Another "Which Hosting?" Question

xxgaryxx · #1 05-24-2007, 11:21 AM

Hiya,

This is a VERY late pre-sales question, because I already have a Hostgator Baby Croc shared hosting account.

When I was deciding which hosting I wanted, I couldn't see any meaningful difference between shared hosting for $10 and a reseller account for $25, the resources, i.e. disk space, bandwidth etc. seem to be comparable and I don't want to resell any hosting.

I am involved in niche marketing, with many websites as add-on domains that bear no relation to the others and my Google rankings for some of my domains is quite frankly crap!

My question is - does having shared hosting with all but the main domain showing as add-on domains adversely effect my website SEO rankings for the sub-domains?

The Google bots must surely see the full structure of the domains and be able to see a bunch of otherwise unrelated domains, but is that a bad thing?

I have asked on the Warriors Forum already and got about three answers saying as long as I'm not cross-linking, there should be no problem, but then a final reply from someone saying that the fact that they are unrelated and add-ons to the same main domain will be hurting my rankings.

I don't want to have to spend 2½ times what I'm paying now for no reason, but equally, if shared hosting is damaging my SEO, it may be a worthwhile expense.

Oh and one further question, if it is necessary, is the upgrade path from shared to reseller easy, or a 'rebuild all your sites' nightmare time?

Thanks in advance

Gary

kmaw · #2 05-24-2007, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxgaryxx

Oh and one further question, if it is necessary, is the upgrade path from shared to reseller easy, or a 'rebuild all your sites' nightmare time?

I don't know much about SEO, but I can answer this one. The upgrade path is easy, it just takes some time - figure on a weekend and some planning.

slapshotw · #3 05-24-2007, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxgaryxx

does having shared hosting with all but the main domain showing as add-on domains adversely effect my website SEO rankings for the sub-domains?

The Google bots must surely see the full structure of the domains and be able to see a bunch of otherwise unrelated domains, but is that a bad thing?

No, it doesn't hurt you. The Google bots can't see the full structure of the domains and won't know if it's an add-on, or a reseller addition domain, or a domain owned by some other person. All it'll know is that they are on the same server.

-Matt

xxgaryxx · #4 05-24-2007, 12:48 PM

Thanks kmaw and thanks Matt, for confirming that kmaw's suggestion isn't necessary.

I guess then that the domains shared on the same server by any other customers are seen by Google too, which would make it inappropriate for them to penalize one domain based on it's proximity to another.

The reason I thought it was visible to Google was because when I first add a domain it is shown as: add-ondomain.maindomain.com so I just assumed that this arrangement was visible to Google's bots too.

Thanks again, you've just saved me $15 a month

Cheers
Gary

kmaw · #5 05-24-2007, 01:38 PM

The only reason you'd need reseller vs shared is if you wanted each domain to have it's own control panel. If you're going to manage all these yourself, like it sounds, you're fine with just shared.

Serra · #6 05-24-2007, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxgaryxx

The reason I thought it was visible to Google was because when I first add a domain it is shown as: add-ondomain.maindomain.com so I just assumed that this arrangement was visible to Google's bots too.

Google's bots can tell you are using an addon domain, but that doesn't have any effect on how you page is ranked. Google doesn't care really.

charlesgan · #7 05-25-2007, 09:51 PM

i would like to highlight this point

Quote:

My question is - does having shared hosting with all but the main domain showing as add-on domains adversely effect my website SEO rankings for the sub-domains?

if the websites linking each other is from the same topic/keyword/product... then there is sandbox effect. where your site will drop in ranking in SERP.

Serra · #8 05-26-2007, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlesgan

if the websites linking each other is from the same topic/keyword/product... then there is sandbox effect. where your site will drop in ranking in SERP.

This is really the only effect that users should worry about. Basically, if you have a bunch of sites and the links between those sites are being used to build ranking, then the sites need to be at different hosts. (Not just in different accounts, unless they are on different class Cs).

Hostgator is working on a system for this.

Again, this would be a special case, because mostly people don't build addon sites to link back to their main site. This type of linking is very expensive.

eLIANT · #9 05-26-2007, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serra

... this would be a special case, because mostly people don't build addon sites to link back to their main site.

I'm a reseller with some add-on sites connected to my primary account. Those add-on sites are for clients of mine and not affiliated with my hosting site. However, when I built their sites, I put a link to my hosting site in the footer of their site. Does that mean I am hurting the ranking of my hosting site?

Serra · #10 05-26-2007, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eLIANT

I'm a reseller with some add-on sites connected to my primary account. Those add-on sites are for clients of mine and not affiliated with my hosting site. However, when I built their sites, I put a link to my hosting site in the footer of their site. Does that mean I am hurting the ranking of my hosting site?

You are not hurting your ranking, but you are not helping it either.

patwa · #11 06-23-2007, 07:53 PM

Hi, I'm planning on buying upwards of 20 domains. Actually only five or six, but with the .com, .org and .net etc derivatives pointing to the same place. Should I go reseller and if so what advantage do I get? I'm on baby crock at the moment.

H.

esl · #12 06-23-2007, 08:09 PM

Hello patwa,

Quote:

Originally Posted by patwa

Hi, I'm planning on buying upwards of 20 domains. Actually only five or six, but with the .com, .org and .net etc derivatives pointing to the same place. Should I go reseller and if so what advantage do I get? I'm on baby crock at the moment.

H.

If all of your domains are pointing to the same place, (aka. parked domains) then you should be fine with the Baby Croc plan.

patwa · #13 06-23-2007, 08:36 PM

Hi, maybe I didn't explain:

www.site1.com with site1.net, org, biz all pointing to site1.com.

www.site2.com with site1.net, org, and so on pointing to site2.

www.site3.com with site3.net, and so on pointing to site3.

I have about 6 of these, so approximately 20 domains but 6 actual different sites.

Again, would reseller offer any benefit, and if so what and is it worth it?

H.

smp · #14 06-23-2007, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patwa

Hi, I'm planning on buying upwards of 20 domains. Actually only five or six, but with the .com, .org and .net etc derivatives pointing to the same place. Should I go reseller and if so what advantage do I get? I'm on baby crock at the moment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by patwa

H.

Hey patwa,

Like esl said if you just want to point them all to patwa.co.uk or whatever your fine sticking with the baby account. (and parking the new domains)

Though judging by your post the other day on international domains you want each of the international extensions to be written in the language of the extension. You could just add them as add-on domains to your baby account but the advantage of having a reseller account is that each international domain could have its own control panel.

I'd go for a reseller account if it were me, heck it's only an extra $15 p/m, but it isn't a necessity.

Regards, Steve Xx

Break the Silence · #15 06-24-2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxgaryxx

I have asked on the Warriors Forum already and got about three answers saying as long as I'm not cross-linking, there should be no problem, but then a final reply from someone saying that the fact that they are unrelated and add-ons to the same main domain will be hurting my rankings.

If I were you, I'd go ahead and disregard the final reply...

The beauty of SEO is that everybody has a slightly different opinion, so more often than not, it becomes a question of whether there is sufficient evidence to back up any specific claim. In this particular case, the supporting evidence seems to be lacking.

patwa · #16 06-24-2007, 01:59 PM

Thanks. I will consider it, see if the domains are available, buy them and then move.

And who knows, being a reseller maybe I can even start earning some revenue by selling accounts?

H.

esl · #17 06-24-2007, 04:29 PM

A reseller may work out making you money if someone asks you where you got your website, and the you can go into how cheap it is and bam, you have a client.

***GatorJay*** · #18 06-25-2007, 04:48 PM

Since this is an "SEO" thread, you should all be sure to check out the new branch of HostGator, www.seohosting.com Our new service allows you to have up to 50 accounts on a reseller type environment, but each account can have a different C-class. Basically search engines would read each domain as being on "its own server" without having to spread your sites over 50 servers, or 50 hosts.

Break the Silence · #19 06-26-2007, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GatorJay

Our new service allows you to have up to 50 accounts on a reseller type environment, but each account can have a different C-class.

Great news...

I suspect a lot of people are going to be very happy about this.

Serra · #20 06-26-2007, 06:18 PM

Everyone will notice the prices are finally available, which I've been interested in. Price wise, it doesn't seem that bad for what it does.

***GatorJay*** · #21 06-26-2007, 08:43 PM

The only true SEO Host we know of so far is first in google and goes by http://www.seowebhosting.net That would be the best place to compare our prices at http://www.seohosting.com/hosting-plans.php As you can see, not only are our prices in a whole other league of value, but you will also have the support and comfort of knowing HostGator is the company behind this service.

Also if anyone wants more information on this, feel free to PM me and we can speak there or schedule a phone call.