Will changing my IP affect my ranking?

[wenlibao]

I currently have 2 websites both with their own dedicated IP addresses, but I'm thinking about grouping both sites under 1 IP and also adding a couple of other domains to this IP. Will this affect the way google ranks these web sites.

Thanks.

[fathom]

Hi wenlibao and welcome to WMW.

A direct answer, probably not.

However, should the first octual block of the IP be unique (123.xxx.etc. and 555.xxx.etc.) and crosslinking is currently part of your web infrastructure then I would say yes, it will effect ranked position but only slightly. This is also dependent on how competitive your current ranking situation is and could dramatically effect your ranked position if sites below you are in tight competition.

If you are heavily crosslinking and still currently in google's favour the unique IP's are probably help this. A switch in this case could bring you closer to a ban potential.

[haryanto]

Then why is it most Search Engine Optimisers advise us to get a webhost that offers static IP to host our website?

[ciml]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, wenlibao and haryanto.
(Make sure to check out paynt's welcome post [webmasterworld.com])

I don't believe that having both sites under one IP will make a difference to ranking, and IMO using separate IPs is no protection from the cross linking penalties.

The important thing, is to keep the content at both IPs for a good while to let Google catch up with the DNS change. Otherwise you may disapear from Google for a few weeks.

haryanto, I think that comes down to past experience when search engines have used IPs to track serious spammers. IPs seem to have no bearing on Google's day to day operation, apart from inclusion in the regional indices.