It has become a common practice for enterprises to own more than one website. This is due to the significant reduction of domain name registration and web hosting.
Firstly, you must decide whether you want to host all the websites with the same web hosting company. Commonly, web hosting providers offer web hosting packages that include this feature. This means that you can set up multiple websites through a single account or get a number of accounts, each for every site you setup.
It is better to stick to a reliable web host for multiple website hosting rather than trying a new one which has not been tested yet. You can avoid wastage of time and money which may occur in case of an inferior web hosting provider. Check for discounts offered by your current host on multiple accounts or sites.
In contrast, if you are not satisfied with your present web hosting company’s services, hosting a new website with another web host is a good idea. This will give you an opportunity to test the new host and compare their services with the current one.
Your sites may rank higher in search engine results by hosting them with different web hosts. This happens when you get a different IP address for each website. An important factor for getting your website ranked well is the links from other websites. If these are from the same IP address, search engines may not assess your website as valuable.
However, if you have decided to host all the websites with a single web host, you can do this in three ways:
1: Individual Account
Your web hosting company may provide a separate account for each website rather than a single one for all websites.
2: Reseller Account
In this case, you are an intermediary between the web hosting company and the customer, which is you, in this case. This enables you to host your own websites by becoming a reseller for the web hosting provider.
3: Dedicated Server
If you want total control of your websites, this option will be suitable for you. You have the power to use any operating system, install any software and data bases for your websites. Remember that you will be responsible for maintaining the website and regularly check its performance, update various features and provide technical support yourself. Also, this is a much more expensive alternative as compared to the other options.
Analyze your budget and the requirements of your websites before deciding the kind of web hosting option which suits you most. Multiple website hosting is provided by most web hosts at competitive prices, so it should not be a problem to find the best one for you.