Multiple Domains and Search Engines

There are several website owners who are making inappropriate use of multiple domain hosting. Unfortunately for them, they are also crippling their very own search engine rankings by blatantly violating the guidelines established by the search engines that matter the most. Site owners today choose to register multiple domains for various reasons, including the following:

- They want to secure a brand name or trademark from competitors.

- They want to expand their web presence across different niche markets.

- Domain names are incredibly affordable.

Some people also register more than one domain for misguided reasons, including the belief that pointing multiple domains to the same location will result in higher search engine rankings. What many do not understand is that search engines despise duplicate content and the automated programs they send out to index your pages cannot determine whether you fall under the category of innocent and uninformed, or deliberate and blatantly manipulative. Those websites that ride this line should expect to be treated equally and to your disadvantage, you can be heavily penalized or even banned from the search engines for not knowing right from wrong.

Understanding the Guidelines

As someone trying to promote a website, you should know that search engines do not openly publish their guidelines as they do not want to give away too much information. However, there are a few rules that have been established which are directly related to multiple domains. These guidelines are quite simple: do not try to manipulate the index through sneaky redirects and cloaking and do not create multiple pages or domains that contain overwhelming duplicate content. So, what does this mean to you? Well, it should at least you know that there are some notable disadvantages to having multiple domains, especially if you do not remain cautious of duplicate content. Should you make the mistake of having the exact same content on multiple domains on the same server, you could be in serious violation of search engine guidelines. When this occurs, it does not matter what your intentions were, because you could still find yourself banned from the index. This not a great way to starting building your web presence at all.

Check Your Content

When it comes to questionable SEO practices, not knowing about the search engine guidelines is no excuse. Sadly, an alarming number of web hosting firms and designers are not aware of how to properly use multiple domains. This results in numerous website owners who unknowingly hinder their site’s ability to be indexed and placed in the rankings. Our advice to anyone who has more than one domain is to investigate and find out how they have been set up. If you have two similar but slightly different domains showing the same content, you could have a problem on your hands. In the end, your quest to maintain visitors could prevent you from leveraging some of the most significant potential traffic of all – the millions of web surfers that find what they need via the search engines.

Archive for the 'Multiple Domain Hosting' Category Reasons For Using Multiple Domain Hosting

Multiple domain hosting refers to a form of web hosting that allows you to control several domains on one hosting account. Hosting multiple domains on a single hosting account allows you to save time and money, because instead of paying for multiple hosting services, you can have all of your hosting needs met by one company. Multiple domain hosting is also seen as a highly convenient option, as you can administer the services and features of each domain within one centralized control panel.

The Advantages of Multiple Domain Hosting

There are many benefits involved with using multiple domain hosting. The most notable advantage is that multiple domain hosting allows you to expand your web presence, thereby increasing your visibility allowing you to reach more clients with ease. With control over multiple domains, you have the ability to stretch your investments into multiple niches, thereby diversifying your income through various revenue streams. When used in conjunction with the ever-expanding online arsenal of website applications and plugins, multiple domain hosting gives you the ultimate ability to express yourself, or your business, by creating blogs, photo galleries, forums, and even support sites. The sky is the limit with multiple domain hosting, as you are no longer restricted by the confines of a single web site. Multiple domain hosting captures the essence of what it means to be entrepreneurial.

The Value of Multiple Domain Hosting

Due to the large and varied number of companies offering multiple domain hosting, it is now very easy to find affordable deals on multiple domain hosting. In fact, even though you have control over multiple domains in one control panel, the prices are in the same area as other hosting packages. There may be a little extra cost involved, but it is well worth it to be able to expand your online business with multiple web sites. Keep in mind that choosing a reliable hosting company will ensure that your investment is worth every penny, even if it costs you a bit more than using a “cheaper” web hosting service. The old saying “you get what you pay for” is still valid, especially in the world of online business.

The Ease of Multiple Domain Hosting

While multiple domain hosting may cost a few extra dollars more per month, the domain names themselves are extremely easy to acquire, and they are also highly affordable. You can buy a $5 domain from a site like Godaddy, and then use this new domain with your multiple domain hosting package by pointing your site to your hosting provider’s servers. This is a very simple process that can be done with the help of the hosting company within your website’s control panel interface. After you’ve made the necessary changes and your new domains are active, you can log into your multiple domain hosting account and manage them as you see fit. Most web hosts will also offer the features needed to set up additional services such as FTP accounts, email accounts, subdirectories and databases for each individual domain.

Are One-Click Hosting Services Safe?

Upload With a Click

The way these services work involves the user visiting the provider's site and with one click you upload a file to the host's server free of charge. The provider gives the user a URL that can be shared with people who need or want to access the file and presto - free file sharing. Perhaps you're on vacation and you want to share your photos with friends before you return, or you're on the road for your company and you want your secretary to access your expense reports from a secure site - these services can be the answer. They avoid the problem of having large files rejected by e-mail providers or of sending a large file and clogging up the recipient's e-mail account.

There are many companies offering such free services, which they support through selling advertising on their sites and on your messages. They also offer premium service for those who want to send large files on a regular basis.

Two-Day to Lifetime Memberships

One of the providers, megaupload.com, offers a two-day premium membership for $4.99, a one-month membership for $9.99, six months for $39.99, one year for $59.99 and a lifetime membership for $99.99. The paid service returns the highest download speed available, the download starts instantly, the maximum upload size per file is 2 GB (compared to 250 MB for the free service), files can be password protected, and can be sent to more than 1,000 recipients. In addition, Megaupload also has a reward program that pays cash to uploaders. The more popular your files are, the more money you make. The provider earns revenue by having more visits to his site, with more people seeing the ads and more clicking through on them.

Collocate Your Own Server for Maximum Control

Collocation hosting is an economical web solution for medium-sized and large businesses. What you do is look for a Collocation service provider near your place of business and forget the hassles of having to maintain your own secure web environment with dedicated lines

Some Providers Have Multiple Centers

Some providers have multiple data centers across the United States, located in strategic geographic markets, so you can probably find a collocation web host near you.

What you get is a climate-controlled environment, 24-hour connectivity, uninterruptible power with a backup generator system, fire detection systems, building security, backup systems and your provider's IT support. The difference between complete out-sourcing is that you are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of your servers.

It also may give you some services that a regular hosting package does not, such as VPN, bandwidth management per individual server, and access to firewall protection.

Variety of Cabinets and Cages

Server Collocation facilities provide a variety of collocation cabinets and cages that provide a secure environment for your servers. They provide a 24x7 network operating center team that manages the network to ensure high-quality service. Their networks provide scalability and reliability.

The customer pays according to the amount or rack space his servers take up, measured in rack units, with 1U = 1.75 inches. Tower units cost more to colocate and of course there are upgrades in bandwidth and other optional services to consider. You will also want to take out an insurance policy on your servers.

Typical Package

A typical Collocation server hosting package connects your servers to the Internet through a 100mb Ethernet connection. Normally you do not have to provide your own switch or hub when you connect your servers or network equipment. Your servers will be connected to the service provider's switches. Customers can choose to provide their own switches or firewalls if they want multi-tiered server environments.

Servers are transported to the provider by courier. If there is a problem with your server at the provider's Collocation facility, you can work on it yourself or have the provider fix the problem.

Pay for Only What You Need: Managed Hosting Solutions

If you're in the market for managed hosting solutions you will find a host of services on the Internet. But before you start looking, make sure you know the most important aspect.

There are numerous providers. A top-rated managed hosting company, 1&1 Hosting, has a beginner package for $2.24 a month. It includes one domain name, 5 GB of web space and 250 GB of bandwidth. It's a perfect starter package that includes email, a free domain name and free phone support. It also includes 1&1 Website Builder, 1&1 Blog, 1&1 Photo Gallery, virus and spam guard and search engine tools.

Two Domain Names for $3.74

The next step up is the 1&1 home package for $3.74 that has two domain names, 50 GB of web space, a thousand email accounts and 500 GB of bandwidth. It also includes everything in the beginner package plus 1&1 WebStatistics, 1&1 Dynamic Content Catalog and CGI Library.

The company's business package at $7.49 offers three domain names, 100 GB of web space, two thousand email addresses and 1,000 GB of bandwidth. It's an easy way to build a professional web presence and includes all the tools from the home package plus 1&1 Form Builder, 1&1 Newsletter Tool, In2site Live Dialogue and MySQL Database.

The developer package is $14.99 and includes five domain names, 150 GB of web space, three thousand email addresses, and 1,500 GB of bandwidth. It is designed for companies requiring the latest in Internet technologies for their powerful web applications. The package includes everything in the business package plus advanced scripting tools and GeoTrust Dedicated SSL Certificate.

Get Down to Business! Ecommerce Web Hosting

You have a product you think people will buy and you want to get into the booming world of ecommerce. You find shopping cart software intimidating and you're looking for ecommerce solutions because you know an online stores business opportunity when you see one. So you decide to go with an ecommerce hosting company. A custom site will be the expensive way to go, as each component has to be developed and installed separately. It gives you more control, more storage space and more bandwidth, however. It's the way to go if you're expecting a large client base, but bear in mind you will have to hire a web designer and it won't be cheap.

Prefab Site is Cheaper

A prefabricated site is much cheaper than a custom site and is perfect for a small client base. The "store in a box" package usually comes with credit card processing and shopping carts and provides search engine placement tools.

Before you buy you need to know the scalability of the package, just in case your product takes off like gang-busters and your web traffic is off the charts. If you decide on the prefab route there are a number of ecommerce provider solutions.

One is easystorecreator.com No programming is required, you get a point and click interface, you have nothing to download or install and you get online help, free support and free upgrades. They will start you out on your ecommerce online store with a no-risk 45-day money back guarantee, a low monthly fee and no setup fees. You don't need a contract and hosting, e-mail and site builder is included with the package.

Many Options Available

You have the option of completely customizing your site, choosing a design, making your own, or have them design it for you. They have hundreds of options available and you can add on to your existing site, or create a new one altogether.

EasyStoreCreator includes all the tools for your online store, such as the best shopping cart software, site builder, design tools, newsletter management, inventory management, customer and order management, automated e-mail notifications, shipping tracking, and e-commerce web hosting. Its price is $67 a month, with a 25 per cent discount if you pay for a year.

Should I Deal with a Middle Man? Reseller Hosting

The system works by the web hosting company splitting its hard drive and bandwidth and reselling the capacity to other customers. In some arrangements, you, as the reseller, act as an agent for the web hosting company. In other cases you as the reseller appear to be a web hosting company in your own right.

The advantage in setting up a reselling hosting service rather than running your own server and starting your own web hosting business is that you instantly have the support and resources of a firm that is experienced and established. You don't have the capital outlay necessary to buy servers and bandwidth and to operate them in a secure and controlled environment. Rather than start from the ground up, you benefit from selling and possibly managing a portion of an already successful company.

If you act as the web hosting company's agent you have links and advertisements on your sites that take potential customers directly to the web hosting company's site. The customer buys a hosting service from the provider and you get a percentage.

Earn Free Hosting

Its referral program is for existing iPower customers. If you refer three clients for a web hosting package you get your web hosting free for a year. Its affiliate program is set up for you to drive traffic to their site, with you receiving $100 for every new customer who signs up through a link or ad on one of your sites.

Its third cheap reseller hosting program is called the power reseller program and offers recurring revenue by you offering website hosting to your clients, friends and family members.

StartLogic at www.startlogic.com is rated number two and offers similar packages. Its affiliate program offers $100 for every sale and its referral program gives you free web hosting for a year if you refer three new clients. Its third program is a private label reseller program, where it appears you are the web hosting company.

Lunar Pages at www.lunarpages.com is the third-ranked provider and it offers an affiliate program that pays $65 per referral.

Host Gator at www.hostgator.com has a reseller hosting program that allows you to keep the money you collect. Like the others, it is anonymous, meaning that your customers don't know they are buying from another host company unless you tell them.