Protecting your customers and providing a secure forum for monetary transactions is vital to the success of your web site. However, if you operate more than one subdomain the costs of purchasing multiple certificates can be overwhelming. The wildcard SSL provides a more cost-effective and convenient way to provide security over more than one subdomain. While a few drawbacks to SSL wildcard certificates do exist, these are minimal and can usually be avoided.

For web site owners, providing a secure shopping network for consumers is a top priority. However, operating multiple subdomains could mean having to purchase multiple SSL certifications. One possible solution is to purchase a wildcard SSL instead. With an SSL wildcard, you only purchase one certificate which works for all of your subdomains. Of course, the price of this type of subdomain SSL can be a bit higher than single domain certificates but the extra price is worth the investment for several reasons.

One of the clearest benefits is price. Buying one wildcard SSL certificate is definitely cheaper than buying multiple traditional certificates. The prices for standard SSL certificate cost several hundred dollars a year, on average. Imagine having to pay that much for each of your subdomains. That’s a significant investment. Thankfully, buy using an SSL wildcard instead you can cut your costs dramatically.

Another benefit is convenience. Besides being expensive, buying a new certificate for each of your subdomains can offer some unintended difficulties. Unless you have a lot of experience, setting up all of those certificates correctly can take some time, as well as trial and error. With an SSL wildcard, however, you only have to launch one certification, not a half dozen. That makes your job considerably easier and means you’ll be able to have your secured server up and running much faster.

Of course, there are a couple of drawbacks to using wildcard SSL. Because your server is secured through only one certification, if it becomes compromised then all of your subdomains can be as well. Purchasing individual subdomain SSL certifications can provide multiple layers of security but so can taking other precautions. If security is your main concern, you should look into additional ways to improve the overall security of your server.

Another potential drawback is that some mobile browsers will not recognize the symbol used in the wildcard SSL which means they will not be able to use them. If you believe you’ll be getting traffic from mobile users and are concerned about this possibility with your SSL wildcard, there are some ways to overcome the limitation without having to purchase individual certifications for all of the subdomains.

When weighing the pros and cons of using wildcard SSL, it’s clear to see that the cost savings and the additional convenience of the SSL wildcard certificate outweigh the potential and avoidable drawbacks.

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If you operate multiple subdomains and want an affordable, convenient way to provide security certifications for all of them, then Wildcard SSL may be the right choice for you. SSLwildcard is something you may want to learn more about.