How Important is a Unique IP?

What's wrong with leaving my big site on a shared IP?

[knowledgepower]

I moved from a shared to a dedicated hosting solution recently, and as part of the move I requested my host provide an additional IP for my "big" site. I had read on here in the past that it was important to give your sites their own IP addresses.

Admin after admin on their side has questioned why I would want a special additional IP address for the site, do I need it for SSL? No, not really.

I thought it had something to do with SEO, but now I'm not sure myself. Can anyone shed some light on this, if I actually don't need it it'll save me $2.50 a month.

kp

[txbakers]

You need a distinct IP for SSL sites. Other than that it really doesn't matter.

[cerebrum]

I think dedicated IP has no special advantages with SEO. SSL needs a dedicated IP. If you can afford, then have one.

[LifeinAsia]

Separate SSL sites need unique IPs. You can run multiple non-SSL sites and 1 SSL site on the same IP address. (We currently have about 50 non-SSL sites and 1 SSL site on the same IP address.)

[old_expat]

I read a comment by Yahoo a couple of years back that basically said [poorly paraphrased], "If one site on a shared IP is spamming, then we assume others may be."

It would be nice if big G would make some sort of statement about shared IPs, or maybe they have?

[Lorel]

I had a client on a shared IP a few years ago when all the ruckus about 302 redirects started. Someone else on the same IP address set up a 302 redirect on their site and it affected my client's site.

I eventually switched all clients over to a dedicated IP address and haven't had that problem since. When checking to see why a site isn't ranking well it's good to be able to eliminate this possible problem.

[Storyman]

One reason for an Unique IP is if you have it linked to another of your sites hosted on the same server. When two sites link it's a good idea to make the IP address as different from each other as possible. One SEO expert told me that it's best to have the linked sites located on servers located on opposite ends of the country.

[old_expat]

I look a it like .. an IP costs $12/year to rent. If the identity and individuality of the site, from a SE's perspective, isn't worth $12, is the site worth my time?