Web Hosting Information

Multiple Website Hosting - Subdomains are the Answer!


Many business owners find themselves in a quandary over the ways to make the most of their company's web site. This is especially true of those who have the need to maintain more than one web site but do not wish to pay for multiple hosting accounts. If this is you, a subdomain may be the answer.

Subdomains are sort of a site within a site. They are not, however, simply additional pages of an existing web site. The subdomain can have a web site all its own, completely separate from the site located at the main domain name.

To understand the use and purpose of subdomains, it may be necessary to first understand the concept of an internet domain name. Every web site that is active on the internet (and there are literally billions of them now - it was estimated as long ago as 1996 that there were more web pages in existence than there were people on Earth) has a unique domain name. There can be only one Ebay dot com, for example, on the entire internet. The domain name, however, is really just a way for humans to relate to the site. Internet servers see web site names as unique I.P. addresses. It is the domain name server that translates those numbers into names and back again.

A subdomain is simply an offshoot of your web site's domain. In terms of the way it appears on the server, the subdomain is simply a folder or a sub directory located within your domain's root directory. Any sub directory can serve as a sub domain. For example, if your web site is "www.mycompany.com" and you store the images for your site in a directory called "images," then you could, if you wished, create a subdomain at "images.mycompany.com". As long as you put an "index.html" page in the folder you should be able to pull it up in a web browser that way. In most cases you will create a new sub directory to be associated with a subdomain and some web hosts do not support subdomains on their servers or put a limit on the number of subdomains you may associate with your site.

The benefits of using subdomains as opposed to opening multiple hosting accounts are twofold. First, you get the obvious benefit of only having to pay for one hosting account. You also benefit from being able to have a completely separate web site, but one that your customers will easily recognize as being associated in some way with your business. Some companies will set up subdomains for various divisions (xyz.com may also have sales.xyz.com or support.xyz.com) and some will use subdomains for various businesses that are all offshoots of the same parent company.

That association could be a downside to using subdomains as well. If you want to keep the relationship between your companies under wraps (like Disney tried so hard to do with Touchstone Pictures so many years ago), you may want to use multiple accounts rather than subdomains. The web address clandestineproducts.megamall.com would clearly betray that there was some connection between Clandestine Products and Megamall, whether you wanted that information to be known or not.

John Michaels is a freelance author for WebHostPacks.com where he regularly publishes articles on how to find a cheap web host and reviews of low cost web hosting services.


MORE RESOURCES:

Web Hosting Success, Focus of Aplus.Net Mascot
HostingTech.com, KS - 6 hours ago
Overland Park, Kansas - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - December 3, 2008 - In order to assist customers with enhancing online revenue, during the current ...


DedicatedServerStore.com Announces Colocation and Web Hosting ...
HostSearch.com - 17 hours ago
COM) – DedicatedServerStore.com has announced a number of colocation and web hosting ‘specials’ for the holiday period, it was reported recently. ...


New Colocation and Web Hosting Holiday Specials
PR.com (press release), NY - Dec 2, 2008
Military support organizations, military commands and veteran families are eligible for free webhosting with is provided by Stealth - ISS Inc. the parent ...


UltraQuantix Rolls Out New Line of Shared, VPS Web Hosting Plans
Tophosts, Canada - 10 hours ago
With today’s announcement, UltraQuantix now offers 12 Linux-based shared Web hosting plan choices, starting at $12/yearly for an entry-level solution and ...


Web Hosting Provider, 3FN, Enhances Hardware Monitoring and ...
TheHostingNews.com (press release), OR - Dec 1, 2008
The web hosting company constantly improves hardware monitoring and replacement services in order to achieve maximum reliability and efficiency of its web ...


Web Hosting Firm, Premier Hosting, Debuts Drop Ship Magazine
WebSite Host Directory (press release), OR - Dec 2, 2008
Menasah, Wisconsin - (Website Hosting Directory) - December 2, 2008 - Webhosting service, Premier Hosting, Inc., celebrating its good BBB standing, ...


3FN Improves Hardware Monitoring and Replacement Services
HostSearch.com - Dec 2, 2008
COM) – 3FN, Triple Fiber Network, US based provider of dedicated server, shared web hosting and other web hosting services on international basis, ...


UltraQuantix Unveils Shared, VPS Lines
Web Host Industry Review - 4 hours ago
"By offering a wider variety of hosting configurations, we have created a more realistic and structured approach to selling web hosting to individuals and ...
New Domain Re-brands FutureHosting Web Host Industry Review
all 3 news articles


Verio Web Hosting Provider, AHA Corporation's Data Management
TheHostingNews.com (press release), OR - Dec 2, 2008
Moscow, Idaho - (The Hosting News) - December 2, 2008 - NTT Communications Company's web hosting, managed services and applications provider, Verio, Inc., ...


Web Hosting Provider, SiteGround uses AlphaSSL.com SSL certificates
Greatresponder.com, Canada - Dec 2, 2008
By Tammi Parker | December 2, 2008 SiteGround web hosting provider, a leading web hosting provider with over 150000 domains hosted, has chosen the AlphaSSL ...

Web-Hosting - Google News

home | site map
© 2006