What would be the best solution for adding 20 new sites

One hosting acct? One hosting company? Reseller? Different companies?

[brizad]

I am running 3 sites now all under my one hosting account. I am going to branch out a bit to 20 or more sites (affiliate and/or e-commerce.)

Here are my thoughts:

--If I were to put them all under one account it would probably be cheaper. GOOD

--If the server were to go down then ALL of the sites would be down. BAD

--If the sites were with different hosting companies (different IP's) then the search engines would not be so likely to consider them a "family" of sites, and possibly diminish the incoming link's value. GOOD

--More of a pain to maintain many different accounts. BAD

Basically, I am looking for advice on the best solution considering price, search engines, and ease.

Thanks for any help!

[DaveN]

don't put them all on one server you will create an Island and will stand out like a sore thumb if you ever link them together!

DaveN

[bill]

Can't some hosts give you different IPs that are not close enough together to look 'related' to the SEs?

[brizad]

don't put them all on one server you will create an Island and will stand out like a sore thumb if you ever link them together!
DaveN

If we are talking mini-sites (1-2 pages) that may have some cross-linking, should they ALL be through different hosting companies? Maybe 2-3 site per host?

I am concerned that the administration of 20 or more accounts will be a major pain.