1 hosting account for 2 sites or 2 hosting accounts?

I can host 2 sites on one account but is it better for me to have 2 different hosting accounts for 2 different websites? Or to have just 1 account for the 2 sites?
I'm a newbie so I know very little about all this, I'm not sure whether I should upgrade my current hosting plan to add my other site or if I should just buy another hosting plan for the other site. Which is better in your opinion and based on your experience?

Thank you for your replies

 

If your sites will be interlinked, is better in SEO terms if are in different IPs. Usually 2 sites on same hostings will have the same IP, but there are hostings providing different IPs for your sites.

On the other hand, if your sites are related, is easy to maintain if you host all your sites on same hosting.
That way you can share Databases, Tools, Templates, ...
Also with only one hosting, you can save time uploading files, renewing hosting, and probably this way will be cheaper.

 

Thank your for the reply ajsa, the two sites are not related, they probably won't share much except for a few tools. The saving time factor I did not think of but it's true managing the sites might be easier if I don't have to change accounts all the time.

 

If both sites are on same server (1 hosting account), there is a disadvantage. If your server is down, your both sites will be down.
If you manage 2 separate accounts, there is better chance that at least one of your sites works.

 

With two hosts, you increase the chance that one of your sites will be down, so there is no net benefit. Stick with reliable hosting and this shouldn't be a reason to have two hosts.

One host will be fine for two sites.

 

So I have two different points of views. I suppose you both agree that I need 2 different IP addresses for the sites?

 

I think that's better

 

Two different IP address won't help you at all (unless you have a shopping cart with SSL). The only reason you would need two hosts is if you are trying to cross link the sites to pass PR. That won't work with different IP addresses from the same host, you'll need different class "c" ip addresses, which generally means you need two completely different hosts. Google assumes same class c ip addresses share common ownership.

I would forget about crosslinking the sites (for passing PR) and use one host. HostGator has a plan for about $10 where you can host an unlimited number of sites and they are extremely reliable (there are other good shared hosts). There is absolutely no reason to have two different IP addresses or hosts unless you are trying to interlink the sites for PR. There is no problem with crosslinking the sites on one host, just don't expect google to count them as unbiased links.

 

IMO if you do a heavy crosslinking with two sites, on same or different IP, you can be penalized by Search Engines (losing SERP positions).

I have several sites on same hosting account, and their IPs are from different countries.

 

She is talking about two sites, not a link farm. There is no problem linking two sites together for a legitimate reason, just don't expect to get any link love from google.

There are a few hosts that offer different class "c" IP's (the vast majority do not), but from what I have read, google is aware of some of these hosting companies (hostgator has a sister host that offers this) and that it can be a red flag (most people want different class "c" ip's) for cross linking or geo targeting.

 

Thank you ajsa, Suri and mjewel for your answers and for taking the time to come back and give me more details. All the information you provided me is very useful.
I think in the end I'll do what I had planned initially, I'll upgrade my existing hosting account so I can host my two sites with the same account. The two sites are not related and probably wont be linking to each other.