Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Question About Hosting Multiple Websites Under One Shared Hosting Account

[coolguythampy]

Hi,

I was thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of hosting multiple websites under one single shared hosting.

I see that if you have the main domain as example.com and you want to host another domain, say hello.com, then first sub-domain is created (hello.example.com) and then that is redirected so that it resolves to hello.com.

Is there any disadvantage for this set up? Any idea about SEO being affected in this case?

Thank you.

[HostLeet]

The only real disadvantage is that both domains share the account's resources (disk space/bandwidth). I wouldn't worry about any SEO issues from hosting addon domains, though.

[Hsunami]

There's also the issue if you want to move a single domain. cPanel backs up at the account level, so that includes your main domain + add-on domains, into one backup file. You'd have to manually transfer the files of the single domain you wish to move.

[JamesOakley]

Another potential "con" is that, should one domain be compromised by a flawed script, the damage done could extend to both (because each site has full access to the files that power the other site too).

But, a "pro" is that you get one cPanel login to manage both, which can save you a bit of logging in and out.

The other "pro" is that you probably save some money, either by avoiding paying for two accounts, or by avoiding signing up for a reseller package that you don't really need.

[dazmanultra]

The biggest disadvantage is that the sites will share a single linux user, and as such a flaw in one site can very easily lead to them all being compromised.

[HostLeet]

Originally Posted by JamesOakley

Another potential "con" is that, should one domain be compromised by a flawed script, the damage done could extend to both (because each site has full access to the files that power the other site too).

Originally Posted by dazmanultra

The biggest disadvantage is that the sites will share a single linux user, and as such a flaw in one site can very easily lead to them all being compromised.

Great point, I forgot to mention that.

[KazeTech]

If you are willing to put one step ahead of your problem, I suggest stop relying on cPanel shared hosting and get to know what VPS is. You'll be amaze how many possibilities you have in the end.

I'm not saying shared hosting is bad, budget wise, shared hosting is still popular compared with VPS.

[coolguythampy]

Thank you all for the advice. Since it's Wordpress, I can easily export and import without needing cpanel backups.

Originally Posted by KazeTech

If you are willing to put one step ahead of your problem, I suggest stop relying on cPanel shared hosting and get to know what VPS is. You'll be amaze how many possibilities you have in the end.

The thing is, I do not want to spend a lot of time managing a VPS. Managed VPS is around 50$ a month and is 5 times as costly as getting a shared hosting for a month. So I want to make sure it's absolutely essential for my business and only then will I make a move.

[JamesOakley]

Originally Posted by coolguythampy

Thank you all for the advice. Since it's Wordpress, I can easily export and import without needing cpanel backups.

Quite. So you're left weighing the administrative convenience of having everything in one control panel against the security risk of having everything running under the same user.

Originally Posted by coolguythampy

The thing is, I do not want to spend a lot of time managing a VPS. Managed VPS is around 50$ a month and is 5 times as costly as getting a shared hosting for a month. So I want to make sure it's absolutely essential for my business and only then will I make a move.

Yeah - I doubt you need a VPS. It'll become obvious when that gives you a noticieable advantage.

[SkyZoan]

yes i am also agree that VPS is more powerful than Linux shared hosting but as per your budget there is shared hosting is good. if you are going to host few of websites then shared hosting is good option for you...

[fshagan]

Originally Posted by coolguythampy

Thank you all for the advice. Since it's Wordpress, I can easily export and import without needing cpanel backups.

Wordpress is very easy to manage, and you will rarely need to use the hosting account's control panel anyway. Almost all of your site maintenance will be done through the WP Admin interface.

You will need to use the control panel for setting up the databases, and then also for email addresses. But other than that, you will almost never need to log in.

Just be sure you keep Wordpress and all themes and plugins up to date. Avoid themes that do not have regular updates; at least one attack comes through the theme (the one with the Iranian music and "You have been hacked" message), and older themes are susceptible.

Because Wordpress is so easy to update, it has the most up-to-date installations among the top three CMS. Drupal was found to have 69% of the installations vulnerable to attack because of lack of updates, Joomla was at 91% vulnerable, and Wordpress only 4%. Of open-source software, only phpBB was better (and it isn't a CMS).

[48-14]

Originally Posted by coolguythampy

Hi,

I was thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of hosting multiple websites under one single shared hosting.

I see that if you have the main domain as example.com and you want to host another domain, say hello.com, then first sub-domain is created (hello.example.com) and then that is redirected so that it resolves to hello.com.

Is there any disadvantage for this set up? Any idea about SEO being affected in this case?

Thank you.

What is your overall plan, separate domains or sub-domains?

If your want to host multiple sites within the one account then use "Add-On Domains" so your sites will have this structure;

abc.com
def.com
xyz.com

Each site(domain) will have its own folder in your main domain folder.


But if you use sub-domains then your structure will be;

123.abc.com
456.abc.com
789.abc.com



...and if your sites are all Wordpress, make sure you have security plugins installed to help prevent any hacking issues.

[ljprevo]

Another thing to remember, if your account is on a cpanel server, the 2nd domain is it's own site, it is not a redirect, as in a URL redirect. The 2nd and other domain names are set up in the server's apache http config file to pull from a specific fold, thus being the 2nd domains folder in your pubic_html folder. That is no different than your main site with in the http config, it tells you main website to go to your own public_html folder.

ex:
maindomain.com http sends it to /home/yourusername/public_html

2nd domain http sends it to /home/yourusername/public_html/2nddomainfolder

3rd domain http sends it to /home/yourusername/public_html/3rddomainfolder

Again these are not redirects per say. This will not cause any SEO issues.

[nickwalt]

Bear in mind that most of the replies here are assuming cPanel. If you are on cPanel that's fine. If not, the control panel or hosting package provided may or may not support sites for multiple domains in one web space. You might need separate web spaces / packages.