Learning Hub · Beginner · 10 minutes
How to Add an Addon Domain
Everything you need to host a second website on the same account, cleanly — the steps, the gotcha, and the tip the support desk gives everyone.
The short answer
Goal: host a second website on the same account, cleanly. Time needed: 10 minutes. Difficulty: beginner.
Below: the exact steps, the classic pitfall, and a pro tip from the support desk. Where our platform automates a step, the guide says so rather than making you do robot work.
Beginner
Difficulty
10 minutes
Time needed
5
Steps
24/7
Help if you're stuck
This guide assumes no prior expertise — just a hosting account, a browser, and 10 minutes of attention. Every instruction works on our platform exactly as written, and translates to any standard cPanel host.
One promise before starting: nothing in this guide is irreversible. Where a step could bite, we say so and give the undo.
The route map
The whole job breaks into clear stages: point the new domain here first, create it under domains, confirm ssl issues for it, install its site independently and mind the shared-fate reality.
None of the stages requires code or a terminal unless the guide explicitly says so — and where it does, the exact commands are given. The full step-by-step sits below; the surrounding sections cover the context that makes it stick.
Read this before you start clicking
Creating the addon's folder inside public_html — the second site becomes reachable as a subfolder of the first (yourdomain.com/otherdomain), a confusing, SEO-hostile arrangement that a correct document root avoids entirely.
It's worth internalising because it's not a rare edge case — it's the single most common way this task generates a support ticket. Knowing it in advance converts the whole job from risky to routine.
One habit that makes this easier forever
Name document roots after their domains (e.g. /domains/example.com) — a year later, an account with five addons either reads like a filing system or like an archaeology site; the naming decides which.
Small habits like this are the real difference between people who find hosting easy and people who find it stressful — the tools are identical; the workflow isn't.
How HostingAlly makes this easier
We've automated the steps that don't deserve your time: certificates issue and renew themselves, the installer handles application setup, daily backups cover the what-if, and per-site settings live in a panel instead of config files. The guide above covers what's left — the part that's actually about your site.
Stuck mid-task at an odd hour? That's what 24/7 human support is for — describe where you are in this guide and we'll take it from there.
Why this is simpler on HostingAlly
Tutorials age badly when they're written against imaginary hosting. These are written against ours — the same panel, installer and defaults you'll actually see.
Annual plans include your first year of domain registration on us.
- Step-by-step, tested as written
- The gotcha flagged before you hit it
- Automation covers the boring steps
- 24/7 support if you get stuck
Why HostingAlly
What you get with every plan
Written from real tickets
Our guides come from the support desk — the gotchas are the ones people actually hit.
The undo is always named
Where a step could bite, the guide says so and gives the reversal.
Automation where it belongs
SSL, backups and installs run themselves here — the guide covers only what's genuinely yours to do.
Help on standby
Stuck at step three at midnight? Support answers around the clock, mid-guide included.
Works as written
Every step tested on our own platform — no 'your host may vary' hand-waving.
No jargon tax
Terms are explained in place or linked to the glossary — nothing assumes you already know.
Getting Started
How to get going
- 1
Point the new domain here first
Set its nameservers to your hosting pair — the panel can create the addon before DNS moves, but nothing serves until resolution arrives.
- 2
Create it under Domains
Add the domain with its own document root folder — sibling to public_html, never nested inside it (uncheck any 'share document root' suggestion).
- 3
Confirm SSL issues for it
AutoSSL covers addon domains once they resolve — check SSL status after propagation rather than assuming.
- 4
Install its site independently
The addon behaves as a full site — one-click WordPress, its own email addresses, its own everything, sharing only the account's resources.
- 5
Mind the shared-fate reality
Addons share the account's resources, security and suspension fate — fine for your own portfolio, wrong for anyone else's business (that's what reseller accounts are for).
Included
What's covered on our plans
- Daily automatic backups with self-service restores
- Free website migration handled by our team
- NVMe SSD storage as standard
- cPanel — the industry-standard control panel
- One-click installer for WordPress and 400+ apps
- Per-site PHP version selection
- DDoS protection at the network level
- No setup fees, ever
- Renewal prices that match signup prices
- SSH, Git and Composer access on developer-friendly plans
FAQ
Your questions, answered
How many addon domains can I have?
Plan-dependent — our tiers range from a handful to hundreds. Each is a full independent website; the practical limit is the account's shared resources against the sites' combined traffic.
Addon domain, parked domain, subdomain — the difference?
Addon: a separate site on its own domain. Parked/alias: another name for an existing site. Subdomain: a section under your main domain. Three different jobs — the panel creates each in the same Domains area.
Do prices go up at renewal?
No — the price you sign up at is the price you renew at. We don't run teaser-rate economics, so there's no year-two ambush to plan around, and your bookkeeping can rely on the number staying put.
Can I host more than one website on a plan?
On the Pro tier and above, yes — multiple sites with their own domains, email and SSL under one account. If the extra sites belong to clients rather than you, reseller hosting gives each one proper isolation instead.
Is there a money-back guarantee?
Yes — try the hosting properly and if it doesn't fit, the refund process is a request, not a retention gauntlet. Domain registrations are the one standard carve-out, since registries make those non-refundable the moment they're placed.
Which control panel do you provide?
cPanel — the industry standard, which means every tutorial on the internet matches your screen, your backups restore anywhere cPanel runs, and skills learned here transfer for life. Plesk and DirectAdmin options exist on specific plans for those who prefer them.
Is SSL really included at no cost?
On every plan, with no exceptions — certificates are issued automatically when your domain points to us and renew themselves before expiry. The encryption is identical to paid DV certificates; paid tiers exist only for wildcard convenience or organisation-level validation.
Keep exploring
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Roll back files, database or both — calmly and precisely — beginner level, 10–30 minutes.
How to Connect a CDN
Serve assets from edges near your visitors — when it helps — intermediate level, an hour.
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