Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
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
-
Why does my old brand name still show up on organic search but as my new brand name and domain?
Hello mozers! I have quite the conundrum. My client used to have the unfortunate brand name "Meetoo" - which by the way they had before the movement happened! So naturally, they rebranded to the name Vevox in March 2019 to avoid confusion to users. However, when you search for their old brand name "Meetoo" the first organic link that pops up is their domain www.vevox.com. Now, this wouldn't normally be a problem, however it is when any #MeToo news appears in the media and we get a sudden influx or wrong traffic. I've searched the HTML and content for the term "Meetoo" but can only find one trace of this name through a widget. Not enough to hold an organic spot. My only other thinking is that www.vevox.com is redirected from www.meetoo.com. So I'm assuming this is why Vevox appear under the search term "Meetoo". How can I remove the homepage www.vevox.com from appearing for the search term "meetoo"? Can anyone help? AvGGYBc
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Virginia-Girtz3 -
Why some websites can rank the keywords they don't have in the page?
Hello guys, Yesterday, I used SEMrush to search for the keyword "branding agency" to see the SERP. The Liquidagency ranks 5th on the first page. So I went to their homepage but saw no exact keywords "branding agency", even in the page source. Also, I didn't see "branding agency" as a top anchor text in the external links to the page (from the report of SEMrush). I am an SEO newbie, can someone explain this to me, please? Thank you.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Raymondlee0 -
My website (non-adult) is not appearing in Google search results when i have safe search settings on. How can i fix this?
Hi, I have this issue where my website does not appear in Google search results when i have the safe search settings on. If i turn the safe search settings off, my site appears no problem. I'm guessing Google is categorizing my website as adult, which it definitely is not. Has anyone had this issue before? Or does anyone know how to resolve this issue? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | CupidTeam0 -
Google is displaying wrong address
I have a client whose Google Places listing is not showing correctly. We have control of the page, and have the address verified by postcard. Yet when we view the listing it shows a totally different address that is miles away and on a totally different street. We have relogged into manage the business listing and all of the info is correct. We dragged the marker and submitted it to them that they had things wrong and left a note with the right address. Why would this happen and how can we fix it? Right now they rank highly but with a blatantly wrong address.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Atomicx0 -
Exact match domain names
Hello, Someone approached a client of mine to sell a exact match domain name for a very competitive and high converting keyword. Would this be of any use and what are the best tactics to employ if it is purchased? I was of the opinion that the 'power' of exact match domain names are dying fast but would be interested to hear what people with experience in this think and what they have done with them (i.e. set-up a website on that domain or re-directed it)? Thanks, Rikki
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RikkiD220 -
Website stuck on the second page
Hi there Can you please help me. I did some link building and worked with website last couple of months and rank got better but all keywords are on the second page, some of them are 11th and 12th. Is there anything I did wrong and google dont allow the website on the first page? Or should I just go on. It just looks strange keywords are on the second page for 2 weeks and not going to the first page for any single day. The website is quite old, around 10 years. Anyone knows what it is or where I can read about it?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | fleetway0 -
Can I Improve Organic Ranking by Restrict Website Access to Specific IP Address or Geo Location?
I am targeting my website in US so need to get high organic ranking in US web search. One of my competitor is restricting website access to specific IP address or Geo location. I have checked multiple categories to know more. What's going on with this restriction and why they make it happen? One of SEO forum is also restricting website access to specific location. I can understand that, it may help them to stop thread spamming with unnecessary Sign Up or Q & A. But, why Lamps Plus have set this? Is there any specific reason? Can I improve my organic ranking? Restriction may help me to save and maintain user statistic in terms of bounce rate, average page views per visit, etc...
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | CommercePundit1 -
SeoMoz Crawler Shuts Down The Website Completely
Recently I have switched servers and was very happy about the outcome. However, every friday my site shuts down (not very cool if you are getting 700 unique visitors per day). Naturally I was very worried and digged deep to see what is causing it. Unfortunately, the direct answer was that is was coming from "rogerbot". (see sample below) Today (aug 5) Same thing happened but this time it was off for about 7 hours which did a lot of damage in terms of seo. I am inclined to shut down the seomoz service if I can't resolve this immediately. I guess my question is would there be a possibility to make sure this doesn't happen or time out like that because of roger bot. Please let me know if anyone has answer for this. I use your service a lot and I really need it. Here is what caused it from these error lines: 216.244.72.12 - - [29/Jul/2011:09:10:39 -0700] "GET /pregnancy/14-weeks-pregnant/ HTTP/1.1" 200 354 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; rogerBot/1.0; UrlCrawler; http://www.seomoz.org/dp/rogerbot)" 216.244.72.11 - - [29/Jul/2011:09:10:37 -0700] "GET /pregnancy/17-weeks-pregnant/ HTTP/1.1" 200 51582 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; rogerBot/1.0; UrlCrawler; http://www.seomoz.org/dp/rogerbot)"
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Jury0