Multiple Sites Duplicate Content Best Practice

[greenhornet77]

Hi there, I have one client (atlantawidgets.com) who has a main site. But also has duplicate sites with different urls targeting specific geo areas.

I.e.  (widgetmakersinmarietta.com)

1. Would it be best to go ahead and create a static home page at these add'l sites and make the rest of the site be nonindexed?

2. Or should I go in and allow more pages to be indexed and change the content? If so how many, 3, 5, 8? I don't have tons of time at this point.

3)If I change content within the duplicate sites, what % do I need to change. Does switching the order of the sentences of the content count? Or does it need to be 100%fresh?

Thanks everyone.

[gmk1567]

If main and duplicate sites are already indexed then I would suggest implementing canonical element on the duplicate sites with the main site URLs as preferred URLs.

New pages can be blocked by adding "noindex" on the page.

All the best !

[SoftzSolutions]

_A tough choice. As the geo specific sites are not Country code top-level domains, it will be all the more difficult for you to make Google understand that the purpose of launching these websites is to serve the local targeted readers. It might even look like an attempt of domain farming whose main purpose is to rank high in location specific keywords by launching keywords rich domains.

If your business has physical business address in these locations, you can submit your business details in Google Places. And of course you are free to create location specific pages in your main website given the fact that you are adding some interesting details there. No stuffing of keywords or rehash content just to get higher rankings in competitive terms.  _