Learn how to choose the right SSL Certificate for your E-commerce store in this post
Every click on an eCommerce site is a potential sale, and every security gap is a lost customer. Similarly, every business today, whether in the eCommerce domain, needs a secure site. This makes an SSL certificate crucial. It encrypts transactions and protects sensitive data. An SSL certificate reassures shoppers that your store is safe.
Plus, browsers flag non-secure sites, and search engines like Google reward HTTPS-enabled domains. This means failing to secure your site can cost you both traffic and revenue, especially when 17% of customers abandon a site due to security concerns.Â
So, for an e-commerce online store, the question isn’t whether you need SSL, but which type to buy is the real dilemma. This article reduces your confusion by cutting the noise. It offers guidance on various types of certificates, including single domain SSL certificates, multi-domain certificates, and others. Let’s get started.Â
Table of Contents
What Are The Basic Types of SSL Certificates?
Deciding which SSL certificate you need to purchase for your organization or business depends on your needs. For example, if you want to secure your business website and ensure trust among customers, the best way is to get yourself an extensive validation certificate. Similarly, there are many different types of SSL certificates that you can get as per your requirements.Â
By Domain CoverageÂ
A single-domain SSL certificate protects a single domain name, such as www.example.com or example.com. It is cheap and easy to get. You can buy a single-domain SSL certificate from providers who bundle the root domain and the “www” version in one certificate.Â
In the case of organizations operating multiple locations, a Multi-Domain SSL certificate or SAN (Subject Alternative Name), or UCC (Unified Communications Certificate) may be used. It provides hostname security to a number of separate hostnames on one certificate. As an example, it can include example.com, shop.example.net, and payments.com. This will make management easy, lower renewal maintenance, and centralized control.Â
A wildcard SSL certificate protects a single base domain together with all the first-level subdomains. For example, blog.example.com, cdn.example.com, and any other first-level subdomain would be secured with one certificate.Â
By Validation Level
Differences in the granting of the SSL certificates also rely on the degree to which the certificate authority has authenticated the requesting entity. Domain Validation (DV) certificates establish that the domain owner has possession of the domain, generally by DNS validation, HTTP validation, or email validation.
They can be created in a short period of time, they are inexpensive, and can be utilized in blogs, landing pages, personal websites, internal applications, or auto environments. DV certificates provide a weak identity assurance, as they verify nothing about the issuer organization.
The Organization Control and legal and operational identity of the organization are also validated with the help of Organization Validation (OV) certificates. They will be able to display the name of the organization in the certificate detail section, making it more transparent to users and reliable.
Businesses, B2B portals, and services available to the general population will be interested in using OV certificates. This can be extremely time-consuming (one to three days), and is moderately costly compared to DV.
Extended Validation (EV) certificates are the most rigorous in their vetting process, and require that the organization has provided evidence of its legal status, its actual existence in operation, and its domain ownership. EV offers the best identity assurance, and the name of the organization being verified is made more conspicuous in some browsers.
Choosing Between Single-Domain, Multi-Domain, and Wildcard
The appropriate certificate will vary depending on how your web presence is organized. When you have one public site or storefront under a single hostname, a Single-Domain SSL certificate is the simplest and lowest-priced option.
When you have several different websites or brands, such as store.com, docs.company.net, and paymentportal.com. A Multi-Domain SSL certificate will enable you to protect them all using a single certificate.Â
A Wildcard SSL certificate is flexible and does not require each subdomain to be listed separately, which can be helpful if your business is dependent on subdomains, e.g., app1.example.com, app2.example.com, and region.example.com.
Common Combinations and Use Cases
Certain combinations you can use are-
- DV + Single-Domain is the best to use in case of personal websites, bare-bones landing pages, MVPs, or internal dashboards.
- DV + Wildcard would better fit SaaS apps or staging environments that require the addition of subdomains regularly.
- OV + Multi-Domain is applied when an organization is consolidating multiple product locations or regional area domains on the same certificate.
- EV + Single Domain is employed when visibility of the portal is high, like the eCommerce checkout, and when needing high assurance of identity to establish trust.
Other Crucial Factors to Consider When Choosing an SSL Certificate
Choosing the proper SSL certificate for your website or online shop extends to the boundaries of domain coverage and validation degree. Both security and user experience can be affected by a variety of technical, operational, and financial factors.
These are some of the most critical considerations that you need to consider before making your decision.
Certificate Authority (CA) Reputation and Browser Trust
CA you choose must be widely trusted by browsers and devices. Users may see warnings if SSL certificates issued by the CA are not validated or supported by browsers. It can impact your credibility and conversion rates.
DigiCert, Sectigo, and GlobalSign are trusted providers with long histories of reliability, global compliance, and customer trust.Â
Ease of Purchase and Management
SSL certificates are simple to purchase, set up, and maintain. The most suitable one for your business is the SSL certification authorities with simplified CSR (Certificate Signing Request) generation, validation procedure, and installation instructions. APIs and management dashboards are also becoming increasingly popular with many modern CAs to enable automation.
This assists IT teams to track certificate health, expiry dates, and streamline renewals. Your team may be working across several locations or sub-domains, so these tools can save a lot of time and decrease the risk.
Encryption Strength and Technical Security
You should also consider the encryption level in the encryption standard to use, and ensure that the appropriate encryption standard uses 2048-bit RSA keys or Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC).
More powerful encryption not only defends against sensitive data, but also against threats of cyber change. In addition to that, you must also verify that your SSL certificates use the latest protocols, such as TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3.
Lifecycle and Automation
SSL certificates have an average life of 398 days (or about 13 months) at present, but will soon be reduced to 47 days.
This reduces its lifecycle, leading to frequent renewals, which cause downtime and security notices. Then you should select a CA with auto-renewal support, API integration, and the ACME protocol.
Pricing and Warranty
Different prices are charged for certificates issued through SSL, but the price must be considered in relation to the backing, functions, and warranties.
Smaller projects may use smaller budget certificates, such as DV SSL certificates, but for large-scale projects, use EV SSL certificates.Â
Checklist to Choose the Right SSL for Your Online Store
To make the decision-making process easier, the following is a step-by-step checklist-
- What is the number of domains or subdomains that you need to secure?
Decide whether to have a single domain SSL certificate, multi-domain, or wildcard SSL coverage
- What is your level of trust requirements?
Select DV because it is fast and cost-effective, OV because it offers an organization support, and EV supports it because it offers the highest level of customer confidence.
- Is fast issuance or greater trust more important to you?
Quick development can be achieved via blogs and MVPs, and OV or EV should be considered for a financial or e-commerce portal.
- Do you need automation and management support?
When running at scale or managing many sites, focus on providers with a dashboard, APIs, and renewal automation.
- What is your budget range?
Trade off features vs cost. A small project would be satisfied with lower-priced options, but a larger business would want to have the protection and guarantee of premium SSL certificates.
- Have you selected a good CA?
Always make sure to choose a well-recognized CAs that is trusted by big browsers and devices.
Conclusion
Selecting the proper SSL certificate involves a trade-off of security and trust. You should also confirm that the CA is reputable, encrypted, can be used automatically, and has warranties so that your investment is not lost in the long-term perspective. It also gives your customers the assurance to shop in your eCommerce online store.
Although selecting the single-domain type of an SSL certificate can be a cheaper alternative to consider, in the case of multiple domains eCommerce stores, it is crucial to adopt the multi-domain type of certificates.
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About the Author:
Gina Lynch is a VPN expert and online privacy advocate who stands for the right to online freedom. She is highly knowledgeable in the field of cybersecurity, with years of experience in researching and writing about the topic. Gina is a strong advocate of digital privacy and strives to educate the public on the importance of keeping their data secure and private. She has become a trusted expert in the field and continues to share her knowledge and advice to help others protect their online identities.
