Can we have 2 websites with same business name and same business address?
-
I have 2 websites with same business name and same business address, and obvious 2 different domain names. I am providing the same services from 2 websites. Is this is a problem?
-
I have 2 websites as well and they are in the same niche, i made sure the write completely different content that is helpful to my visitors. Different titles and descriptions as well.
-
Hi William,
Agree with your summary, but do want to stress that there generally isn't a good enough reason to be running two sites and that Google finding your complete or partial NAP on more than one site is definitely BAD!
-
Thanks for the tip, Miriam.
-
Heh, I think we've been talking about the same thing, just miscommunication.
The bottom line:
-
Best case is one site and one list
-
Worst case is 2 websites, 2 listings
-
Bad, but not worst case is have 2 sites and one listing (if you have some sort of super important reason for having 2 sites).
-
-
Hi William,
I think you might like to check out Google's John Mueller's advice on this topic:
http://www.seroundtable.com/google-one-site-locations-15454.html
http://www.seroundtable.com/google-one-site-15963.html
I think this advice about a single site vs. multiple sites is especially important in the local business scenario.
Hopefully, these links will be of help to everyone participating in this good discussion.
-
Hi Alexander,
Good question and good discussion going on here. I am going to recommend against having two websites, as it sounds like you are operating a local business with a physical location.
What is the purpose of you having two websites? How do you feel this helps your customers?
I believe you are right to be concerned, and here is why:
When Google crawls the web to bring data into the 'cluster' they have about your local business, what they are 'hoping' to find is a clear business name, clear address, local phone number and authoritative website consistently associated with your business. In your case, what Google is finding is that two websites are associated with your business name and address. What are they to trust in this situation? By the same token, which website are your customers meant to trust?
Having multiple websites for a single business often represents risk for:
-
Citation inconsistencies
-
Ranking problems
-
Merged listings
-
Duplicate listings, including hidden duplicates
-
Duplicate content
-
Customer confusion
-
Bot confusion
I don't know all of the nuances of your unique situation, Alexander, but chances are, if a client came to me with this scenario, I would be recommending that he pick a single authoritative domain and redirect the second domain to it, then work on building his authoritative domain into a powerful asset. Splitting up your authority over multiple domains just seldom makes sense, and there are definite risks involved. Hope this helps.
-
-
"remove listings from the index due to there being too much similarity with existing locations"
But wouldn't that be for multiple listings, that had similar or exact addresses? (for the listing itself, not the website) But I do agree it's a risk to have both.
I agree if a competitor saw both ranking, they could submit it as spammy, but technically, he isnt breaking any "rules" by having two sites. Having the same content on both, yes.
Good points on your end, not discrediting any of them. I see what you mean, I'm just trying to let the OP know what he is potentially up against by having both.
-
Some of the page titles on each site are the exact same. The content is different, and the descriptions are different, so you might be able to get by on that.
The contact pages being so very close is worrysome. I would mark up one with snippets, and the other without. Also, your domain names are very close. Have you seen any adverse effects in ranking due to this?
After looking at the two, I would invest a bit more into the http://gtawindows.com/ domain. Personally, I think it looks better, and google seems to rank it better according to keywords like "vinyl windows toronto", and "entry door toronto".
Noticed a few errors you will want to look at:
Script error that is affceting a few pages:
http://gtawindows.com/patio-doors/patio_door/Duplicate pages due to tagging system:
http://gtawindows.com/toronto-exterior-doors/
http://gtawindows.com/tag/fiberglass/http://gtawindows.com/tag/ontario/
http://gtawindows.com/tag/handles/There are quite a few more. I would invest some time in looking at this, unless you already have them blocked in robots. Do a site search, and look at page 11 results and beyond.
Hope this helps.
-
That's fine, in my opinion.
-
The phone call or postcard will get you past the automated verification, but I have seen listings sites (Google specifically), remove listings from the index due to there being too much similarity with existing locations. If you tried to add two listings with everything the same, except the domain name, it's a risk. So yes, the initial automated verification will be accepted, but that doesn't mean it will stay that way. Especially if a competitor sees that both are ranking.
Both sites can have an identical NAP on the contact page, as long as both aren't submitted as listings or aren't extremely similar.
-
Alex, post the links to domains. I would like to see what you have in place. They are no-follow, so it shouldnt be an issue.
-
I did business listing only for one website. But same business address in on both website contact us page.
-
I agree with only having one marked up, but I would still submit both. If the content is different between the two, I don't think there will be any issues with ranking. If they are similar, and you have 2 domains saying the same thing, that could have a negative effect.
As to having 2 domains, is there a specific reason you have it set up this way?
@william do you have evidence of having location info listed on both sites causing an issue? I'd like to know more about the potential issues this could cause if you have seen it cause trouble before. You mentioned that it would cause issues with getting listings accepted, but since most listings are verfied by phone or by postcard, I cant see how having it displayed on multiple sites would have an impact on the acceptance or validation of the listing, simply because it's displayed on more than one domain.
-
This can be an issue if you are also focusing on local SEO with Google Maps and other listings like that. An identical NAP (name, address, and phone number) spanning two sites will cause you issues with getting listings accepted and ranking properly.
You are also splitting your assets, so consider if it's really worth it to have two sites. If you have to have two sites, I would only mark up and submit one site, if they provide the same services.
-
There are a few ways to look at this.
As long as you have to resources available to properly optimize both sites, and provide distinct, separate content, then no, there should not be any adverse affect to your seo or ranking.
I think it's wiser to invest your efforts in one site, but I can understand the cause for a separate site, particularly if it is using a keyword-driven domain name.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Same URL-Structure & the same number of URLs indexed on two different websites - can it lead to a Google penalty?
Hey guys. I've got a question about the url structure on two different websites with a similar topic (bith are job search websites). Although we are going to publish different content (texts) on these two websites and they will differ visually, the url structure (except for the domain name) remains exactly the same, as does the number of indexed landingpages on both pages. For example, www.yyy.com/jobs/mobile-developer & www.zzz.com/jobs/mobile-developer. In your opinion, can this lead to a Google penalty? Thanks in advance!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | vde130 -
Important category pages that can and should be found in SERP but can not be reached by navigating on the webshop itself
Hi, On a webshop we are optimizing, the main navigation consists of the 5 main categories to which all of the products can be assigned. However, the main tabs in the navigation just activate a drop down with all of the subcategories. For example: the tab in the navigation is 'Garden equipment' and when you click on this tab, the drop down is shown with subcategories like 'Lawn mowers', 'Leaf blowers' and so on. Now, the page 'Garden equipment' is one of the main category pages and we want this page to rank of course. This shouldn't be a problem, since there is a separate URL for this page that can be indexed and that can be reached through internal links on the website. However, this page can not be reached when a visitor initially comes on the homepage of the webshop, since the tab in the navigation isn't clickable. This page will only be reached when a subcategory is selected, and then when the visitor goes back to the category page through the breadcrumb or through an internal link. Is it a problem that these important overview category pages can not be reached immediately? Thanks.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Mat_C0 -
If Fetch As Google can render website, it should be appear on SERP ?
Hello everyone and thank you in advance for helping me. I have a Reactjs application which has been made by Create-React-App that is zero configuration. Also I connect it using Axios to the API using Codeigniter(PHP). Before using Reactjs, this website was at the top Google's SERPs for specific keywords. After Using Reactjs and some changes in URLs with no redirection in htaccess or something else, I lost my search engine visibility! I guess it should be caused by Google penalties! I tried using "react-snap", "react-snapshot" and so forth for prerendering but there are so many problem with them. Also I tried using Prerender.io and unfortunately my host provider didn't help me to config the shared host! Finally I found a great article that my website eventually display in Rendering box of Fetch As Google. But still in Fetching box, the dynamic content didn't display. But I can see my entire website in both "This is how Googlebot saw the page" and "This is how a visitor to your website would have seen the page" for all pages without any problem. If Fetch As Google can render the entire of the website, is it possible to index my pages after a while and it would be appear on Google's SERP? mokaab_serp.png
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | hamoz10 -
Thoughts on my change of address delima?
Currently our corporate website and store website are under two domains. internationalcompany.com (DA: 51; Corporate Website) companystore.com (DA: 34; US Store Website) We were hoping to piggyback on the corporate website domain authority by moving our store to internationalcompany.com/store and when we learned that couldn't happen we opted for us.internationalcompany.com/store. The reason we are leaning towards the route of us.internationalcompany.com is because it is likely that we will be taking over the US branch of the corporate website so we thought it better that the store be a sub address of that. My main concerns... From what I have gathered it seems that I can't do a change of address to a subdomain within Webmaster Tools - I'd have to have access to internationalcompany.com which won't happen soon. So, is a 301 just as good in this case? As a subdomain, we won't actually reap the benefits of the domain authority of the parent domain will we? Are we just as well off considering a new domain and asking that regional tags be established on the current internationalcompany.com so that the content does not interfere with our SEO efforts? This is a broad explanation for a complicated issue. Please ask any question that may help clarify.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | bearpaw0 -
A new website issue
Hello everybody,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | mtmaster
I have started a new website 22 days ago at the beginning of this month and i have long articles. I think this should make the site appear in search results for long tail keywords even if they are not very relevant but as you can see in the attached image from my webmaster tools the impression count has suddenly increased to 100 then significantly decreased again. Even when i cancel "filter" option. Is this normal for a 3 weeks old website? or there is something i have to check? thanks. cLMa04l.jpg0 -
Website having same business and IP address
Hi All, How Google will react with the websites having condition as mentioned below: Two websites, Same owner, same business, same IP, Interlinking with each other ? Two websites, Same owner, same business, different IP, Interlinking with each other ? Also please elaborate best practices(Such as IP address, Physical address, look and feel etc.) if someone wants to run same business through more than one website?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RuchiPardal0 -
My websites position has dropped, any ideas why?
Hi, First off im new here, so hello to everyone. Now to the reason why I have joined. I am currently trying to rank for 2 terms: **UK Bank Holidays 2013 (Term 1) **and Bank Holidays 2013 (Term 2) The page which im trying to rank these terms on is: http://www.followuk.co.uk/bank-holidays Now some background history: On the 29th Dec 2013, term 1 was 5th and term 2 was 7th - rankings achieved through guest blogging. Last night I changed the h1 tag from 'Bank Holidays 2013' to 'UK Bank Holidays 2013'. Re-worded the meta description to try and increase the CTR. And removed the term 'Bank Holiday' from the end of each sub-heading - Ex: 'New Year's Day Bank Holiday' to 'New Year's Day' - I did this because I felt it was to much so in total 'Bank Holiday' term had been removed from 5 sub-headings. Ok, so I went into WMT and resubmitted for indexing, over night the page got reindexed - the term 'UK Bank Holidays 2013' stayed at the same position (5) BUT the 'Bank Holidays 2013' term dropped into hell at roughly position 250. I'm thinking of changing everything back and crossing my fingers that term which dropped comes back BUT maybe im being to rash and it might jump back as the page stands. I did a grade test using SEOMOZ and both terms generate a grade of 'A'. Has anyone got any ideas? Sorry if the thread is a bit messy im currently crying all over the keyboard as im typing. Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | followuk0 -
Summarize your question.Irrelevant Domain Name, relevant page name
Hello All, My website is a PC Repair website called 'Paulspcrepair.co.uk' (example). And recently I want to start my SEO branch to the website, now, would it be better : A: Use my domain Authority already obtained and create a new page, highly optimized for SEO searches. OR B: Create a whole new website, such as 'PaulsSEOWorkshop.co.uk'. If so, why? I can't decide what to try.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Paul_Tovey0