What Is an Addon Domain and Why You Need It

You’re no doubt familiar with domains already. Chances are you set up your SME website using a primary domain.

A primary domain is what you first set up with your hosting provider, and it’s represented by a web address. Think facebook.com or amazon.com.

If you’re considering setting up - or have already set up - a second website, you might benefit from learning about addon domains.

That’s why below, we’ll talk about addon domains and some of the ways they can help you.

What are Addon Domains?

Imagine that your web hosting provider is an office building. You have space rented for your business, but you want to explore new avenues of commerce. For that, you need more space. Would you go out and find an entirely new office building?

Of course not. You would rent out more space in your existing office building, likely close to the space you already have.

That’s what an addon domain provides. It is a fully functional, additional domain hosted by your existing hosting provider.

It allows you to have more websites without finding a new web hosting provider or a new web hosting account.

When users visit your addon domain, they won’t know that it’s an addon domain. They won’t even know that it is linked to your existing domain or business unless you want them to.

You’ll be able to create email addresses and do everything else you can already do with your primary domain. But how can they help your SME?

Addon domains save you money

Web hosting packages are essential in the digital-first future. But they do cost money. It’s an essential cost of doing business.

Hosting multiple websites through the same web hosting provider - by using an addon domain - will allow you the flexibility to create multiple websites without the cost of multiple web hosting accounts. You’ll save a small fortune.

It will be particularly worthwhile if you want to make a website that you expect to have less-demanding traffic, one which wouldn’t need its own web hosting account.

The money saved here is more money you can use to grow your business.

Addon domains save you time

Having multiple domains with one hosting provider saves you stress and time. You won’t have to log into them separately. You won’t have to manage them separately.

The storage for your different websites will be combined, as will the interface for overseeing them. That’s less effort wasted logging into different accounts and remembering (or forgetting!) important passwords.

Simply put, this is more time and energy you’ll have to think about your business and your revenue.

READ: 5 Ways a Branded Domain Name Can Help You Grow Your Business

How Can You Set Up an Addon Domain?

The best web hosting providers will even allow you to have as many as 44 different addon domains, depending on your package.

And it’s really simple too. With Vodien, it’s as easy as logging into your cPanel, and choosing “Addon Domains”. You’ll then be guided through the process.

Don’t forget that when setting up an addon domain, you will need to register the new domain name, even though it’s hosted through your existing web hosting.

Addon Domains vs Subdomains vs Parked Domains

With all of the different terminology floating around online these days, it can be easy to get confused. Two other terms that are frequently confused with addon domains are subdomains and parked domains. So what are they? What is the difference between a subdomain and addon domain?

A subdomain is similar to an addon domain: it provides an entirely separate website from your primary domain. Unlike an addon domain, it will share at least some of the web addresses, so people will know that they are related.

If your website looks like this:

yourwebsite.com

A subdomain would look like this:

merchandise.yourwebsite.com

Subdomains can have an SEO impact, so make sure you do your homework when you use these.

If you want to know about parked domains, well, the clue is in the name! Like a parked car, you’re not using it now, but you may want to use it later. Think of a parked domain as a web address without a website.

Most of the time, parked domains are used to direct web traffic to your main website. They might also be used to save the web address for use later - like a parked car.

Many SMEs use parked domains as the basis of a minimum viable product, which can be very useful for innovation and research.

READ: 5 Ways to Protect Your Brand With Multiple Domains

Scale with Addon Domains

One web hosting account can host multiple addon domains, and these addon domains can each host their own independent website.

Addon domains are a simple way to increase your agility as a business. They make it quick and easy to make new websites as required without the associated cost in time and money of a new web hosting account.

If you’re considering multiple websites or the advantages afforded by them, make sure you’re not overlooking addon domains.