Are Two Sites Better Than One? February 26, 2007
Posted by Stray Dog in : Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Google, Search Engine Marketing, Adwords, Domain Names , trackbackA “Filthy Jack” reader writes:
i’m looking for some advice…in terms of a client that has a business that operates out of two separate cities…they will have a home page that allows the user to select their city of choice for services…but what i’m wondering is for seo purposes do you think it’s in their best interest to have two separate websites? i’m thinking that one massive website should do the trick as long as all pertinent seo features for both cities is incorporated into the development…but my seo knowledge isn’t advanced–and i don’t have the answer to this one and i’m looking for advice
Evil Green and I discussed it and here is what we think:
One of Google’s key factors in search relevance is how many other sites link to a site. Further, this relevance is increased by both the quality of the site that shows up in the search results and the quality of the sites linking to it. So the question here is whether or not having two sites for the one company would be advantageous in this manner. From this standpoint I do not feel it would be.
We could also look at the domain name and how that may help. Assume we have XYZ Deck and Fence and they have a Kansas City operation and a St. Louis operation. It may be beneficial to have two domains with two sites:
xyzdeckandfencekansas.com / xyzdeckandfencestlouis.com
This would help show up in searches for deck, fence and kansas
OR
deck, fence, st. louis
This same goal could be accomplished with two sections in the site:
xyzdeckandfence.com/kansas / xyzdeckandfence.com/stlouis
However, this information in the title and meta description tag plus within the actual page content may derive the same benefit.
I really do not see a clear advantage in you doing two sites in this case. You may though want to consider if there is a benefit to the client in appearing like they are only in one city. There may be an advantage in appearing more ‘local’ and not ‘too big’. Or it could be the other way around. Some things to consider:
1. Is there a major delineation in services offered between the two cities?
2. is there a difference in pricing between the two cities?
If it is indeed pretty much the same site then I’d go with one.
If they are in a competitive field then they may want to look at a Google adwords campaign so they can precisely market to those within their trading area.
That’s my best advice given what you have provided. I may have more to offer if you want to go deeper.
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