The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiple Domain Hosting

Whether it is for personal or business matters, you are going to need a web hosting company to host your first website.  Web hosting is rather straightforward these days and certainly more affordable than it used to be.  However, as your website becomes popular and the business continues to grow, there is a good chance that you will need additional sites to effectively market yourself.  This would ordinarily call for you to purchase different hosting accounts for each unique site.  Now all of a sudden, that low price of $6 or $7 per month quickly adds up and could eventually become too costly for you to handle.  Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem - multiple domain hosting.

What is Multiple Domain Hosting?

Whereas previously most companies only allowed you to host one domain per account, the introduction of mini-websites has resulted in a number of providers offering multiple domain hosting, giving you the ability to host several sites under one account.  Unlike sub-domains, each domain added acts entirely as its own website, totally independent from the primary domain.  While the set up varies from host to host, each domain typically gets its own email and FTP accounts, databases, web stats and more.  This type of plan is just like having numerous accounts with different providers with the exception of being able to manage all of your sites from one control panel.

With multiple domain hosting, the provider gives you a certain amount of bandwidth and disk space which is to be allotted accordingly among your individual domains.  Lets say that a particular company lets you host five domains on an account with 500 GB of disk storage and 5000 GB of bandwidth.  To make sure things are running smoothly, you could choose to allocate 100 GB and 1000 GB equally among all five domains.  Furthermore, you could adjust your resources accordingly to meet the requirements of each additional website.

The Upside

Multiple domain hosting is so popular that it has become a regular feature offered by many providers.  If you wish to host multiple domains with your existing provider, the company may offer a discount for each new account you purchase.  When purchasing a reseller account, you could build several sites for yourself and sell the additional space to other users.  There are also a number of hosts that offer “unlimited” domain hosting, giving you the ability to create as many sites as you desire from a single account. .

The Downside

Although it can save you a lot of money in the beginning, hosting multiple domains on a shared server could be very risky.  Just think, you’re not the only one who signed up with the provider.  While its unlikely that everyone on the server has the need to run multiple websites, there is also a good chance that many of them do.  All that extra traffic they generate could have an adverse effect on the entire server and ultimately result in the downtime of your business.  If you happen to be attracted by the “unlimited” promotion, be sure to do business with a trusted provider using reliable servers.

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Dec 03, 2008 : Multiple Domain Hosting No responses yet

What You Need in a Dedicated Server

There are a number of options for hosting your site these days.  Do your prefer hosting with Linux or on a Windows platform?  Are you going to create one site or does your business call for multiple domains?  Some options will actually cover several of your hosting needs.  However, if you’re planning to run a database driven operation or simply need more control over the hardware itself, you would be more suited for a dedicated server.

Similar to conventional hosting, a dedicated server is leased to you by a web host.  Instead of sharing server space and resources with other clients, the machine is dedicated exclusively to the needs of your business.  This gives you complete control over server administration along with all the software configurations.  With an entire server to work with, you can create a powerful web presence without concern of the issues associated with shared hosting.

To assist in your mission of acquiring a dedicated server, we have listed a few essentials that need to be considered when looking for a host.

Operating Systems: The platform you choose to run plays a tremendous role for many reasons.  First of all, you must have some level of experience with the software in order to administer the server.  It will also determine just what software applications you are able to incorporate.

Windows NT is one of the most popular and generally the most expensive solution.  This software is very comprehensive as it brings a look and feel from the Windows desktop environment to a server platform.  Linux is another option, not as well known and a bit more complex.  Many experienced webmasters prefer the flexibility and stability of Linux.

Bandwidth: With your own server, disk storage shouldn’t be much of an issue.  However, you still need to be concerned about the amount of transfer.  Dedicated server hosts generally provide a certain amount of bandwidth every month.  You certainly need to make sure its enough to compensate for the traffic of your business.  The good thing is that most companies allow you to purchase higher levels on demand.

Backup and Restoration: A reliable backup solution is vital in any web hosting environment.  Because manually backing up your data can be a hassle, you should look for a host that offers an automatic backup solution.  This might cost a little extra but the convenience is well worth it, especially if something out of the ordinary should occur.

Monitoring: Since you are leasing the dedicated server, you do not have the ability to physically watch over it.  This is why you should invest into a company that provides constant monitoring of their equipment to ensure that your site is always functioning.  Do some investigating to find out approximately how frequently they monitor the equipment and then ask how they go about handling issues when they are detected.

Automated Tools: Maintaining your own server takes far more knowledge than managing a shared hosting account.  At the same time, you don’t have to be a technical genius to enjoy the benefits of dedicated server hosting.  A host that offers some type of automated system can make the task much easier.

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Nov 17, 2008 : Dedicated Servers No responses yet

Why You Should Consider Multiple Domains

Getting a website is pretty easy these days as domain names are cheaper and web hosting providers are abundant.  Many companies will equip you with everything needed to get your business off the ground and establish a respectable presence on the web - almost.  The major drawback is that some of them will only allow you to host a single domain on your account.  Of course this wouldn’t be a problem if you only intend to create one website but things happen.  What if the site takes off faster than you expected?  So much that your one site is no longer enough to support the business.  Settled in comfortably with your current provider, you pretty much have no other choice but to purchase a totally separate hosting account for your new domain and website.  Just think, if business really takes off, you could be shelling out a lot of extra money each month to keep up with all of those sites.

A Simple Solution

When hosting with a company that lets you run your sites from a single account, you can save money and effectively manage all of your content from a centralized location.  Now you have the ability to host multiple websites and promote a number of products and services all without worrying about additional fees.

With multiple domain hosting, you have complete authority of what sites will be created.  For instance, you can dedicate one to your blog, something that merely offers information on the business or build a site that promotes your online magazine or pay-per-click campaign.  The possibilities are endless as you have the ability to keep things relative with content that ties in closely with your chosen domain names.

Most companies offering multiple domain hosting come with all the trimmings such as email addresses, FTP accounts, databases and subdirectories - all of which can be assigned to each one of your websites.  And while some providers have a registration service of their own, multiple domain hosting allows you to purchase a more affordable domain with a cheaper registrar such as GoDaddy and then register it with your web host.  If the provider supplied you with a quality control panel application, setting up your domains should be as simple as accessing the “add-on” domain section of the interface and filling in the blanks.

With so many providers offering service, you can easily find a multiple domain hosting plan for under $10 per month.  Depending on what your business requires, you can get an array of features such as multimedia support, development tools to create all of your sites, free blogging software and much more.  Sign up with a reliable company and you’ve got yourself a great value at a low monthly price.

Conclusion

Multiple domain hosting is a good move for now and definitely the future as your business grows.  Because there are a variety of ways to profit online, this is one move you will not regret.  What could be any better than saving money and increasing your exposure at the same time?

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Nov 11, 2008 : Multiple Domain Hosting No responses yet

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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Oct 13, 2008 : Multiple Domain Hosting No responses yet

Securing Multiple Domains

Domain names are a hot commodity these days.  For some, selecting a domain name is a thorough process that takes a bit of research and time to complete.  While it’s extremely important to select one that fits your business best, you can take things a step further by securing variations of your primary domain in advance.  Many individuals do this to secure company names and trademarks.

Registering multiple domains is another great way to enhance your presence online.  Each of these domains act as individual websites and can be used to generate high-volumes of traffic.  They give you the advantage of cross-branding your products and exploring many different avenues.  Purchasing multiple domains is also a sound strategy to keep the competition from nabbing up your ideas.

Different people have their own reasons for hosting multiple domains.  Each are unique and carry there own set of benefits.  Here are a few examples:

Type-in Traffic

Some website owners purchase multiple domain names for the sole purpose of generating type-in traffic.  This refers to a web surfer who uses the address bar of their browser and types in keyword-based URLs instead of conducting a search in a search engine.  Securing domains that are likely to generate a high-volume of type-in traffic is a good way to increase the number of visitors coming to your site.  For instance, if you are hosting cosmetic products, the primary domain for our site may be something like mymakeup.com.  In order to capture potential type-in traffic, you may want to secure names like teenmakeup.com, makeupsource.com, makeupoutlet.com and so forth.

Misspellings

Others will secure multiple domain names to prevent the potential loss of visitors that misspell their URL.  Misspelling is a common part of human error that could keep visitors away from your site.  To prevent this from occurring, you might want to secure what may be the most common misspellings of your domain.  If your primary domain is demolitiondogs.com, it may easily be misspelled as demoilition.dogs.com, demolitiondog.com or demelotion.com.

Redirects

When deciding to purchase multiple domains, it’s crucial that each one is set up properly.  Improper structure is something that could lead to content duplication penalties with a search engine and hinder the ability to rank well.   If you plan to use multiple domains to practice search engine optimization, setting up a 301 permanent redirect is the best way to go.  This instructs a search engine that the domain it is attempting to access has been permanently moved to a different location, in this case, your primary domain.  The good thing about this is that visitors are automatically transferred to your main site when typing in the redirecting URL.

In order to properly configure a redirect, it is best to confer with your current provider.  Different web servers generally require different forms of implementation.

It’s important to use every available resource in your marketing venture.  Even if you only receive one new visitor from a type-in per month, that’s positive traffic that could lead to a sale.  If any of the above mentioned schemes may possibly generate more traffic for you, give them a shot.  Multiple domains translates to multiple benefits for your business.

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Aug 28, 2008 : Multiple Domain Hosting No responses yet