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.
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
-
A client rebranded a few years ago and doesn't want to be associated with it's old brand name. He wishes not to appear when the old brand is searched in Google, is there something we can do?
The problem is there was redirection between the old branded site and the new one, and now when you type in the name of the old brand, the new one comes up. I have desperately tried to convince this client there is nothing we can do about it, dozens of news articles crop up with the two brands together as this was a hot topic a few years ago, but just in case I missed something I thought I'd ask the community of experts here on Moz. An example for this would be Tyco Healthcare that became covidien in 2007. When you type tyco healthcare, covidien crops up here and there. Any ideas? Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Netsociety0 -
Change of address webmaster tools
Hi dear experts; I trying to migration to https and follow the guide line that explain how to do it. After redirect 301, I created new property on WMT for ssl version and change the pre address to new one. but as you can see in the attach file, the new property does not appear in the list. the old version of domain is: sharifconsult.ir the new one is : https://sharifconsult.ir yd9fL
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | seoiransite0 -
Competition site with Duplicate Name
I have a client who is in real estate and one of his competition used the same Name and Domain and added the word Toronto in front. The competition is putting similar content on the website. The competition also hijacked the Google listing since they both work in the same building. Is this going to affect the ranking our website? What negative effect will it put on our website?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | KaranX0 -
International SEO and Website Redirection
Hey there Mozzers, If you have a website for example www.example.com and you wanted to target Australia and UK and you owned the .com.au and .co.uk. Would that be ok if everything redirected to the .com ? I know that having the .com.au is a signal for Google but the redirection is causing me troubles. Would that be huge of a difference if everything redirected to the .com version of the site?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AngelosS0 -
Brand name in title of posts?
Hi All,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JohnPalmer
new question about my blog: in my posts title I have to add the brand? for example -
The title of the post | My Brand name
Or just the title without the brand? Because my post title too long and I know that Google show only the 60 characters. so it will show like this:
The long title of my post | My Brand n... (just for example) is it okay? or for 100% optimization I have to keep it 60 Characters and no more. What do you think? Is it bad for my brand? good?0 -
4 websites with same content?
I have 4 websites (1 Main, 3 duplicate) with same content. Now I want to change the content for duplicate websites and main website will remain the same content. Is there any problem with my thinking?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | marknorman0 -
Domain Name Redirect Question
My agency just built a new website for a client who is a franchisee. It's not launched yet - it's currently under an IP address. I suggested to client that he buy a keyword-rich domain name for it, which he did. Then he found out that the franchisor will not allow it to be his main domain name. They want him to use a domain name with the franchisor name in it. But they WILL allow him to put a 301 redirect on that franchisor-approved domain name, and redirect it to his keyword-rich domain name. He is interested in having my agency perform an SEO Campaign for this new website. But would SEO and link marketing work for a website that has a new non-keyword domain name that 301 redirects to a new keyword-rich domain name?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | netsites0 -
Ecommerce website consolidation
I have a large ecommerce site and several smaller nitche ecommerce sites. All have the same products, but the smaller sites are loosing traffic. I want to combine all the sites to the larger site so it will be easier to manage, but I don't want to loose any rank on the smaller sites. Example: www.yourpromopeople.com - This is the large site I want to use. www.logocoolies.com www.fourcolormagnets.com - These are a couple of the smaller sites I want to combine with the larger one. Questions: What are the pros and cons in doing this? What would be the best way to do this? Would redirecting the URL's to the larger site's product pages do the trick or is there a better option? Thanks for the help.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JHSpecialty0