Which SSL certificate should you choose? Today I will try to cover SSL certificates comprehensively. I will clear up many doubts and tell you about new solutions. If you don't want to waste time and want to buy SSL with a 20% discount, click here and order with the code: LH-20-60773
Table of contents
- Who issues SSL certificates and where to buy one?
- Which SSL certificate to choose - what an SSL certificate is and why you need it. Free or paid
- Let's Encrypt
- What SSL certificates used to look like
- SSL certificate - Wildcard. An SSL certificate for a domain and for a subdomain - how they relate
- What is an SSL/TLS certificate
- How to check an SSL certificate - do I have one on my site?
- How to add an SSL certificate to a site, how to install an SSL certificate
- Does an SSL certificate affect my site's rankings?
Who issues SSL certificates and where to buy one?
An SSL certificate is issued by an operator. The operator is a service provider who sells us the SSL service under a license issued by a root Certificate Authority. Issuers include CERTUM, RapidSSL, Datacard, Digicert, GeoTrust and others. Of course, we can buy a certificate directly from them, but also through resellers such as LH.pl
Which SSL certificate to choose - what an SSL certificate is and why you need it. Free or paid…
Let me start by saying that one SSL certificate hardly differs from the next. The real difference is the warranty. The way an SSL certificate was displayed also used to be different. The company name appeared in the URL bar with a full green button. Nowadays all browsers show a closed padlock indicating that the connection is secure. Additionally, we can check the SSL type and the certificate issuer.
Truth be told, only banks are formally required to secure their sites with more enterprise-grade solutions. That is rather understandable.
If anyone asks - why do I need a warranty with SSL? The SSL certificate warranty ensures that if someone breaks its key, we receive e.g. 15 thousand, 30 thousand, 500 thousand or 1 million dollars - depending, of course, on the insured amount. The insured amount is naturally tied to choosing more expensive SSL certificates.
The free Let's Encrypt SSL has no warranty. Its parameters, however, are the same as any other: auto-renewal, domain validation, 99% recognition across the web, and so on.
Let's Encrypt
As I mentioned earlier, this type of SSL certificate is free. It differs in nothing except the warranty. There are limitations, but we do not feel them. One limitation is that such a certificate must be renewed every 90 days. However, when we are with an operator/service provider, such as Light House, it is handled on their side and we don't have to worry about anything. Let's Encrypt also used to lack wildcard support. Now it is standard.
The full documentation and project site are available here: https://letsencrypt.org/
Update (August 2026): since this post was published, short validity periods have become the norm for all certificates, not just Let's Encrypt. The maximum validity of paid SSL/TLS certificates is currently 398 days, and per the CA/Browser Forum decision it is being gradually shortened from 2026 onward (down to 47 days by 2029). Automatic certificate renewal is therefore becoming a necessity, and the free Let's Encrypt remains fully sufficient for most websites.
What SSL certificates used to look like
I mentioned the appearance of SSL certificates earlier. It has changed a lot over the years: in the past, with extended validation (EV) certificates, browsers displayed a green button with the full company name in the address bar; later it became just a green padlock; and today all browsers show only a neutral padlock symbol, regardless of the certificate type.
SSL certificate - Wildcard. An SSL certificate for a domain and for a subdomain - how they relate
In short, when we get an SSL certificate with the wildcard option, our domain will have the padlock on all its subdomains as well. NOTE! SSL works down to the second level, i.e.: kamikstudio.com and forum.kamikstudio.com
If we deploy a wildcard on kamikstudio.com, it will no longer work for: web.forum.kamikstudio.com.
We have to remember that "kamikstudio" itself is already a subdomain, because the domain is .com, and a second-level subdomain of kamikstudio.com is dev.kamikstudio.com.
We can deploy a wildcard on a second-level subdomain; it will then work down to the third level, web.forum.kamikstudio.com, but no longer for the first level, kamikstudio.com.
These are fine details, of course, but they are worth mentioning.
What is an SSL/TLS certificate
SSL is a protocol that secures communication on a website - the messages we send to the site. SSL is especially prominent in login systems. When you log into your bank, you enter your identifier or login and password. SSL ensures that your connection is encrypted.
SSL/TLS is an evolution of the SSL protocol. TLS ensures the confidentiality and integrity of data transmission, as well as server authentication, and sometimes client authentication too. It is based on asymmetric encryption and X.509 certificates.
Currently the latest TLS version is 1.3, and SSL is at version 3.
How to check an SSL certificate - do I have one on my site?
Type "SSL checker" into Google, or use even this site https://cyberfolks.pl/narzedzia-ssl/testuj-certyfikat-ssl/ - enter your URL, click check, and you will see all the information.
How to add SSL to a site, how to install an SSL certificate
Soon, when I have more time, I will describe this process in great detail.
Does SSL affect my site's rankings?
Of course - for a long time now all Google Ads campaigns have required an SSL certificate. The SSL requirement also applies to other ad platforms.
