Types of SSL Certificates

Here Are Different Types of SSL Certificates According to Your Requirements

Nowadays, having an SSL certificate is not an option but a compulsion for website owners. Furthermore, what type of website you have also defined what type of SSL certificate you'll require. For instance, if you've got a blog website that doesn't collect any user information, then DV (Domain Validated) SSL certificate is good to go. However, if you deal with company details or you've got an e-commerce website, you'll need another.

Henceforth, to make it easier for you, here we've listed different types of SSL certificates from the trusted certificate authority (CA) like Sectigo and Comodo.

Likewise, whenever different types of SSL are mentioned, it's based on the validation level, namely, DV (Domain Validated), OV (Organization Validated), and EV (Extended Validated). Besides, these three validations have different types of SSL certificates as well.

SSL Types by Validation Requirements

There are three types of validation levels in association with SSL certificates. It shows three different types of authentication levels. For instance, DV (Domain Validated) SSL is one type of validation, whereas EV (Extended Validated) is another.

Namely, these are the three-validation level:

Domain Validated SSL Certificate

DV (Domain Validated) SSL certificate is an entry-level type of SSL certificate. The DV SSL certificate is an ideal SSL certificate for those simply looking for a secure padlock, encryption, and HTTPS URL and nothing more than that.

It's an inexpensive SSL certificate that gets issued within minutes. Moreover, it's an SSL certificate that helps secure your domain with SSL and helps prevent Not Secure warnings shown by browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Below are the different DV (Domain Validated) SSL certificates.

Organization Validated SSL Certificate

The OV (Organization Validated) SSL Certificate is the middle ground SSL certificate, which offers all the features and benefits of DV (Domain Validated) SSL certificate apart from its own. For instance, HTTPS URLs, secure padlock, prevention from Not Secure warning, and some of its own like company information in the certificate and dynamic site seal. Therefore, OV SSL is an ideal SSL certificate for those websites that deal with the organization's critical data. Likewise, CA does domain and light business verification before issuing an OV SSL certificate, which helps prove your business is authentic, and your website is safe to deal with.

Extended Validated SSL Certificate

EV (Extended Validated) SSL certificate is the premium level SSL valuable certificate for only those websites that deal with the customer's financial details daily. For instance, if you're running an e-commerce website or a banking website that does credit card or banking transactions, then an EV SSL certificate is an ideal SSL certificate. Likewise, it's an SSL certificate that's considered more as an investment instead of an expense. Because CA (Certificate Authorities) issues EV SSL certificates only after complete verification of your business is done. For instance, CA goes through business registration details issued by Government and calls to verify if you're the only one who applied for an EV SSL certificate.

Furthermore, it provides many visible clues like Company Name in the padlock, Company Name, and Address in SSL certificate that helps boost user trust, which helps increase conversion rate.

Types of SSL Certificates by Different Functionalities and Domain Coverage

As there are different validation levels of SSL certificate, there are different functionalities of SSL certificate as well:

Single Domain SSL Certificate
Wildcard SSL Certificate
Multi Domain SSL Certificate
Multi Domain Wildcard SSL Certificate

Single Domain SSL Certificate

As the name implies, a single-domain SSL certificate is the one that helps secure single FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) and IP. Usually, it's also called a default SSL certificate. Likewise, it's available in all the three types of Validation Level namely,

DV (Domain Validated)
OV (Organization Validated)
EV (Extended Validated)

Wildcard SSL Certificate

Wildcard SSL certificates are specifically for those domains that have associated sub-domains. It comes in two different validation levels DV (Domain Validated) and OV (Organization Validated) SSL. It allows you to secure one main domain with unlimited sub-domains.

DV (Domain Validated)
OV (Organization Validated)

Multi Domain SSL Certificate

Multi Domain SSL certificate is an ideal SSL certificate to secure your entire web presence. If you have multiple websites, then instead of purchasing an individual SSL certificate, you can go with a Multi Domain SSL certificate, which proves time and cost-beneficial both. Likewise, it's offered in all the three-validation levels.

DV (Domain Validated)
OV (Organization Validated)
EV (Extended Validated)

Multi Domain Wildcard SSL Certificate

It offers a combination of all SSL certificates. So you can say it's a jack of all trades. It allows you to secure multiple domains along with unlimited sub-domains. Likewise, it comes in two validation levels: