard SSL certificate thus protects every subdomain of the chosen domain name without requiring any additional purchases or setup.
Why should I use a Wildcard SSL certificate?
This type of SSL certificate provides you with many advantages. But which are the main benefits of using such a certificate?
Securing every subdomain
As previously mentioned, the Wildcard SSL certificate helps securing a domain name and all its subdomains. While creating new subdomains used to mean that you had to get an individual SSL certificate for each of them, they may now all be managed and secured by a single certificate. How is this advantageous? The Wildcard SSL certificate not only protects existing subdomains, but also future subdomains you may decide to create later on. Thus, you will never have to worry about securing new subdomains, as the Wildcard SSL certificate will include them automatically without further action.
Easier to manage
Renewing SSL certificates can be a time-consuming endeavor. Having to manage serveral subdomains to which individual SSL certificates are assigned is a significant time sink. By only having a single Wildcard SSL certificate which applies to all of your subdomains, renewing can be done a lot faster and more effectively.
A more affordable option
SSL certificates can get quite costly. And when a dedicated certificate is required for each of your subdomains, those expenses definitely add up!
Thus, the Wildcard SSL certificate is the go-to option when it comes to securing multiple subdomains at once. One certificate for a plethora of advantages!
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