The prices of domain names and WordPress hosting have dropped to the point that it’s possible to own multiple websites on a budget. If you plan to operate multiple WordPress websites, then this is the blog post for you.
The first thing to consider when setting up multiple websites is whether or not to host them all with the same WordPress hosting provider. Many WordPress hosts offer packages that let you set up multiple sites on a single account. You can even set up completely separate accounts for each website if you’d like.
If you are happy with the WordPress hosting company you’re using now, one advantage of using them for another site is the fact that you know they offer good service and support. Most WordPress hosts will also offer discounts for multiple sites, so your costs might be lower if you stay with the same hosts.
Should You Choose Different Hosts?
If you choose a different WordPress host you’ll be able to compare the quality of another company with whomever you’re currently using. If you ever run into problems with them, you’ll have an alternative. It’s wise not to “put all your eggs in one basket” as the saying goes.
Another advantage of using a different WordPress hosting provider is that you’ll get a different IP address for each of your sites. If your sites are related to one another and you want to link them together, having different IP addresses might help your website rank higher in the search engines.
Links from other sites is a very important factor in getting your website to rank higher in the search engines. If those links come from sites on the same IP address, then search engines will figure out that all the websites are likely all owned by the same person, and they may discount the value of those links.
What Are Your Options?
Best WordPress Hosting 2013
If you do choose to host all your sites with one WordPress hosting provider, there are three 3 choices:
Separate accounts for each site
Reseller account where they are all hosted
Dedicated server where they are all hosted
Separate accounts are self-explanatory, so let’s look at reseller accounts. As a reseller, you’re an agent for the hosting company – a middleman between hosting company and the end user.
The idea is that you can set up your own company offering web hosting that is ultimately hosted by the WordPress hosting company. You don’t have to resell this hosting, but you can use the hosting services for your own websites by reselling hosting to yourself.
A reseller account is nice because all your websites are under one roof, and you have a single point of contact for any technical problems.
Should You Use a Dedicated Server?
Hosting on a dedicated server gives you complete control of the computer that is the web server. You can install any software you want, any operating system you want and you can allocate resources like memory and hard disk space however you want to divide it up between your sites.
The disadvantage of a dedicated server is that you are responsible for maintaining the server and sometimes even for the technical side of things. If you aren’t familiar with the technical side of running a web server, you may need to choose a managed dedicated server, where the hosting company looks after these issues.
Dedicated servers are, of course, more expensive than the other options, so unless your websites are well established, with a lot of traffic, they may not fit within your budget.
You might also want to look into a VPS (virtual private server.) A VPS is very similar to a dedicated server, but it’s a lot less expensive. If you’re just starting out, you might want to use shared hosting until you get more comfortable with WordPress and all the hosting features.
Here’s a list of our top recommended WordPress Hosting Providers (Top 3)
-Matt