🔍 Overview
Website Studio supports two important domain and routing features: wildcard SSL certificates for securing all subdomains under your root domain, and custom 404 redirect rules that send visitors to your homepage — or any valid URL — instead of displaying a raw XML error page. This article explains how both features work and how to get them configured for your site.
🔐 What Is Wildcard SSL?
A standard SSL certificate secures a single domain (e.g., www.yourdomain.com). A wildcard SSL certificate secures the root domain and all of its subdomains at once (e.g., *.yourdomain.com), covering addresses like blog.yourdomain.com, shop.yourdomain.com, and any others you create.
This is especially useful if your Website Studio project uses multiple subdomains, or if you plan to expand your site structure over time without requesting a new certificate for each subdomain.
⚙️ How to Request Wildcard SSL for Your Domain
Wildcard SSL is not enabled automatically — it requires a quick setup step on our end. To request it:
- Make sure your domain is already connected to your Website Studio project.
- Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.
- Provide your root domain name (e.g., yourdomain.com) and confirm the project it is linked to.
- Our team will provision the wildcard SSL certificate and confirm once it is active.
Once enabled, all current and future subdomains under your root domain will be covered automatically. No further action is needed on your end after the certificate is issued.
🚦 What Are Custom 404 Redirects?
When a visitor lands on a URL that does not exist on your site, the server returns a 404 Not Found error. By default, some configurations display this as a plain XML error response, which is unhelpful for visitors and can negatively affect user experience and crawl efficiency.
A custom 404 redirect automatically forwards anyone who hits a non-existent URL to a destination you choose — most commonly your homepage. This keeps visitors on your site and prevents search engines from indexing dead-end error pages.
🛠️ How to Set Up a Custom 404 Redirect
You can configure 404 redirect routing directly inside Website Studio. Follow these steps:
- Log in to your Search Atlas account and open Website Studio.
- Navigate to your project and go to Settings.
- Locate the Redirects or Routing section within your project settings.
- Add a new redirect rule and set the source to the wildcard pattern for unmatched URLs (e.g., /* or the 404 error condition).
- Set the destination to your homepage URL or any valid page on your site.
- Choose 301 (Permanent) if the redirect is a long-term rule, or 302 (Temporary) if you may update it later.
- Save your changes and test by entering a made-up URL on your domain to confirm the redirect fires correctly.
Tip: A 301 redirect passes link equity to the destination page and signals to search engines that the old URL is permanently gone. Use 302 only when the redirect is genuinely temporary.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
- Will wildcard SSL automatically cover new subdomains I create later? Yes. Once a wildcard certificate is in place, any new subdomain you add under the same root domain is covered immediately.
- Can I redirect 404s to a page other than my homepage? Yes. During setup, set the destination to any valid URL on your site, such as a contact page, category page, or custom error page you have built inside Website Studio.
- Will the 404 redirect affect pages that do exist? No. The redirect rule only fires for URLs that do not match any existing page on your site. All live pages load normally.
- How long does it take for wildcard SSL to activate? Certificate provisioning typically completes within a few minutes to a few hours after our team processes your request, depending on DNS propagation.
💬 Need Further Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.