Add-On Domains 101
Q: What Are Add-on Domains and How Do You Set Them Up? |
.jpg) A: When you sign up for service with a web hosting company, you are often given the opportunity to host more than one domain on a single site. Any and all domains beyond your primary domain name, the one you originally sign up with, are sometimes called add-on domains.
Usually in these instances, hosting is offered free for those add-on domains, though you still have to purchase/register the add-on domains one way or another, whether through your web host or some other domain name registrar, then point that add-on domain name to your new web host's servers.
Add-on domains ordinarily do not have separate, independent IP addresses like primary domain names do. To get a separate, independent IP address for an add-on domain, another hosting account on a different server must usually be ordered, turning the domain name in question from a potential add-on domain into the primary domain of its own account.
The Difference Between Add-on Domains, Parked Domains, and Subdomains |
Besides add-on domains, a web hosting account can have two other types of additional domains:
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Parked Domains: These don't have separate index pages or folders as they point to your main domain and share the same web pages, making a parked domain, in effect, another name for your main website. A good example of this is when a single company owns all the extensions of its name (for e.g. mywebsite.net, mywebsite.biz, mywebsite.ca, etc. though all of them point to mywebsite.com). Most web hosts, including HostPapa, will allow you to host as many parked domains as you like for free - otherwise known as "unlimited parked domains." |
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Sub-domains: These appear as www.subdomain.maindomain.com. You can have as many of these as you like! |
How to Set Up an Add-on Domain |
If your web host registers your domain name for you, it may (as HostPapa does) automatically connect your DNS (domain name server settings or nameservers) to its servers for you. If you register your domain name elsewhere, however, it is up to you to point your domain name to its servers yourself. To do so:
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Update the DNS settings (nameservers) at your registrar for your add-on domain with the same DNS settings (nameservers) as for your main domain Login to your web hosting control panel. |
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Click on the Add-on Domain icon. |
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Set-up a new directory for your add-on domain; the HTML files for an add-on domain are stored in a subfolder in your www folder (your account's the /public_html/ folder). |
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Upload your web content for your add-on domain to this new directory in order to display it when the URL for your add-on domain is entered into a web browser's address bar. |
HostPapa's Add-on Domains |
Web hosting with HostPapa comes with hosting for unlimited websites (or domains) under one account. The first domain is given to you free upon signup; any others you would have to purchase and register on your own and then point to HostPapa's servers.
If you choose, HostPapa can register add-on domain names for you for $24.95 per year (+GST in Canada).
To have HostPapa register an add-on domain name for you, just send an email to sales@hostpapa.com.
Include in the email the domain name that you first registered with HostPapa and what domain name you want HostPapa to register for you. That's all you need to do. It'll go ahead and register the add-on domain name for you and set up the DNS automatically with your HostPapa account.
Read more about Add-on Domains in our Knowledgebase! |
