IP and multiple sites

[mypokercorner]

Hi,
If I have say 5 websites all hosted on the same box, does this affect SERP because it's one IP? I htink I heard something like that before.

[crazy44]

No, it doesn't affect the SERPs but if you link to another site on the same IP the link won't be as strong as a link from a site on a totally different IP.

[ThePokerBank]

As far as linking goes, your links won't be given as much weight if you are interlinking the sites on the same IP, as Google will be able to spot that you own them.

However, having sites on the same IP will help in the SERPS, as if you have an established site on one IP and set up a new site on the same, the new site will avoid the sandbox.

Before, I set up a new site on the same IP as thepokerbank, and the site was ranking well within the first few weeks. However, with another site I set up on a different host and thus different IP, after the site got indexed it barely even ranked for the exact words in the domain name for the first few weeks, and the niche isn't even that competitive.

So if you're looking to set up a new site and not use it to feed weighted backlinks to your main site, then I would recommend using the same host and on the same IP if possible, as it will allow you to get over the intial bump of being sandboxed for a few weeks or months.

[mypokercorner]

So mypokerbank, this means that the best situation would be as follows:

Let's say that we each one established site and we each want to create a new site. Lest say the new sites would require 100MB os space. Would it be a good idea for me to create a 100 MB hosting account for your site on my server, and you would do the same for me on your server, as opposed to each hosting our own sites on our own servers? That way, we each get two different IPs for our sites, but the benefit if sharing IP with an established site. Does that provide an advantage over hositng on your own on your same box? If so, how significant is that advantage?

[ThePokerBank]

I've never thought of it that way, but I can't see why that wouldn't work to both of our advantages. Pretty clever idea come to think of it.

The only problems with that is you will want to find someone you can trust to host your site, and if the site gets bigger and more popular it might start to eat up a lot of bandwidth.

I'm no SEO expert, but I don't see why that couldn't be an advantageous situation for both people for avoiding the sandbox and being able to get more effective links from the new sites. I would say a grey-hat technique, but I can't imagine Google would find out unless you started doing it with mutliple sites.

[mypokercorner]

You would need to do this with someone you trust for sure. There are risks when you're not in full control of your hosting.

[wallstreeterww]

Sounds a bit risky doesnt it? Why not just get a virtual ded and buy a few different ip's?