Are different IP addresses enough for sites with similar content?

[heatherrobinson]

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

[jkins]

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

[Marcus_Miller]

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

[heatherrobinson]

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

[RyanKent]

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.

[heatherrobinson]

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.