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March 06, 2007
Which Is Better For SEO: Shared or Dedicated IPs
A question was asked recently in the LED discussion list regarding the pros and cons of using a shared or dedicated IP, and which is better for search engine optimization. It’s a question that gets asked a lot during our SEOToolSet training so I thought perhaps it be worth noting here as well.
In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, IP addresses come in two flavors: shared and dedicated (sometimes referred to as a static IP). If you’re using a shared IP address it means that there are multiple, as many as your server will allow, of Web sites using the same IP address you are. If you’re using a dedicated IP address, it means you are the only site on that address.
Does it matter which one you choose?
Yes! We recommend that any site serious about their rankings spend the money (it's only a few extra bucks a month) to be on a dedicated IP.
It’s important for a few reasons. First, we’re pretty sure it plays at least a small part in the search engine’s algorithms. The engines will use reverse lookup to determine what kind of IP you’re on. If you think they don’t care, consider this: It’s been said that about 3 percent of all Web sites have dedicated IPs, with the other 97 percent resting on shared IPs. Research was then conducted analyzing the top 50 results for certain queries in the various search engines. The research found that 90 percent of the top-50 results were using dedicated IP numbers.
Three percent of Web sites use them, and 90 percent of Web sites in the top 50 results have them. Counterintuitive, don’t you think?
We thought so. In fact, we’ve found it so odd we repeated the tests several times, and each time we got the same results. We’ve even seen cases where switching from a virtual IP to a dedicated IP number alone has caused an increase in rankings.
One of the reasons using a dedicated IP can have a positive influence on rankings is because the engines take into consideration how fast your site loads in comparison to other sites. If you’re sharing your IP with 500 other Web sites, the server, like all good customer services departments, will deliver the files in the order they received them. If there are 10 people ahead of your visitors in line, they’re going to have to wait, resulting in a slower page load times and frustrated users.
Sharing an IP address also doesn’t allow you to control who your neighbors are. If you’re sitting on the same IP as a gambling site, a porn ring, a Viagra dealer, and a priest, and one of those addresses gets banned by the search engines, you’re banned too. Search engine’s don’t just ban domains, they ban whole IP ranges.
Another issue to note is that the slower your server, the fewer pages the spiders will be able to index on each visit (they don’t want to crash it). Fewer pages indexed equal fewer pages in the SERP, which decreases your ability to properly theme your site, which in turn will hurt your rankings. I think the connection is pretty clear.
If you’re not sure if you’re using a dedicated or shared IP, it’s worth looking into. There are a number of ways to determine if you are on a dedicated IP. Either call your hosting company and ask, or you type your IP address into your browser’s address bar and see what comes up. If you see your site it means you’re on a dedicated IP. If someone else’s site appears, it means you’re sharing that IP addresses with a list of others sites.
If you find out you’re not on a dedicated IP, we recommend calling your hosting company and asking them to switch you over. There may be a small fee, but it’s nominal and is worth the charge.
Posted at March 6, 2007 05:16 PM
View related entries in: SEO, SEO Tips & Tricks, Search Engine Optimization
Comments
Great points, Lisa - I'll be sure to reference this in tomorrow's issue.
The data about 90% of the top 50 ranking sites being on dedicated IP ranges, compared to just 3% of all sites being dedicated, is interesting. I immediately thought of at least one other factor - the highest ranking sites have probably had more thought / resources invested in them and will tend to reflect that.
-adam
Posted by: Adam Audette at March 7, 2007 10:39 AM
You mention "small fee" and "nominal" in your post. Shared hosting is currently costing me ~$10/month, but Dedicated hosting at my current provider is ~$300/month. Am I missing something here (perhaps asking about the wrong thing)?..or perhaps your interpretation of "nominal" is much looser than mine. :)
Posted by: G at March 7, 2007 11:49 AM
G - I just double checked with our IT guy and he says you're probably talking about a dedicated server, not a dedicated IP.
You're right, a dedicated server may cost several hundred dollars a month. With a dedicated server, you get a dedicated IP and the assurance that the resources for your bandwidth, speed, e-mails, etc. are not being shared with other sites -- so your site will run as quickly and smoothly as possible.
A shared server can have many different sites on it. Each site can be setup as either Name Based or IP Based. A Name Based site is one which shares IP numbers because the server uses the domain name to decipher where to get the files. An IP Based site has a dedicated IP and the server uses that IP to figure out how to handle the request.
So, even with a ~$10/mo. Shared hosting package, you are still able to get a dedicated IP for a couple bucks a month.
Be aware: some hosting companies will need a good reason to give you a dedicated IP because it costs them money to purchase the IP... In that case, a dedicated SSL certificate is usually a good reason.
Posted by: Lisa at March 7, 2007 12:26 PM
Never thought of this. Thanks so much!
Though, I wouldn't mind seeing a little more proof of this before I go out and start grabbing dedicated IP's for every client.
Posted by: poke ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 7, 2007 04:42 PM
Lisa,
Thanks for the clarification, that makes more sense now.
Posted by: G at March 8, 2007 11:00 AM
Are you sure?
A web site with static IP it's usually a big and important web site, so it's normally who this web site appear in the top 50.
Do you think who your stats aren't correct?
Posted by: Franc at March 9, 2007 01:33 AM
This is great information that I have been looking for some time now. I still get my sites indexed by the search engines, but I would like to take it to the next level. Now I am currently using HostMonster and I think it is only about $30 to go to a dedicated IP address.. However, I have about 20 or so Add-On domains and I'm wondering if you have to put each of them on their own Dedicated IP address too in order to get the best results for them too? Or is it enough that your hosting account has it's own IP? I hope someone can give me a good answer on this. Thank you in advance. I really don't want to start removing addon domains and starting up new hosting plans for each site that I want to get the best SEO results on.
-Corey B.
Posted by: Corey B. at April 14, 2007 06:11 PM
Hi
Thanks for the information Lisa. I often found sites with duplicate IP address. But now days professional also uses Class C IP address.
Here are some example
autostop4u com
IP address 195.114.1.43
www free.catalog.nasze net
IP address 195.114.1.83
Can you Put some light on it. I will be thankful to you.
Posted by: webguy at May 19, 2007 02:26 AM
We have 1500 clients, we insist that everyone is on dedicated IP for the exact reasons you state. It's so nice to have our theory that we've had for years confirmed. We have seen many cases where we move sites from a shared environment to a dedicated IP environment and within weeks, there is a 5-6 placement difference with no other changes.
There are lots of articles to the contrary but this is one that hits the nail on the head. Nice job!
Posted by: Sara Mannix at May 27, 2007 01:33 PM
Thank you webguy. That is exactly what I wanted to hear! I'm going to start pushing the Dedicated IP baby. Just switched over my main site www.GilletteWebDesign.com and have many "addon" domains that are gaining popularity which will follow.
Posted by: Corey B. at May 28, 2007 10:19 AM
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