robots.txt and htaccess for multiple domains on one hosting account

[Tarzan2]

Yes, it's the exact same rules, just drop these into the addons folder.

Much appreciated! I have read lots about the need to do this, but few actually post up the required code or tell you where to put it. They just say, "create a 301 redirect", and leave the novice scratching their head as to HOW to make a 301 redirect.

[Tarzan2]

Thanks to semAdvance and Hollyhttp
for your good information about how the search bots work. I mostly use the full URL in my links anyway, so I suppose I was lucky in doing so!

To sum up then, I think my information about needing a robots.txt file is erroneous. As long as my links are full links, I can just let the bots sort out what content belongs to which site.

When I am ready, I can get a new domain name, use the pointing manager to set it to the correct folder, and I should be set. If the pointing manager creates an htaccess file for me, I need not do anything else. If not, I create one using Speed's code and stick it into the folder of the add-on domain.

Plus... for extra bonus, I check my current htaccess file in my root to see if it points my non-www.maindomain to the www.maindomain. If not, I add the code to gather up all my link juice!

[zbatia]

Just keep one thing in mind. When you host multiple domains on the same IP address, the search engines will recognize it you want it or not. The cross-promotion will suffer.
I faced the same situation as you, and lately Google downgraded my web site by 2PRs down in one single day!

[Tarzan2]

Just keep one thing in mind. When you host multiple domains on the same IP address, the search engines will recognize it you want it or not. The cross-promotion will suffer.
I faced the same situation as you, and lately Google downgraded my web site by 2PRs down in one single day!

Thanks for your input zbatia.

Just for clarification: Are you heavily promoting one site from the other? I can see Google dropping internal promotion, but if you get back links from OUTSIDE sources (outside your domains), then I would think there should be no penalty for simply having several sites hosted in one account. Can you clarify your findings for everyone's benefit, please?

Just as an aside: Google does funny things at times, so when you see sudden changes in rank, it could be for any number of reasons and it is sometimes difficult to be sure exactly what that reason is. Often, those changes are only temporary, so you need to see what happens over a period of time.

[deepsand]

Because spiders crawl servers and as such do not need links to find any intellectual property stored on your server be it images videos docs pdfs or pages of code.

Bots/Crawlers/Spiders do not actually "crawl" anything.

They are browser agents which, like any other agent, must make specific requests for a specific resource on a server, on at a time. And, in order to have such requests filled, the sought after resource must be one which is marked ad being available to the public.

They do not have access privileges such that they can search a (sub-)directory's directory entries so as to identify all resources pointed to by that directory. (A notable exception is where unrestricted access is allowed, such as an FTP server which allows anonymous log-in.)

[kelliott07]

I was following this thread with some interest. I use add-on domains for almost all of my seperate websites. I also use wordpress as my content management tool. In order to mask the sub-domain I change the setting in wordpress to only show the new site domain.

Is this a good idea?

[Tarzan2]

Bots/Crawlers/Spiders do not actually "crawl" anything.

They are browser agents which, like any other agent, must make specific requests for a specific resource on a server, on at a time. And, in order to have such requests filled, the sought after resource must be one which is marked ad being available to the public.

They do not have access privileges such that they can search a (sub-)directory's directory entries so as to identify all resources pointed to by that directory. (A notable exception is where unrestricted access is allowed, such as an FTP server which allows anonymous log-in.)

This makes sense and seems reasonable to me. Thanks for that input deepsand!

[deepsand]

This makes sense and seems reasonable to me. Thanks for that input deepsand!

My pleasure.

[Manpasand]

1. The simplest, one ftp password. The add on domains are uploaded as to the main domain. The various domains can share one central CSS styling file located in the sub folder of the main domain.
   
   Example:
   
   Main domain: Kjell Bleivik
   
   Add on domain: DigitalStart.net: The starting point for English speaking surfers and webmasters

How can I prevent ONLY add on directory listing from main domain via .htaccess?

[speed]

How can I prevent ONLY add on directory listing from main domain via .htaccess?

I'm not really sure what you are after do you mean stop the list of files and folders in a directory from showing, if so then use:

Options -Indexes

Otherwise just use the .htaccess file I gave further up in each addon and it will redirect visitors and bots that try and access an addon via a folder of the main domain.