A Comprehensive Guide To Different Types of SSL Certificates

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In our earlier guide, we learnedย basic, yet important things about SSL certificates.

In this guide, you will learn about different types of SSL certificates. Knowingย this will help you to get the right SSL certificate for your blog, website, orย organization.

The foremost thingย that you need to keep in mind is:

  • SSL certificates areย all about trust.

Useful SSL Related Terms To Know:

  • SSL: Secured Sockets Layer
  • CA: Certificate Authority
  • DV: Domain Validation
  • OV: Organization Validation
  • EV: Extended Validation
  • CSR:ย Certificateย Signing Request

There are several types of SSL certificates. They can be grouped based on:

  1. Validation level
  2. Number ofย secured domains/subdomains

Types of SSL certificates based on validation level

Domain Validation

For this type of SSLย certificate, domain validation is done using email or adding a DNS record.

In simple words, you need to validate your ownership of the domain name.

This kind ofย certificate can be obtained in a few minutes (or occasionally a few hours).ย This is ideal for those who donโ€™t have an organization & no extra security is needed.

It’s the cheapest kind of SSL certificate and is recommended where security is not the most vital factor (i.e blogs).

DV:

  • Cheap
  • Obtained in a maximum of a few hours
  • Best for blogs and other non-sensitive websites

Organization Validation

This isย the minimum certificate suggested for e-commerce portals.

The Certificate Authority (CA) validates domainย ownership & other information through the use of public databases.

The major difference between DV & OV is the company validation is doneย by the Certificate Authority. Itโ€™s not as extensive as EV (detailed below), but potentially better than DV.

OV:

  • Requires 2-3 businessย days to activate
  • No clearย advantage over DV certificates
  • Minimumย for e-commerce portals

Extended Validation

This type of certificate is highly recommendedย for any website where a transaction is happening.

Obtaining the DV & OC certificatesย areย easy, whereas EV certificates require a strictย authentication process.

Thisย typeย ofย certificateย displaysย theย organizationย theย certificateย wasย issuedย toย inย theย browser.

Most banking, finance, and e-commerce site use EVย certificates as it offers the most popular greenย HTTPSย addressย bar.

You can readย theย Extended Validation SSL certificate guidelines here.

EV:

  • Takes about 7-10 days to activate
  • Recommended forย organizations looking to have the popular greenย HTTPSย addressย bar

Types of SSL certificates based on secured domains

This is going to be an important decision for anyone who is planning to buy an SSL certificate.

Apart from the above three, you also need to pick the certificate type based on domains & subdomains you have.

Letโ€™s quickly look atย theย different types of SSL certificates based on supported hostnames.

Single Name SSL Certificate

Only a single hostname is secured withย this SSL type.

For example, if you buy a certificate for domain.com, it will not secure docs.domain.com or shop.domain.com.

Note:ย Aย Single Name SSL Certificate can also be used to secure only a sub-domain.

Ex: You can secureย shop.domain.com andย notย domain.com.

Wildcard SSL Certificate

This oneย secures unlimitedย sub-domains for aย single domain.

For example: Purchasing a Wildcardย SSL certificate for shoutmeloud.com will also allow me to secure:

  • pro.shoutmeloud.com
  • forum.shoumeloud.com
  • andย so on…

However, it will not secure abc.pro.shoutmeloud.com.

Multi-domain SSL Certificate

A multi-domainย SSLย certificateย supports all different domains & subdomains.ย 

This is highly recommended for those who haveย multiple domains & subdomains.

Unifiedย Communicationsย Certificateย (UCC)

While doing the research for this article, I got to know more about this type of certificate.

UCCs allow customers toย protectย up toย 100ย domainsย usingย theย sameย certificate.

Unifiedย Communicationsย Certificatesย areย specificallyย designedย toย secureย Microsoftยฎ Exchangeย and Officeย communications environments.

Remember:ย Using one certificate for multiple domains doesnโ€™t affect you in any way.

Popular websites toย buy an SSL certificate:

In the upcoming days, we will learn even more about SSL certificates. So stay tuned!

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Authored By
A Blogger, Author and a speaker! Harsh Agrawal is recognized as a leader in digital marketing and FinTech space. Fountainhead of ShoutMeLoud, and a Speaker at ASW, Hero Mindmine, Inorbit, IBM, India blockchain summit. Also, an award-winning blogger.

30 thoughts on “A Comprehensive Guide To Different Types of SSL Certificates”

  1. Ronald Segura

    Hi Harsh,

    I am currently using CloudFlare’s flexible SSL and I wanted to know if it’s good for SEO or I probably need to look for my own paid SSL certificate? Your help with this doubt will be greatly appreciated.

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      @Ronald
      You can use Cloudflare flexible SSL. There is no problem as long as you are using it on a blog.

  2. Sadhan Pal

    How can I get SSL protection and why I should do that? Is it very important to get it?
    Will you please answer me?

    Thanks Sadhan

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      @Sadhan

      1) It’s a search engine ranking factor
      2) It increases trusts among readers.
      3) It’s 2017 & there are great free options like LetsEncrypt. ๐Ÿ™‚

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