Thread: Should I go for dedicated SSL or free shared SSL? What's the deal?

I have two questions about SSL certificates that I'm hoping you guys will share your experience and thoughts on.

Question 1:
How important is it to have your own dedicated SSL certificate vs. using the free shared SSL certificate? Have any of you guys noticed a loss in customers or orders or any negative side effects at all from using the free shared SSL certificate?

Question 2:
What are some good places to buy SSL certificates and what's a fair price? I've contacted Verisign and their prices are beyond my budget.

Thanks.

P.S. My apologies if these questions have been asked and answered before.

Both Shared as well as Dedicated SSL fulfill the main aim of SSL; i.e. transmitting data in encrypted form over the networks, so it depends on you whether to stay with Shared SSL or opt for Dedicated SSL. One of the main considerations in using a shared or dedicated SSL is the URL and how it will appear to your customers.

With Shared SSL, the URL may look something like this:


Whilst with dedicated SSL, the URL is determined by you, either as another registered domain or as a sub domain of your website domain name. You can have your private secure url such ashttps://yourname.com/

The main downside to the shared SSL certificate is that your business name is not usually on the certificate. The person who bought the certificate (and you are sharing it with) usually appears. For some online shoppers, this might raise red flags. Another problem is that if the person who bought the SSL certificate lapses, you lapse as well, leaving your Web site vulnerable.

Shared SSL is installed globally on the server and configured to be used from all users on the servers. The shared SSL certificate generated for the hostname of the server and it will cause a certificate warning message pop up on your site when it used as it's not matching the domain names.

On the other hand a dedicated SSL will use your domain name and will not cause any warnings messages, it can be very beneficial for your online store and web presence as it’s issued specially for your domain name by a trusted authority. When a potential customers visit your site, they will see that you own the certificate, giving them assurance and the confidence they need to feel safe when shopping on your site.

The dedicated SSL needs a dedicated IP address which makes your website separate, so that if the shared IP address gets blocked, your site wouldn't be blocked automatically along with it.

Dedicated SSL is preferred for protecting credit card information for E-Commerce website.

In the end, you have to weigh cost against other considerations. If you do not do a lot of business, and if you are comfortable with your ecommerce Web host, it might be fine to simply get a shared SSL certificate. This is also true if you are concerned with spending time getting the SSL certificate or if you want everything taken care of for you. Many people go with the shared SSL certificate because of immediate convenience. The less costly shared certificate could leave money free to use for other things. On the other hand, if you want to build your company to something that is high profile and does a lot of sales, it might be worth it to spend the extra and get the SSL certificate. It all depends on your specific needs, as well as how much money you have to spend.

While choosing an SSL Certificate provider, however, online businesses have to be aware what competitive services are being offered by these SSL enterprises so that they get the best value for their money. If you are looking for an ideal SSL Certificate vendor, I would highly recommend buying an SSL from authorized platinum partner of VeriSign, GeoTrust, Thawte and RapidSSL. Because they buy SSL in large quantities and have annual commitment levels with VeriSign, Thawte, GeoTrust and RapidSSL. This allows them to purchase certificates with deeply discounted prices. Then, they turn around and pass these savings to you. Personally, I can recommend .RapidSSLOnline.com because they are authorized platinum partner of VeriSign, GeoTrust, Thawte and RapidSSL and offers special discounted price.

Thanks.:happy-f:

If you want your site to stand out as a professional online store/site then you will purchase a SSL certificate. It does not have to cost alot of money. I got mine at godaddy for around $25 a year.

ServerTastic sells RapidSSL certs for $13.95/yr.

Shared ssl certificates as the name suggests are shared with someone. You wont have any responsibility over the certificate. No matter what happens to the certificate you cannot do anything. So if the certificate crashes at any moment you cant do anything rather than waiting for the owner to get it corrected. These certs are good for individual sites which dont transmit too much of user data.
On the other hand dedicated ssl certificates are something that you own yourself. You can manage the certificate. Its better to have a dedicated certificate.
The price of a certificate will depend of what kind of certificate you want and for what purpose. There are various kinds of certificates ranging from $10 to $1000.

Originally Posted by OliviaSSLGuru

Shared ssl certificates as the name suggests are shared with someone. You wont have any responsibility over the certificate. No matter what happens to the certificate you cannot do anything. So if the certificate crashes at any moment you cant do anything rather than waiting for the owner to get it corrected. These certs are good for individual sites which dont transmit too much of user data.
On the other hand dedicated ssl certificates are something that you own yourself. You can manage the certificate. Its better to have a dedicated certificate.
The price of a certificate will depend of what kind of certificate you want and for what purpose. There are various kinds of certificates ranging from $10 to $1000.

Excellent information, Olivia, thank you.

Cheers,
Rick

Go with dedicated SSL cert. GoDaddy has a competitive pricing.