With low cost of domain names and low hosting fees it is common to own several websites. There are a few ways to manage multiple domains. It's important to know the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

The most basic choice is whether or not to administer your domains with the same host. Most web hosts offer packages which can be set up to allow several sites on one account, or allow individual sites to be operated under separate accounts.

You may have an existing website and like the services your host provides. By starting a new website with the same host you get the reassurance of dealing with a company you know. Sometimes you may get a discount for every additional account with the same host.

Using a different host for a new website will let you compare the quality of hosting services offered by different companies. In addition, separate hosts will provide each of your websites with a different IP address.

Having different IP addresses is useful if you plan to link the sites together for search engine optimization. Incoming links are very important: a website with many incoming links will get a higher position in most search engines. If the links are coming from the same IP address their value will be discounted.

Hosting your websites with different hosting companies guarantees that they have different IP addresses. An individual IP address is available at extra cost from most companies. For a fee each website can have its own unique IP address. Having a unique IP address is required if you want to have a secure connection (https) enabled on your site.

If you decide to host all your websites with the same company, there are three basic ways to go. Each site could have its own account, you could sign up for a reseller account, or you could get a dedicated server account.

Hosting all your websites with one host has a few advantages, but there is one major disadvantage if your server goes down, all your sites go down. If you depend on your sites for income this can be painful and it's a good idea to have at least one of your sites with a different host.