What is a Wildcard SSL certificate

A single Wildcard SSL certificate can secure multiple websites that use subdomains (that is, variations of the same domain name like subdomain.domain.com).

Typically, a standard secure server SSL certificate is issued to a single Fully Qualified Domain Name only, which means it can only be used on the exact domain (including subdomain) for which it has been issued. For example:

  • A certificate that secures domain.com will not secure subdomain.domain.com
  • A certificate that secures subdomain.domain.com will not secure domain.com

With the Wildcard SSL option activated, you easily get around this restriction by receiving a Wildcard SSL certificate issued to *.domain.com. The * character replaces a fixed subdomain with a variable one. This means you can secure any subdomain, even one you create after the SSL certificate is installed.

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