Sure, you’ve heard of optimizing your website’s content, but what about optimizing your host? “SEO Hosts” boast that they can boost your business’s online presence in the following ways:
- Multiple Class IP addresses
- A Dedicated IP Address
What is an IP Address?
An Internet Protocol address is a number that identifies each device (computers, printers, routers, etc.) on a computer network. They are set by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
An IP address looks like 12.34.567.890 and in the format AA.BB.CCC.DDD., so that if the address is 12.34.567.890, the 567 is in the C place. When as SEO host provides you with multiple Class C IP’s, they have different numbers in the C set. Otherwise, when you are delivered multiple IP’s, it is all the same A.B.C class, but with a different D.
A Domain Name System (DNS), allows the IP address to be translated to words – your domain name. Thus, 12.23.567.890 gets translated into “www.yourwebsite.com” or you@yourwebsite.com.
Multiple IP Addresses: The Claim
Some SEO hosts will say that owning multiple IP addresses will effectively allow you to list your website in multiple places in the search engine marketplace. The theory is that by keeping a client’s domains listed as separate web properties, search engines will give better search rankings. The spider will see that one property links to another from a different Class C IP range. (Class C is the class of most mid-to-small business domains). To the search engine, each site from a different Class C IP will appear to be unconnected to other sites within the network.
The Reality: The quality of your inbound links is very important in SEO. However, if you try to boost your rank by linking between multiple websites you own, this can actually hurt your ranking. If the sites appear to be on the same IP block, the spider may read it as spam.
You can check if you are hosting multiple sites in the same IP range here (http://www.webrankinfo.com/english/tools/class-c-checker.php).
Dedicated IP Address: The Claim
If your website is the only domain linked to an IP address, some experts say that it is a factor considered by search engines and that it helps servers find your domain.
The Reality:
There is debate in the SEO industry about how much having a dedicated IP address can help, and in my opinion, it won’t help much. Some experts say that because you have no control over who you share an IP address with, you run the risk of sharing with a spam or adult site, thereby raising a search engine red flag.
This claim doesn’t seem very reliable, since the majority of sites on the Web are hosted on a shared IP. Search engines are able to ban anything on a domain name and will likely do that rather than block an entire IP neighborhood. Finally, because there is a limited number of IPs in the current form called IPv4. Search engines will not punish them.
Author: Ilene Rosenblum, @ilenerosenblum






