I couldn't find another section that seemed to address a topic like this, so I put it here. I'm trying to figure out if I can host a few names within the same hosting account without getting 'punished' by search engines. My finances are very slim and I need to start out as cheaply as possible. I already host a personal blog. I paid extra for a dedicated IP address and I installed it at the root hosting account. I was told that it would help keep me from getting low ratings by search engines for sharing a common IP address with other names. Now, I need to set up hosting for a different set of domains. They are all going to be in a related business. FACTS One domain will be the overall company brand. Other domains will host an advice blog or two or three. At least one other domain will sell products (that we fabricate) related to the advice topics. Other domains will forward to domains mentioned above. I am not a programmer or coder. My funds are very limited right now. When the business makes money, I will eventually hire a webmaster, but for now I must do this myself. QUESTIONS Will it affect my ability to get Page Rank if I host 5 or 6 names of one genre within one hosting account? Is it worth it to get a dedicated IP address for an account hosting multiple names? Is it better to host unrelated names in the same hosting account or is related names okay? Am I better off waiting until I can afford multiple hosting accounts? If I start hosting these names within one hosting account, will it be difficult to migrate them to separate hosting accounts if the business grows and needs more server/bandwidth? Is there a recommended structure when hosting several names within one hosting account to maximize benefits? Do I need to host the domain that sells products (with a shopping cart) in a different account from the others? Does the domain that sells products need a dedicated IP address? Do you have other advice that I may not be considering regarding this? Thanks in advance for answering these questions! Best, Victoria
1. No 2. Yes, definately 3. Can't say its better or worse. I will have to say, it won't matter regardless of whether the domain name is related/unrelated 4. Like I said, it won't matter. You might however not want to host all the domains under 1 ip. I would say max 5 domains under 1 ip. Remember, hosting accounts don't matter, its the IP that google sees. So, as long as you have unique ips it won't matter how many sites you host in one server. 5. Not really. Its just a simple process of taking a backup from the old host and restoring that backup in the new host and ofcourse changing the nameservers for that domain. 6. Not that I know off. 7. Not necessary. 8. Not necessary. 9. One advice. Don't worry about this issue at all. Like I said above, keep it to max 1 ip for each 5 domains, and upgrade server as needed.
In my opinion (and experience), the people who really worry about different IP addresses and hosting accounts are the ones doing blackhat stuff. I honestly don't think there is a need to go crazy - I host all my sites from two separate hosting accounts and I've never had any problems. It keeps things simple...and if you make a website with great content and market it well, it should be successful no matter where it is hosted.
Thank you CrucifynDi3 for answering each question like that. It really helps! I can keep it simple by having 5 max sites per IP and feel OK about it. Like I said, I currently have one site with its own IP and I wouldn't mix it with the business I'm starting. And thanks also to dlm for your input as well. I didn't know it was a black hat issue. I was asking all these questions because a neighbor of mine told me I might have a problem if I hosted a bunch of related sites on one IP. (Actually, from the little I know about her, I could imagine her taking the black hat approach, now that you mention it.) You guys are GREAT for offering the advice. Best, Victoria
1. Will it affect my ability to get Page Rank if I host 5 or 6 names of one genre within one hosting account? No, but google will consider sites with the same hosting that link to each other as having common ownership so don't plan on interlinking the sites to pass page rank or increase your SERPS - they won't be considered natural links. Google is a registrar and has access to the whois information to also check for common ownership between domains. They also use other signals and you don't want to start out with questionable tactics until you know what you are doing. 2. Is it worth it to get a dedicated IP address for an account hosting multiple names? No difference between a shared or dedicated IP for rankings. Even different IP's with the same host will have the above problems if you interlink the sites hoping to get a boost in SERPS or PR. 7. Do I need to host the domain that sells products (with a shopping cart) in a different account from the others? You'll need a dedicated IP if you are going to process payments via SSL. 9. Do you have other advice that I may not be considering regarding this? Start with one domain. It is going to require a lot of work to rank for a single competitive keyword - it can take a year or more. Five domains means five times the work. It would be better if those links all pointed to a single domain. Starting off with too many domains is a mistake too many people make. You wind up with 5 so-so sites that never rank well for any competitive keyword. Once you have a single successful site, then you will know you are ready for the next.
Thank you mjewel for your detailed answers. And thank you MayaLocke, also. I really appreciate the helpfulness of everyone. My purpose in all this is not to build page rank for the purpose of reselling the names or running ads. My purpose is to get traffic to sell the goods we will be offering. When I get the money to do it, we will probably buy some adwords on Google. We plan to offer lots of advice via blog and videos and hope that advice helps generate sales of our products. So, I was planning on having one site for blog and another for sales. Thanks again, Victoria