Where to Host Multiple Domains

Having the ability to run more than one website has become conceivable thanks to a considerable drop in domain names and web hosting plans. When it comes to multiple domains, you essentially have two choices: remain with the company you’re already dealing with or seek out a different provider. It is extremely important to weigh your options and understand the advantages and disadvantages associated with each approach.

The Power of Diversification

There is a good chance that you are pleased with the services provided by your current web host. Sticking with the company you are comfortable and familiar with is a good decision because a level of trust has already been established. For being a long time customer, you might receive a reduced fee for each additional account you open. However, choosing a different provider to host your second or third website will allow you to compare the quality of service offered by other companies. Furthermore, hosting with different providers ensures that your sites will each have an IP address of their own.

If you plan to link your sites together and enhance your search engine optimization efforts, having separate IP addresses is vital. Inbound links play a huge role in how a website is viewed by the search engines. The more incoming links you have coming back to your site, the better your chances of receiving high ranking in a search engine like Google or Yahoo. On the other hand, if all of those links are originating from the same IP address, the search engine might reduce their value. While hosting multiple sites with different providers assures that each will have its own IP address, individual addresses come at an additional fee. This is something you should consider as the added price could have a significant reflection on your monthly web hosting bill.

When deciding to host all of your sites with one company, you typically have more flexibility with these options: you could pay separately for each account, apply for a reseller account or choose a dedicated server account.

With a reseller account, you are acting as a middlemen between the hosting provider and the end-user. The company allocates a predefined amount of storage space and bandwidth which can be used as you desire. There will undoubtedly be a few limitations in terms of capacity, but if there is room left after creating your own sites, you could then earn some extra money by selling hosting accounts to others. This has become an effortless yet profitable business for some as all you have to worry about is your clients as the provider handles server administration and all the technical details.

With a dedicated server, you receive the benefits of having an entire server to yourself. This is perhaps the most stable means of multiple domain hosting as you do not have to worry about sharing storage, bandwidth and other resources with shared users. The downside here is that if the account is not managed, you will be responsible for taking care of the server, something that requires a bit of technical savvy on your part. Whether its managed or unmanaged, dedicated server hosting is certainly the more expensive way to host multiple domains.

Regardless of where you choose to host the sites, the biggest drawback to multiple domain hosting is the most important of all - if the server happens to go down, all of your sites go down with it. It doesn’t take a technical wiz to know that this could be very damaging. Because anything could happen, hosting at least one of your sites with a different provider may not be a bad idea.

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