Good discussion going on here, and thought I would add, if the business is Local in nature, rather than virtual, I strongly recommend against a multi-site approach. I wanted to clarify this in case members take a look at this thread and own a local business.

Hi Abi,

We're glad to have you here! I want to be sure I'm understanding your question. Yes, that rule is still true about Google only counting the first link to a given document. I believe you are concerned that if your menu doesn't say Auto Locksmith Boston, you will somehow be losing out. While it's good to have optimized items in your menu, you don't want to look spammy. This would look spammy to me in a menu, and I bet it might to Google to:

Auto Locksmith Boston

Auto Locksmith Portsmouth

Auto Locksmith Truro

Auto Locksmith Plymouth

It's just too repetitive. So, what can you do? You can create a main page for your locksmith services in your city of location. The goal of this page will typically be to attain high LOCAL rankings. You can then create city landing pages for your service radius cities, but don't stamp them out cookie-cutter fashion. Find something unique to write about your involvement in those other cities, and don't just list them in the menu like I've shown above. Write something interesting, helpful and cool. The goal of these pages will typically be ORGANIC rankings, because you're unlikely to locally outrank competitors in neighboring cities who have their physical shops there.

So, you are a single entity offering this single service...Auto Locksmithing. That deserves one page. But you can write up your service cities, too, so long as what you're doing is unique and useful.

In sum, I recommend that you menu contains a link for Auto Locksmith Services, and then you have a separate area of the menu showcasing your work in different cities. I do not recommend making a menu like the one above.

Hope this helps!

Hi Carla,

Here's a shortie-but-goodie from Barry Schwartz on this topic:

http://www.seroundtable.com/google-one-site-locations-15454.html

Note the quote from Goolger, John Mu, on that one.

http://www.seroundtable.com/google-one-site-locations-15454.html

And here is Google and Your Business forum Top Contributor Linda Buquet's educated opinion on this:

http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/local-search/8993-can-we-create-multiple-websites-services-same.html

What the client needs to understand is that:

1. Their local business can have only 1 Google+ Local listing, linking to a single domain. If Google finds the business name attached to multiple websites, Google will be confused and lack 'trust' in the data cluster they create for the business. Similarly, if any other element of the business' core NAP (name-address-phone) is found on more than one website, this will cloud Google's understanding of the business. This can lead to accidental duplicate listing creation and ranking problems.

2. Your client will be splitting up their authority across multiple domains instead of building great authority on a single domain, where every action taken goes toward strengthening the brand.

3. Let's not forget Google's big recent targeting of EMDs. Though we didn't see drastic effects from this in Local, we all have received fair warning from the EMD penalty that Google is down on thin content, exact match domain sites. What I see in Local is a single business owner publishing thin and duplicate content on a set of domains like sanfranciscoplumber.com, sanjoseplumber.com, sanrafaelplumber.com, etc., and I believe Google has made it pretty clear that this type of activity is under scrutiny. I think there are definite risks associated with a multi-site approach.

4. And let's consider how this looks to the most important audience - potential customers. All local businesses must work to develop an authoritative, memorable brand that comes to mind instantly when a service is needed. If my hot water heater stops working, what is that brand, that domain name? Is it sanjoseplumber.com, sanrafaelplumber.com??? I can't remember. But if it's StanislovPlumbing.com - an honest representation of the business name that matches branding - and I've used their services before, my chances of remembering/recognizing them is much higher. To me, this is a very strong argument against splitting up brand/authority across multiple sites.

These are just a few reasons. I could likely come up with more, but honestly, I can't think of a single instance in which I would recommend that a small local business owner try to operate multiple websites. It is completely possible to rank well for a variety of service/geo terms with a single website with the right approach. Good luck in educating your client about this, Carla. Feel free to share this post with him, as well as the links I've provided.