A term that has become popular and added to the lexicon in the last couple of years is the term virtual real estate (VRE) . This has to do with the business model of acquiring and maintaining numerous web properties that bring in money each and every month.
The theory is, that while building up a particular site to be a huge money maker can take years, a swarm of smaller “niche” sites that each bring in a small amount can add up to a significant amount, particularly given the relatively short amount of time it can take to set them up. But how do we go about securing web hosting for all of these sites? Let’s take a look at what some webmasters do.
First, the practical aspects. Begin by ruling out free web hosting. Besides the fact that you NEVER want to put any of your business sites on a free web host you can’t control, eventually (usually quite soon) you would find that the resources allotted you simply wouldn’t cut it anyhow. Same situation with most personal or beginner accounts. While they advertise “unlimited” space and bandwidth, the reality is that when you start to consume more resources than they are comfortable with, they will either ”throttle” your domain, (put a slowdown in effect) or outright tell you to upgrade to a plan that more closely matches your needs. That’s okay, because if you’re planning on hosting dozens or hundreds of sites, you need a better solution anyway.
What many webmasters opt for is either a reseller account, or a virtual private server. Others who scale this big find that having a managed dedicated server is truly the way to go. Here’s hoping that your virtual real estate empire grows to the proportion that it requires resources like that.
Many times the web hosting is spread across several different companies, all with different Class C IP addresses, particularly if you are thinking of networking these sites in any meaningful way. Having all of your inbound links show up from your own IP is a sure way to make sure they are ignored by Google, a scenario which can also to lead to your site getting a penalty. Forewarned is forearmed!
Some have gone so far as to host internationally for these purposes as well. While this may or may not prove helpful for your VRE empire, it’s good to know that the option is there. It can also be useful if you are attempting to market a particular product in a foreign market. Having local web hosting there could be a positive ranking factor for that site.
Understanding that web hosting is an essential expense involved in this business, strive for the best you can afford. The lack of problems will more than make up for the small additional cost you may incur. Managing a VRE empire is enough work in itself, and having to constantly concern yourself with web hosting matters is counter-productive!
So, bottom line, for the best result with your fledgling virtual real estate empire, start with reseller accounts, spread them around, and go with quality hosting. Soon the cost won’t be mattering much!
