Linux server and various IP addresses

[mryang]

OK,

I have a linux server and cpanel. There are 20 odd websites hosted on the server, only a couple of them have SSL so these are on their own IP addresses, all the other sites on the server are all served up under the same IP address.

Question is - I own a few of the other sites and point links from them to my main site, does this help me at all with them all being on the same server is there any benefit to be had from linking these sites together or perhaps any disadvantage? Would it help if I put every site on a unique IP?

[tamecrow]

You shouldn't do any damage if you link to yourself using these sites, but I'd be wary about doing it with too many.

To answer your second question - yes, you'd be better off with a unique IP. However, SEs are increasingly looking at factors such as WHOIS records to determine whether false networks are being created.

[blitzen]

SSL requires an unique IP.

[sanver]

It would be better if the links from other sites on your server are used by your clients / other site owner in accessing your site. This will not only create an inward traffic to your site but also grant legitimacy to the linking program.

Sanjay Verma

[G[dot]com]

@blitzen: yes indeed. He pointed that out.

Originally Posted by mryang

...only a couple of them have SSL so these are on their own IP addresses...

@mryang: I don´t think that there´s anything specially wrong about interlinking sites which are on the same IP, as fas as I know sites are taken for their domain names, regardless the IPs (that´s why sites may rank well for "www.site.com" and not for "site.com", eventhough the IP is obviously the same for both URLs!)

In terms of pros and cons of linking, the question on servers and IPs is not a problem -as far as I know-, but if in fact those sites have some relevance (contents) with your main site. If so, there´s a clear advantage for linking. If not, it can be harmless, yet the advantage would exist though little.

My two cents.

[nottheusual1]

There are dissenting opinions from those posted about linking in from close proximity IP addresses, as it would be obvious to the spider/bot systems that a large number of links were being concentrated in a small IP space. I am **almost** positive that it is something that Google watches for as an indication of potential link quality issues.

One of the things that a number of us (in my smallish world, anyway) noticed was that links from withing the same server IP block didn't get much play and multiple sites cross-linked (and especially interlinked) originating from a single server's base IP never seemed to get any "respect" from the search engines, in general.

We kind of agreed that links withing the same /24 didn't seem to be treated as high quality, either, but that was pretty anecdotal. That being said, we didn't see anything detrimental happen to well-placed (in the organic listings) sites as a result, it just didn't seem to make any difference - like those links were ignored.

I'd research it in a few more places - there are some strong opinions out there that having a linking "program" all existing on one server is a massive red flag.

If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it - and I didn't read one reply that points out examples of quantifiable successes using that strategy.

[tamecrow]

Originally Posted by G[dot]com

I don´t think that there´s anything specially wrong about interlinking sites which are on the same IP, as fas as I know sites are taken for their domain names, regardless the IPs (that´s why sites may rank well for "www.site.com" and not for "site.com", eventhough the IP is obviously the same for both URLs!)

Actually, the reason they rank for one and not the other is that the vast majority of backlinks go to the www. version. It has nothing to do with the IP address whatsoever, and in fact, many sites will rank for both (at least for a short while, until one or both are de-ranked due to duplicate content issues). Google aren't stupid, and if a large number of links coming in to your site have the same IP address and the same owner on the WHOIS records, then it's patently clear that we're not looking at a natural linking pattern here. Believe me on this - Google DOES look at IP addresses and WHOIS records.

[wige]

Generally speaking, Google does not care about the originating IP address of link - there is no reason not to expect that two sites would be unrelated but hosted on the same shared server, and have a natural, editorial link from one to the other. In fact, about five-ten years ago when Geocities and the other hobby hosting services were popular this was extremely common.

However, Google also looks at averages. A few links from the same IP or IP block, (few = a small percentage of total IBLs) won't have any adverse affect and would be treated as normal links. However, if Google sees that, for example, 40% of your IBLs come from domains in one sub-C block, Google will probably get suspicious and start discounting those links.

[mryang]

Thanks for the advice - seems that there isnt a clear concensus on this.

[netman4ttm]

SSL does not need an unique ip just a unique port.

As long as your virtual server looks like this

<VirtualHost *:1040>
ServerName xxx.yourdomain.com
DocumentRoot /usr/local/www/data/xxx
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /usr/local/etc/xxx/xxx.yourdomain.com.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /usr/local/xxx/server.key
SSLCACertificateFile /usr/local/xxx/ca.txt
</VirtualHost>

You can use whatever ports are free on your server.

so https://xxx.yourdomain.com:1040 will work.