9 replies to this topic

[Jennifer Tripp]

Hello,

A friend and I have decided to partner and start writing a blog together that will complement both of our businesses. We really think it will be a good source of traffic to our sites as well as good quality backlinks.

My question is whether I should host the blog on the same server as where my main site is. Will backlinks be given less weight because they are coming from a site with the same IP address? Should I look at a different hosting option?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jennifer

[arteworks]

This is actually a really good question. I have heard but have not independently confirmed that the weblog should be hosted within a different domain so the links back are given more weight. I hadn't thought about the IP address situation, i.e. if several domains are on a shared IP address whether or not that would lower the value of the links.

What you might want to do is pay your hosting company for a unique static IP address for your main site. It shouldn't be but like 2 bucks a month more. Then, host your web log under a shared IP address. You could also get a separate domain just for your weblog - for instance, if you have the domain yoursite.com as your main site, get yoursiteblog.com for the blog. For added protection, have the blog domain hosted on a unique static IP address as well.

These are my thoughts but I admit it is mostly speculation and educated guesswork. If anyone has any actual real knowledge on this topic I would appreciate it as well!

[dmcconkey]

What you might want to do is pay your hosting company for a unique static IP address for your main site

I might be mistaken, but doing that will still put your blog and your main site in the same C-Block (ip neighborhood). ie 123.456.789.422 and 123.456.789.231 are still very similar and probably not going to gain you much.

If you could get a totally separate IP, that would probably make the links a bit more credible.

Of course, I've never actually tested this. All my sites are on the same server sharing four or five IP addresses.

-Dan

[Michael Martinez]

I might be mistaken, but doing that will still put your blog and your main site in the same C-Block (ip neighborhood). ie 123.456.789.422 and 123.456.789.231 are still very similar and probably not going to gain you much.

There is no reason for people to be concerned about hosting content in the same C-block.

There is no SEO advantage (so far as has been documented in the literature to date) to using separate C-blocks.

If, like me, you have concerns about email blacklistings, having separate C-block IP addresses can help you stay in touch with people while you fix whatever problems arise.

My situation is pretty unique. I change hosting providers every 1-2 years, and occasionally my servers die and have to be replaced, and more than once I've found out the hard way that someone left a back door open on my server and I got blacklisted.

Most people do not have to worry about these problems, so they don't need to worry about getting IP addresses on separate C-blocks.

[Jill]

More important than where you host it (which is of no consequence whatsoever) you want to think of the business issues involved, as well as branding.

I can tell you that when I had my newsletter (RankWrite) as a separate entity from my business (High Rankings), I couldn't believe all the calls and emails I got asking me to refer people to someone who did SEO services. I guess they thought I simply wrote about it but didn't do it!

Once I switched over to doing the High Rankings® Advisor and had it all contained on my HR site, it was like night and day businesswise.

Stop thinking about the search engines for these very, very important decisions and do what makes the most sense from a business perspective and from a branding one. That's what will really make a difference in the long run. Not dumb old IPs and Cblocks and the like that really have no bearing on anything important.

[Jennifer Tripp]

Thanks everyone. You've all been a big help.

Jill ~ I completely agree but in this situation having the blog be branded with my site is not possible. It's a joint venture with someone else so it is going to be a separate entity completely because of the nature of how our two sites complement one another. But that doesn't mean I can't use it to creatively get traffic to my main site!

Jennifer

[Jill]

Jennifer, in that case, just host it where ever it's easiest for you to host it. It shouldn't be a concern in the least.

[Jennifer Tripp]

Thanks Jill. I know I can always count on you to set me straight when I get silly ideas in my head.

Jennifer

[serpy]

The hardest thing about this industry is that so many rumors get started and spread on a daily basis..."oh don't do that or google will ban you".

On that note I did hear awhile back that you would be penalized for having a blog on a subdomain if it was found irrelevant to the main site. I have no evidence that this is true but I could see this happening if the blog was spammy but not in your case. Good luck.

[Jill]

On that note I did hear awhile back that you would be penalized for having a blog on a subdomain if it was found irrelevant to the main site.

It's absolutely ridiculous and untrue just like most of what you read about SEO.