How to Host Multiple Websites on One Hosting?

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Running more than one website will have its difficulties. If you host each of them on a separate hosting account, then each individual site can be costly and difficult to manage. Fortunately, there is a solution. If you use cPanel, from a single hosting account, then you will be able to host several pages, save you money and let you control them all from a central hub. We’ll clarify in this article how to add your cPanel account to an external website.

Using cPanel’s Addon Domain Tool

You’ll need to use cPanel’s Addon Domain tool to manage multiple websites from a single cPanel account. The word ‘domain’ is the word used to describe the name of your website, so ‘Addon Domain’ basically means adding a different website.

When you use this tool, cPanel will create a new subdirectory in your hosting account’s home directory for your additional domain. Doing this will make sure that the correct website files are loaded when people visit your new website. You will be able to specify the name of the directory to help manage the various sites so that you can remember which website’s files are stored inside.

What is an Addon Domain?

You can manage multiple domains from a single hosting account using the cPanel Addon Domains feature. Addon domains are expected to be entirely different websites, all hosted within the same cPanel account, as opposed to Parked domains. For your addon domains, you can also create additional sub-accounts (for example, email addresses).

Why Addon Domains?

To save money, you can use them. With addon domains, for each domain you operate, you don’t have to buy an additional hosting account. You can simply create addon domains and split up the resources of your existing account.

What is to be done prior to creating the Addon Domain?

While not required, updating your domain’s DNS to the server where it is hosted is a good idea. We recommend that you contact your web host for the proper nameserver and your server’s IP address. Then, take this information to the registrar of your domain (or, if it is the domain registrar, your hosting provider) and update the DNS settings of the domain. If you’re not sure who the registrar of your domain is, then you can always search WHO.is for your domain. This action will conduct a search and show the company responsible for registering your domain. This would be the perfect chance to purchase the domain from your preferred registrar if your domain is not registered.

How to add the Addon Domain to cPanel?

We can use cPanel’s Addon Domains feature in the Domains section of the cPanel interface to add an addon domain.

If you see an error in this interface, then it means that this feature has not been enabled by your hosting provider for your account, or another issue may arise. To fix the error, please contact your hosting provider before continuing to.

Verifying your DNS settings

When you add an Addon Domain, cPanel automatically creates a domain DNS zone file. We can see from the Zone Editor interface that the record A for ‘cpdocs.com’ is set to 209.59.172.159, the IP address of the cPanel account. If you do not see those options, then the correct feature permissions may not be available for your account. To have the Advanced DNS Editor feature added, the next step is to contact your hosting provider. You will be able to see all the DNS records assigned to your domain once these are enabled.

If you need to assign a different A record to your domain, in the cPanel Zone Editor, then you can use the “Edit an A record” function.

Please make sure there is a period at the end of the domain name when editing an A record for your addon domain. The DNS record will be incorrect if that period is missing, as it will not be considered a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). Now that the DNS record has been added, a period of propagation will begin for the domain. It can sometimes take 24 hours for DNS records to fully propagate, so a bit of patience will be required. Your domain will be publicly accessible once the propagation period has passed!

Conclusion

As you can see, on a single account, cPanel makes it easier to set up more than one website. The setup process is simple and fast, provided you have the right DNS information at your fingertips. Running multiple websites from the same account cuts the time it takes to manage various domains and saves hosting money. 

Need more information?

Our expert team is here to help with any questions you have regarding our products or services. ​

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