Host Tip #2: Spam Sites Affect Ranking Of Other Sites Hosted On Same Server?

I used a question mark “?” in the title because the answer is complicated, in fact it all depends on the density. Say your shared server has 1000+ sites hosted, in that 10-20 spam/porn/malware sites won’t cause much trouble. But if the case is different you need to take care of it then, such spam sites affect ranking of your blog.

So the answer depends on the ratio of total number of sites and total number of SPAM sites hosted on the shared server, which can vary from host to host. If the number of spam sites hosted is high, then it could be considered as a factor.

This normally happens on Shared Hosting. A shared web hosting service or virtual hosting service or derive host refers to a web hosting service where many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. (via Wikipedia)

Why You Should Care About This?

• If the density is high, then Google will probably reduce your site’s ranking considering it as such a site.
• Most of the Firewall uses both the IP address and the domain name for security purposes. They use those to block such spam sites.
• It is also possible to get banned by countries like UAE where Internet Restrictions and Rules are strict.
• Akismet (famous Comment spam prevention plugin) may consider your site and IP address as SPAM as well. Because of the other SPAM sites on their database, they might compare them with yours.

MATT CUTTS FROM GOOGLE [VIDEO]

In this video Matt Cutts from Google tells you whether spam sites affect ranking or not.

Spam Sites Affect Ranking – How To Solve This Issue?

Below I have mentioned some of the ways you can try to avoid these issues.

1. VPS Hosting: This could be a hard choice but a worthy one. Moving to Virtual Private Server (VPS) can reduce the hassles.

2. Avoid Free Web Hosts: Obviously in free web hosts you can find tonnes of spammy websites hosted and that could be a minus point for you. Check our reasons to avoid free web hosts.

3. Run Reverse IP: You can use tools like yougetsignal to get the list of sites hosted on your same shared server. If the site hosted is a spam/porn site this tool highlights it.

4. Dedicated IP Address: By default Shared Hosting comes with a shared IP, but you can upgrade to a dedicated IP which means your account will be specifically assigned one IP address. By this you can reduce the risk.

So have you considered these options for your site? Have you ever faced such ranking issues? Feel free to share your opinions in comments below.