Does Selling the Same Product on Different Domains Look Spammy?

[CommercePundit]

Today, I have watched such a great video on YouTube from Google Webmaster Help with following subject.

Does selling the same product on three different domains look spammy?

Now, I have same issue with my three websites. You can find out details as follow.

Traditional Table Lamp in Brushed Steel Finsih with Green Glass

http://www.lampslightingandmore.com/50_63_21594/traditional-table-lamp-in-brushed-steel-finsih-with-green-glass.html

http://www.vistastores.com/indoorlighting-roycelighting-rtl50091-12b.html

7.5' Patio Umbrella Push Tilt - Olefinhttp://www.vistapatioumbrellas.com/marketumbrellas-californiaumbrella-slpt758-f13-red.htmlhttp://www.vistastores.com/marketumbrellas-californiaumbrella-slpt758-f13-red.htmlThere are three different website with 4000+ same products, same Title tag, same Meta description, same price, same details, same SKU number, same images and same details.There are very few pages indexed by Google for VistaStores.com. [I have submitted series of question on SEOmoz Q & A forum to resolve my website's crawling issue.]I assume that, this is one of biggest reason to stop my crawling. So, How can I fix it?

[CommercePundit]

Great. Thanks for your prompt reply and I suppose to integrate with my problems.

[RyanKent]

I shared the information already. I appreciate your situation but my initial reply is all I am willing to discuss on this topic. There are entire forums dedicated to how to get around Google's quality standards.

"Each of your sites would use different e-commerce systems, different web hosts, the domain owner's names should be different, unique content would need to be created for each domain, etc."

[CommercePundit]

Ryan,

I 100% agree with it and felt similar situation. But, we have to drill down issues and get final solution which suppose to help us in retaining of business. What you think about it?

I am here to find out final solution and I think you have gave me such a great suggestion. But, I can't do that or remove first 2 domains' content.

So, What's other alternatives for me that's more important. I can do any thing [Exclude removing of 2 domains ] to sustain my organic ranking as well as do 100% white hat SEO for my website.

[RyanKent]

If I suppose to search black outdoor floor lamps keyword to Google and assume that I got top 3 ranking with my 3 products.

Google's search quality algorithmically prevents that from happening. I have seen cases where two similar websites will rank for a given product, but I have never seen three. The instances where two sites rank for the same product are usually very hit and miss, where it happens to occur on only a few products. It is often presented where the first site will rank as #1 and the second site will rank further down the page. Others might have examples to share but I have not seen it where similar sites like yours rank #1 and 2.

The system isn't perfect and you may find holes. Even so, there are teams of people at Google constantly adjusting their system to close those holes. You are swimming upstream so-to-speak.

I freely share my time at SEOmoz to help others understand SEO. I am glad to do it. I choose not to practice black hat techniques nor will I respond to assistance requests on the topic. I am absolutely convinced every reputable business should pursue long-term, sustainable SEO i.e. white hat. Those sites which cross over to the dark side think they are clever and fooling the system. They spend their time on activities which are not rewarding to users nor the people doing the work. Frankly, it's bs work.

If you try black hat techniques there is a strong likelihood at some point your site will be completely de-indexed, or your rankings will be severely dropped. It can take many weeks to resolve the issues after you are penalized.

Imagine your site traffic drops down to only repeat customers and you need to hire a SEO for emergency work to fix a penalty. The work to diagnose and correct the issues can be costly, but that is nothing compared to the complete loss of sales for weeks. When that happens to you once, you may change your mind.

[CommercePundit]

Ryan wants to say in following manner. If I suppose to search black outdoor floor lamps keyword to Google and assume that I got top 3 ranking with my 3 products.

Now, what will happen in users' mind? Users will click on all top 3 result and will find same products.

So, users of Google will irritate and think that, Google is providing me dump result. Google is going to loose own value due to our dump SEO stuff.

Ryan... You are trying to tell in that direction. Right??

[RyanKent]

They are pretty careful because they register the domain with different companies, hosting is on different server with different IPs, so it's completely white hat and Google doesn't recognise that the owner is the same.

Not getting caught doesn't mean it is white hat.

Activities are being performed which offer no value to users nor search engines. These activities are being performed for the express purpose of manipulating search engine results. It defines black hat seo.

[CommercePundit]

Yes, I can understand it. But, I am doing marketing of my website for US. I know that, there are huge competition in US so I want to take all steps which prevents me in all factors.

[Gyorgy]

In less competitive online markets (like smaller countries) businesses often start 6-8 websites selling the same product or service. They present unique content on each of these websites and they do link building for each website but because the competition isn't as strong as in the US market, they can get first page rankings with directory and article submissions. When it's successful, they are present on the first page with 3-4 different websites.
They are pretty careful because they register the domain with different companies, hosting is on different server with different IPs, so it's completely white hat and Google doesn't recognise that the owner is the same.

[CommercePundit]

I can't follow option 1. That's for sure. I am going to follow option 2.

You have given me such a nice information and suggestion. But, I want to give one input in your answer.

I don't want to work on First and Second domain. I want to leave it on current situation and focus 100% on Third domain. (http://www.vistastores.com)

I worried about internal competition which was created by me.

Patio Umbrellas - See VistaPatioUmbrellas.com

I have similar category with similar product with similar keyword.

http://www.vistastores.com/69_21/outdoor/patio-umbrellas.html ( I want to get rank for this URL during Patio Umbrellas keyword)

I want to give same example for other keyword.

Outdoor Table Lamps - See LampsLightingAndMore.com and similar page as follow.

http://www.vistastores.com/6_73_74/home-decor/indoor-lighting/table-lamps.html

This is big question for me. How How How can I compete my already ranked pages with same products?

[RyanKent]

Does Selling the Same Product on Different Domains Look Spammy?

No, it does not look spammy. It does look like duplicate content and will be treated as such. In all likelihood you will only rank for one page between your sites. Sometimes a second page can rank "ok".

How can I fix it?

Two options.

1. Focus completely on one site. 301 the pages from the other sites to your remaining site. Then put all your time and focus on the one site to make it great. This is definitely the preferred option.

2. Spend your time and effort in an attempt to manipulate search engine quality. Each of your sites would use different e-commerce systems, different web hosts, the domain owner's names should be different, unique content would need to be created for each domain, etc.

In every regard a person should look at the two sites and not be able to link them together. While you are spending your time, money and energy on implementing this second option, you have competitors working on the first option who will dominate you in SERPs.

Like most things in life, it is quality vs quantity. Search results are improving every month and quality is consistently improving. There are definitely growing pains and bumps along the way. For the most part, the bumps are being taken by those who are attempting to manipulate the system.