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Take the hardship out of choosing an SSL by following these four tips before buying.
1. Cost
If you’ve been looking at the SSL certificate cost by Namecheap and thinking it’s too good to be true, think again. There are areas of your security arsenal that are worth spending more on. Fortunately, with SSL, you can afford to go cheap. This is because all SSL stores are offering the same product. No matter where you buy your SSL and how much you pay, you’ll get the same level of encryption as anyone else. So why break the bank when you don’t have to and go with a lower-priced SSL certificate?
2. The partner CA
Certificate Authorities, or CAs, are the bodies in charge of managing the whole SSL ecosystem. They’re the ones who issue and revoke SSLs, as well as authenticate those looking to get one. Trust is a huge deal when it comes to SSL certificates, and much of that comes down to your SSL issuer. If they have a bad reputation, your SSL may not function in some popular web browsers, so be sure to do your research about the issuing CA before buying.
3. Customer support
SSLs can be confusing, so you want to ensure you have all the support you need to ensure things go smoothly, from how-to guides to a highly attentive customer service team. Check how often the customer support team is online and read third-party reviews to see what people’s experiences have been with the store you’re looking at.
4. SSL type
Getting the right SSL type for your website situation is so important, though most people don’t find it particularly intuitive at first. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy when you understand the terminology. Choose your SSL based on the number of domains and/or subdomains you have then the validation level you need.
Domains and subdomains
- Single-domain SSL: If you have just one domain
- Multi-domain SSL: If you have 2-100 domains
- Wildcard SSL: If you have one domain and multiple subdomains attached
Validation levels refer to how thoroughly the issuing CA will work to authenticate the person or company requesting the SSL. Generally, the more you ask of a user (think login pages or purchases), the higher the validation level you should go for. The three levels are:
- Domain validation (DV): The most simple, the CA will check you have access to the website’s admin email.
- Organization validation (OV): A little more intensive, the CA will likely phone your company premises.
- Enterprise validation (EV): The highest level, the CA will cross-check government records for company registration, among other things.
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