Use Add-On Domains To Optimize Your Web Hosting Space

Is it possible to host two or more sites with two or more domains on the same hosting account? You may want to register and market another domain name but don't want to pay for another hosting account. The best solution is to create an add-on domain.

What is an add-on domain?
An add-on domain is a new domain that is added on top of your main domain. It creates a sub directory within your main web hosting directory but can show a different website. The add-on domain collects the information from the sub domain directory using the same space and bandwidth as your main account, however it won't have its own cpanel (web hosting manager).

Add-on domain benefits.

1. Create multiple domains/websites on the same web hosting account.
2. Save money and web space by using one hosting account instead of several hosting accounts.
3. The add-on domain shares all the same resources (disk space, bandwidth...) with your main site.
4. The add-on domain has its own FTP manager, site stats, cgi-bin which is created automatically.
5. Upload all pages, images, scripts, forums etc to your add-on domain directory.
6. Access your add-on domain using several web site addresses i.e.
   
   http://www.SiteB.com,
   http://www.SiteB.SiteA.com,
   http://www.SiteA.com/SiteB
   
7. Promote several web sites within one hosting account with their own set of keywords.

How to create an add-on domain.

1. Register your new add-on domain with a domain name registrar.
2. Point the DNS (domain name sever) information of your new add-on domain to the same DNS of your web host.
3. Allow 24-48 hours for the DNS to propagate over the Net before uploading your files.
4. Log in to your cpanel (web hosting manager) and scroll to add-on domains.
5. Fill in these three fields:
   
   New Domain Name: SiteB.com (Do not put any http:// or www)
   Username/directory/subdomain
   
   Name: SiteB (Enter 'SiteB ' by itself. Do not put any '.com' or 'www')
   Password: 12345
   
   (Enter any password you wish.)
   
6. Click the 'Add Domain' button. It takes a couple of minutes for the system to set-up an add-on domain name.
7. Once it completes, your add-on domain name will be ready.

You can then log into your account and you should see a sub folder called /SiteB inside of your public_html folder. Simply upload index pages, images and any other information there.

Here is an example of how to create an add-on domain:
Let's say you primary domain is http://www.SiteA.com
You add an add-on domain named: http://www.SiteB.com through the cpanel.

Now you can access it via:
http://www.SiteB.com or
http://www.SiteB.SiteA.com/ or
http://www.SiteA.com/SiteB/

You can now set-up email for the add-on domain as if it was a separate site i.e. bubba@SiteB.com with mail servers as mail.SiteB.com

Tips: When searching for a web hosting service, be sure to check if they allow add-on domains. This will give you far more flexibility to utilize your web hosting space should you need to create add-on domains in the future.

Be sure to check how much web space you have left for your main hosting account before you create an add-on domain. Add-on domains utilize the same web space as your main hosting account.

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) owner and author of Affordable Web Site Design and Web Hosting Subscribe to his “Marketing Tips” newsletter for more original articles at: subscribe@isitebuild.com You can read more of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles