How-to · Beginner · 10 minutes
How to Add an Addon Domain
Everything you need to run a second website from the same hosting account without the two getting tangled — the steps in order, the snag to watch, and the tip our support desk gives everybody.
Straight answer first
The job: run a second website from the same hosting account without the two getting tangled. Time to allow: 10 minutes. Skill needed: beginner.
Below you get the exact steps, the classic snag, and a tip from the support desk. Where our platform handles a step for you, the guide says so rather than making you do the robot's work.
Written by the Hosting Seller staff · Checked 1 August 2026
Beginner
Difficulty level
10 minutes
Time to allow
5
Stages
24/7
Help at any hour
This guide assumes no expertise at all — just a hosting account, a browser and 10 minutes of attention. Every instruction works on our platform exactly as written, and carries over to any standard cPanel host.
One promise before you start: nothing in this guide is irreversible. Where a step could bite, we say so and give you the undo.
The route, start to finish
The job breaks into a few clear stages: aim the domain at us first, add it on the domains page, check its certificate afterwards, build it as its own site and remember the two share a fate.
No stage needs code or a terminal unless the guide says so outright, and where it does, the exact commands are printed. The full step-by-step sits below; the sections around it give the context that makes it stick.
Read this before the first click
Putting the addon's folder inside public_html. The second site then also answers at yourdomain.com/otherdomain — confusing for visitors, poor for search, and completely avoided by choosing a document root outside public_html.
It is worth learning because it is not some rare edge case — it is the single most common reason this task turns into a support ticket. Knowing it up front turns the whole job from risky into routine.
One habit that makes this easy for good
Name document roots after the domains they hold, /domains/example.com and so on. A year later an account with five addons either reads like a filing cabinet or like a dig site, and 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 working method is not.
How our platform shortens this
We have automated the steps that do not deserve your time: certificates issue and reissue themselves, the installer handles application setup, the daily backup covers the what-if, and per-site settings live in a panel instead of a config file. The guide above covers what remains — the part that is actually about your site.
Stuck halfway through at an odd hour? That is exactly what round-the-clock human support is for — tell us where you are in this guide and we will pick it up from there.
Why the job is simpler on our plans
Tutorials age badly when they are written against imaginary hosting. These are written against ours: the same panel, the same installer and the same defaults you will meet.
Order an annual plan and the first year of your domain registration is on the house.
- Step by step, tested exactly as printed
- The snag flagged before you reach it
- The dull steps are already automated
- People on hand at any hour if you stall
Why Hosting Seller
On every plan, as standard
Written from real tickets
Our guides come off the support desk, so the snags flagged here are the ones people genuinely hit.
Automation where it belongs
SSL, backups and installs run themselves here, so the guide covers only what is genuinely yours to do.
No jargon toll
Terms are explained where they appear or linked to the glossary — nothing assumes you already know.
Scoped honestly
Run a second website from the same hosting account without the two getting tangled is a beginner-level task — this guide budgets 10 minutes and says which steps the platform absorbs.
Works exactly as written
Every step tested on the platform we run — no 'your host may differ' hand-waving anywhere.
Help on the counter
Stuck on step three at midnight? Support answers at any hour, mid-guide included.
First Steps
From choosing to live
- 1
Aim the domain at us first
Set its nameservers to your hosting pair. The panel will happily create the addon before DNS moves, but nothing is served to anybody until the name resolves here.
- 2
Add it on the Domains page
Give the domain its own document root folder, a sibling of public_html rather than something inside it. Untick any suggestion about sharing a document root.
- 3
Check its certificate afterwards
AutoSSL covers addon domains once they resolve. Look at the SSL status page after propagation rather than assuming the certificate turned up on its own.
- 4
Build it as its own site
The addon behaves like a full website — one-click WordPress, its own mailboxes, its own everything. All it shares is the account's pool of resources.
- 5
Remember the two share a fate
Addons share resources, security and any suspension with the main account. Fine for your own projects, wrong for somebody else's business, which is what reseller accounts are for.
In the Box
Packed with every plan
- One-click installs for WordPress and 400+ other applications
- LiteSpeed caching running at the server, not bolted on by plugin
- NVMe SSD storage on every shelf, not just the top one
- Spam and virus filtering fitted to every mailbox
- A 99.9% uptime commitment, watched by monitoring day and night
- Webmail in the browser plus IMAP, POP and SMTP for your own client
- Upgrades apply to the account in place, with no move between plans
- The Softaculous installer for one-click application setup
- DDoS filtering handled out at the network edge
- A 30-day money-back guarantee on every hosting plan
Across the Counter
The questions we get asked most
Is there a limit on addon domains?
It depends on the plan — ours run from a handful to several hundred. Each one is a complete website in its own right, so the real ceiling is the account's resources measured against the combined traffic of the sites on it.
What is the difference between an addon, an alias and a subdomain?
An addon is a separate site on its own domain. A parked domain, or alias, is a second name for a site you already run. A subdomain is a section beneath your main domain. Three different jobs, all created in the same Domains area.
Is there a refund if it does not suit?
Yes — thirty days. Put the hosting through real work, and if it is not right, ask for the money back and you get it; there is no retention script to survive first. Domain registrations are the one carve-out, because registries take that fee the moment the name is placed.
Can I set the PHP version myself?
Yes — PHP versions are chosen per site from the control panel, so an old application and a current one can sit side by side on the same account. Extensions and per-site settings live in the same screen, and none of it needs a support ticket.
How do I pay, and does it bill again on its own?
Orders go through a secure checkout by credit or debit card, and the renewal is taken at the same price you first paid. Every invoice sits in the client area for you to read, and switching auto-renewal off is a toggle in your account rather than a phone call.
Can I test changes somewhere safe first?
Yes — plans with staging let you clone the live site, work on the copy, then push it across when you are satisfied. It is the difference between hoping an update behaves and knowing that it does before any customer meets it.
Does the price climb when the term is up?
No. What you pay to order is what you pay to renew, year after year. We do not run teaser rates, so there is no year-two ambush waiting in the calendar, and your bookkeeping can treat the hosting line as a fixed number.
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