How Does Multiple Domain Web Hosting Work?

Many businesses have more than one website. Whether the websites are franchise websites, subsidiary websites, or just websites used for back-linking, being able to own more than one website and more than one domain has many advantages. But just how does it work?

First you have to make sure that your web host will allow you to have more than one domain, or more than one website, on the server. With free web hosting you’ll be able to create as many accounts as you want, but the domains will be random, long, and not necessarily organized in a way that’s easy for you to build, and your customers to find. You won’t find a free web host that offers organized multiple domain names that are grouped together, because it’s simply a premium feature – something free web hosting doesn’t offer.

One of the reasons multiple domains are considered a premium service is because having more than one domain requires a great deal more resources than a single domain alone. Multiple domains will need more bandwidth because more websites will attract more visitors; and they’ll also need more storage space, as there will be data for more than one website. In order to ensure that you’ll have the resources needed for all of your domains, you will probably have to look at VPS web hosting, or dedicated web hosting. These are the best types to choose to suit your needs; but shared web hosting definitely won’t be an option.

The way that those resources are divided on the server will depend on the arrangement you have with your web host, but there are typically two options. Those resources can be divided equally among all the different domains, or you can choose to give one domain more than the others.

In order to know which to choose, you’ll need to know what you want out of your websites. If you’re going to have one main website and use the others simply to link to it and use for additional promotion, you might want to put most of your resources into the main domain. If on the other hand, you’re going to have a number of websites with approximately the same amount of data on them, as is often the case with franchisee websites, you’re probably better off dividing the resources up equally.

Running multiple domains from one web host doesn’t have to be complicated; it’s simply another feature web hosts offer in order to provide a superior service. How many you have, and how you choose to use your multiple domains is up to you. You may have to do some digging to find a web host that will be able to provide everything you’re looking for, but once you have all those outlets for online promotion, it will be well worth it!