Pros and Cons of Using One Web Host for Multiple Domains

Aug 01st, 2016

If you’re going to be running multiple websites, you’ve probably already considered using one web host for all of your domains. But wait. Why would you want to run more than one website? Mostly because websites are a bit addictive and once you get one, it’s not long before you’re thinking about the next one. And large businesses, especially those with offices in different locations, will often have different websites for those different locations. So, when running those different domains, should you use the same web host for all of them?

The short answer is “yes” as typically, the pros vastly outweigh the cons. Using one web host to run multiple domains can be much cheaper than using a different host for every site; and it also gives you just one control panel to deal with, and that control panel gives you access to all of your sites. If you find a great web host, you’ll also know that you’ll also be getting the same great quality and service across all of your websites.

So does using one host for multiple domains have any cons? Just a couple, and most of those can be avoided.

The first one obviously, is that if any one of your websites crash, all of them will. So if your web host experiences a problem or downtime, no one will be able to get to your sites – including you. Likewise, if one of your websites is experiencing a lot of traffic, the resources reserved for all of your websites might be directed towards just that one, slowing down your other sites.

But traffic and web hosts aren’t the only things that can slow or shut down your site. Malicious code can also wreak havoc on any website, and if all of your domains are with the same host, it can destroy a lot of work in a lot of different places. To protect your sites against this, security measures such as FreeBSD or containers (Linux) can be installed.

While keeping all of your sites connected can be a much cheaper option and make things much easier, that connection can also bring all your sites down at the same time. To keep that from happening, it’s best to keep the individual sites as isolated as possible to prevent one from affecting the other. Then you can just sit back and enjoy all the benefits and convenience of using one web host for multiple domains.