Are different IP addresses enough for sites with similar content?
-
Hi all
We're looking at moving our 2 websites onto a cloud hosting package. The content on our sites is very similar (but not duplicated) so at the moment they are on separate servers.
If we move to the cloud, is it enough for them to have different IP addresses on the same cloud system, or should we host in separate clouds?
Thanks in advance
Heather
-
Hi Ryan
Thanks for your response. I can assure you that pursuing black hat methods was never the intention. I don't think anyone on SEOmoz would want that label. But I can see why you'd see it that why.
It was decided that both websites should offer the same products, focussing on their 2 key products but then saying "we also provide such and such through our sister brand". We are happy to have the association and for Google to know the 2 sites are related.
The reason I asked the original question was due to the advice of an SEO company we used to use who said that we needed to move one of the sites to a different server if we wanted them to rank for their own keywords. I guess they weren't telling us the whole story?
From what you say, a new content strategy is probably the answer.
-
Frankly, it sounds like what you are asking is "how can I trick the search engines into not realizing these two sites are related". I am sorry if that is blunt, but it seems to be accurate. Google is exceptional smart and has tons of data to use to detect manipulation. A few examples:
-
who owns the domain? If at any time the same entity purchased or was listed as an owner of the domain, it is reasonable to think Google is aware of this information and no matter what action you take the sites may be considered related.
-
do the sites use the same code? Even if you change logos and text, if the same base code is used for both sites, it is likely Google can recognize unique aspects of the code and relate the sites
-
you mentioned similar content. Google is also quite capable of recognizing various forms of revising the same content
-
are these separate servers with the same host? If so, it is likely they have the same C-block in which case the sites can be related in that manner.
There are many other means by which Google could establish a relation between sites: same Google WMT accounts, sites accessed by the same IPs, same backlinks, the list is quite long.
If the purpose of varying the IP address is to hide the relationship from Google, I would suggest not even worrying about it. You are pursuing black hat methods and to pull it off would require extensive experience and resources.
-
-
Hi Marcus
We have 4 products. 2 come under the main brand, but the other 2 come under a separate brand that is more appropriate for the market they are targeting.
Each site focuses mainly on their 2 primary products, but also has a section for the secondary products, introducing the other brand and sending them to the other website.
Due to the industry we're in, content is pretty controlled, so creating completely different content for each site isn't straightforward.
All I need to know is if we need to be on separate servers. My priority is to get the sites moved asap and not rebuild and rewrite content at this stage.
Thanks
Heather
-
Hey Heather, if the sites are so similar, can I ask why you have two? If they are truly similar, and serve the same market / goals etc, why not make your life easier and maintain one, truly unique site?
If there is a distinct reason for both sites to exist, then it is worth investing some time and effort to make sure that the content is truly unique across both sites.
These kind of questions are very tough to answer without a clear definition of 'similar' so if you wanted to include a link or provide a little more details regarding what the similarities are then we could likely assist further.
Hope this helps,
Marcus -
Hi Heather,
To be honest it is more about the similarity between your content rather than the IP addresses that might determine any penalty considerations. Essentially because cloud hosting is virtualized (and thus can offer different IPs) they will be seen as separate dedicated servers if the virtualised resource is set up as such (i.e. the cloud hosting is split into 2 virtual servers and given dedicated static IPs).
Good luck!
Mike
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
-
Thoughts on different base URLs for different website language?
Hello mozzers, Currently in the process of setting up a new website for a new entity. I was wondering what your thoughts were on using different base urls for different languages. Example: ABCgroup.com -> English
Technical SEO | | yacpro13
groupeABC.com -> French I've never done this before; I've been one to prefer using a subfolder structure. However, for this case, the expected visitors are truly split between 2 languages, and therefore having a base url in the visitor's language is appealing. Would this approach be detrimental if all pages have a proper hreflang tag? Thanks!0 -
Redirecting old html site to new wordpress site
Hi I'm currently updating an old (8 years old) html site to wordpress and about a month ago I redirected some url's to the new site (which is in a directory) like this... Redirect 301 /article1.htm http://mysite.net/wordpress/article1/
Technical SEO | | briandee
Redirect 301 /article2.htm http://mysite.net/wordpress/article2/
Redirect 301 /article3.htm http://mysite.net/wordpress/article3/ Google has indexed these new url's and they are showing in search results. I'm almost finished the new version of site and it is currently in a directory /wordpress I intend to move all the files from the directory to the root so new url when this is done will be http://mysite.net/article1/ etc My question is - what to I do about the redirects which are in place - do I delete them and replace with something like this? Redirect 301 /wordpress/article1/ http://mysite.net/article1/
Redirect 301 /wordpress/article2/ http://mysite.net/article2/
Redirect 301 /wordpress/article3/ http://mysite.net/article3/ Appreciate any help with this0 -
Premium Content
Hey Guys I woking on a site that publishes hundreds of new content a day and part of the content is only available for users for 30 days. After 30 days the content is only accessible to premium users.
Technical SEO | | Mr.bfz
After 30 days, the page removes the content and replaces it with a log in/ sign up option. The same URL is kept for each page and the title of the article.
I have 2 concerns about this method. Is it healthy for the site to be removing tons of content of live pages and replace with a log in options Should I worry about Panda for creating tons of pages with unique URL but very similar source /content - the log in module and the text explaining that it is only available to premium users. The site is pretty big so google has some tolerance of things we can get away with it. Should I add a noindex attribute for those pages after 30 days? Even though it can takes months until google actually removes from the index. Is there a proper way for performing this type of feature in sites with a log in option after a period of time (first click free is not an option) Thanks Guys and I appreciate any help!0 -
2 similar websites targetting different countries
I have a website that has a .com.au extension running on zencart. If I load up the exact same wesbite (with the same website name) on the .com, will my .com.au be penalised by Google? Thanks in advance.
Technical SEO | | theshining0 -
Have my site been penalised ?
Hi, I recently hired a link builder (who works for a digital marketing agency and wanted to earn some extra cash ) to do some link building for me on keyword Carpet Cleaner Hire Basically , May my ranking for this work has moved from 29 up to 13 , then down to 500 + and now up to 67 ?. It's been all over the place and I am worried that maybe google thinks its unnatural or to many links etc. I looked at some of the work this chap did and there was a log of bookmarks done , apparently to increase social awareness and some articles on random forums I never heard of but the articles didn't look to good and in my eyes were a little spammy.. I don't have any messages in WMT saying I have been penalised or anything but I am naturally worried that this chap may have caused damaged and that I was manually penalised. I have since asked him to stop immediately.. does this sound normal for the ranking to be all over the place in this manner when link building ? How can I tell if I have been manually penalized in any way ? What;s the general consensus ?. Should I contact google or leave it and see what happens ? Other keywords seems to be okay though. Any advice much appreciated. thanks Sarah.
Technical SEO | | SarahCollins1 -
What to do if my site was De-indexed?
Hello fellow SEOs, I have been doing SEO for about a year now, I'm not expert, but I know enough to get the job done. I'm learning everyday about better techniques. So enough about that... Tonight I noticed that my site has, I believe, been de-indexed. Its a fairly new site, as we just launched it a few days ago and I went in and did all the title tags and meta. I still have to go in to do the h1 and h2 tags...plus add some alt tags and anchor text. Well anyways, after a couple of days after the title tags were implemented. I was propagating all over the place. Using my keyword tool here...I was number on the first page in Google for 71 or the 88 keywords. My new site was just indexed yesterday and thats when i noticed all my keywords. Well today I noticed that I am no where to be found, even if i type in my company's name. PLEASE help me out...any advice would be appreciated. Thank you. p.s. could my competitors could have done something to my site? just wondering... The website is www.eggheadconsultants.com
Technical SEO | | Jegghead1 -
Duplicate Content Issues - Should I build a new site?
I'm currently working on a site which is built using Zen Cart. The client also has another version which has the same products on it. The product descriptions and the vast majority of the text has been re-written. I've used the duplicate content tool and these are the results: HTML fingerprint: 0000a7ee1f07a131 0000a7ec1f07a931 92.31% Total HTML similarity: 76.33% Standard text similarity: 66.72% Smart text similarity: 45.81% Total text similarity 56.27% I considered using a different eCommerce system like Magento or Volusion. So I had a look at a few templates, chose one and then used the tool again and got the following: HTML fingerprint: 0000a7e41b012111 0000a7ec1f07a931 72.00% Total HTML similarity: 64.65% Standard text similarity: 11.69% Smart text similarity: 17.90% Total text similarity 14.80% Do you think its worth doing this? thanks Dan
Technical SEO | | TheYeti0 -
Moving to the cloud - dynamic or static IP address?
We're looking at moving our websites to the cloud. Most services seem to default to providing a dynamic IP address, with static IP addresses being offered as paid extras. Is there an SEO disadvantage to having a dynamic IP address?
Technical SEO | | heatherrobinson0