What Is the Relationship Between a Domain Name and an SSL Certificate?

An SSL certificate is used to protect a website. To make an SSL certificate work, bind it to the domain name of the website you want to protect. To that end, you need to confirm the certificate type, certificate authority, domain name type, and domain name when you make a purchase.

How Many Domain Names Can Be Protected with an SSL Certificate?

When you purchase a certificate, you will select domain type according to your business needs. The number of domain names that can be protected with a certificate varies depending on domain name type. For more details, see Table 1.

**Table 1** Number of domain names that can be protected with a certificate
Certificate Types	Supported Domain Name Type	Number of Domain Names that Can Be Protected
OV and OV Pro	Single domain	One
	Multiple domains	The number of domain names ranges from 2 to 250. A maximum of 250 domain names can be protected with a certificate.
	Wildcard domain	One For details about the domain names supported by wildcard-domain certificates, see What Domains Can Wildcard-Domain Certificates Support?
EV and EV Pro	Single domain	One
EV and EV Pro	Multiple domains	The number of domain names ranges from 2 to 250. A maximum of 250 domain names can be protected with a certificate.
DV (Basic) - GeoTrust entry-level SSL certificates	Single domain	One
DV (Basic) - GeoTrust entry-level SSL certificates	Wildcard domain	One For details about the domain names supported by wildcard-domain certificates, see What Domains Can Wildcard-Domain Certificates Support?
DV (Basic) - DigiCert free SSL certificate	Single domain	One

How Many SSL Certificates Can Be Used for a Domain Name?

There is no restriction. You can purchase multiple certificates for the same domain name. The certificates will take effect when you use them to applications or install them on servers.

A certificate is a one-off product. If the current certificate cannot meet your requirements or is about to expire, you can purchase a new certificate that matches the domain name type and use the new certificate to the target domain name.

Other Operations

Parent topic: About Required Domain Name Details