There are a variety of benefits that adopting a wildcard SSL certificate can bring to the table, but unless you are up to speed with these potential perks you may be reticent about making the leap.
To remedy this, here are some of the most prominent problems that this type of SSL certificate can help you to overcome.
Providing security across multiple sub-domains
If your site takes advantage of a plethora of different sub-domains, covering everything from the main pages to the transactional shopping section to the mobile app and any API that is integrated, then you may overlook the need to ensure that each aspect is adequately secured.
Thankfully wildcard SSLs are an inexpensive option, whilst also effective, to allow you to utilize a multitude of sub-domains and cover every single one using a single certificate.
This will save you a lot of time and effort, while also bolstering your site’s overall security without making any compromises or leaving any potential weak points which could be exploited by malicious third parties.
Cost-effectiveness
On the surface it may seem like a wildcard SSL certificate is a more expensive option, but it is simply a matter of looking at the value that this solution will deliver across your entire site’s infrastructure to determine its comparative cost-effectiveness.
Sure, you can still invest in SSL certificates individually to apply to the various sub-domains for which you are responsible, but this will cause costs to quickly mount up, making a wildcard alternative far more preferable from a budgetary standpoint.
Simplified management
By consolidating your security across all subdomains into a single wildcard SSL certificate, you will make it significantly easier to manage, monitor and maintain security at all times.
This is relevant because the more certificates you have to manage, the tougher the juggling act becomes to sustain, as myriad renewal issues and administrative changes enter the fray.
Scalability
This is one of the biggest problems with single SSL certificate acquisition for sub-domains, in that you are partly prevented from growing by the need to acquire new certificates whenever your site expands.
Conversely, wildcard SSLs solve this problem by giving you baked-in coverage for any subdomains that join the party further down the line, allowing you to look to the future and plot out a path to success without fearing that your security will not scale along with it.
Instant coverage
Going hand in hand with the scalability that wildcard SSLs afford is the fact that they provide coverage of sub-domains from the moment that they are created, without any gaps during which your site is exposed.
No more waiting around, twiddling your thumbs for the issuing of a fresh SSL certificate; with a wildcard on your side, you will always be covered from the word go.
Bolstering your reputation
Modern consumers are savvy to the ins and outs of cyber security, at least on a superficial level. This means that they know that sites need to be able to demonstrate their trustworthiness through the use of SSL certificates.
Leveraging wildcard SSLs will give your site that immediate sheen of reliability that visitors will be looking out for, all without creating extra work for your admins.
Brand reputation remains vital to success and since most prospective customers will encounter your company for the first time via your online presence, it makes sense to take this matter seriously. A wildcard SSL certificate will give you the means to achieve this while eliminating a lot of the concerns, complexities, cost and challenges that are normally involved with website security.
