It’s the same with almost any business: Once you taste success, you’ll probably want to expand. And with online business, that usually means adding more sections to your website, or adding new websites altogether.

And, as a smart business manager, you’ll no doubt want to expand your site without having to pay for more hosting services. Luckily, there are several ways to do just that.  Today’s blog entry is the first in a series of three articles to help you better utilize Add-on Domains, Parked Domains, and Subdomains.

Add-on Domains

Sometimes called Hosted Domains, Add-on Domains are domain names located on the same hosting plan as your primary domain name. Just like your main domain name, you own these domains and have to pay for their registration. They can represent a subdirectory on your main site, or they can show a different website altogether. They can also be a type of parked domain. They use the same hosting space and bandwidth as your main hosting service account and are typically managed by the same control panel. (However, even these almost-universal basic facts can sometimes differ among hosting providers.)

The advantage of add-on domains is that you can host more than one website on the same account, saving resources, space, and of course, money. That means, with just one hosting plan, you can create whole new websites under the same account, with completely different identities, styles, keywords, SEO functionality, and so on. Or, if you prefer to brand your main site over a variety of different domain names, you can choose to incorporate a single style and structure throughout all your add-on domains.

It’s your choice. Add-on Domains give you the freedom to maximize the value of your hosting service in the way that works best for you. And, although you have to take extra care that growing traffic among your various add-on domains doesn’t overwhelm your main service’s bandwidth capabilities, this, too, can be seen as a positive factor. After all, if you have that many websites with that much traffic, a second or third hosting plan is probably the best next step in your business plans, anyway. (Or perhaps a larger Professional Grade or eCommerce Optimized hosting plan is now in order.)

Next up: Parked domains and subdomains.