Will combining multiple websites/brands into one Wordpress Multisite Installation hurt SEO?

[Karrie_Beth]

My company currently operates four websites, independently of each other, a corporate website and three separate store brands.

1. innovativemattresssolutions.com - corporate website
2. mattressking.net
3. sleepoutfitters.com
4. mattresswarehouse.com

All of our stores have the same branding, same TV spots, same print ads, etc across the company, we just swap out logos on all marketing pieces.

It is proving nearly impossible for us to maintain four separate websites, currently on three different platforms. all four are hosted separately as of now. We would like to combine all four websites to one Wordpress Multisite installation so we can manage the pages from one place, using the same theme and even content in many places because all brands share the same info, policies, products, etc. We would set up wordpress multi using subfolders for installation and point the URL directly to resolve to the appropriate subfolder. The only site that would crosslink to the others would be the corporate website.

Is this a bad idea for SEO? What other options would we have? Should we keep the corporate site on its own installation, but put the other three brands on a multisite install? Would duplicating content on the three brand pages be an issue? Less of an issue if they were not on multisite?

Any insight is much appreciated.

[bradwayland]

I think there is a bigger issue going on here.  Why are you operating 3 different sites where you are just swapping out logos?  I don't see the multi site causing you any specific problems but my gut tells me your long term prospects are not good.  All the effort that you are going into for this elaborate scheme are probably causing you to not do as well in search as you would with one brand.  I would suggest instead of trying to maintain 3 brands (for no other perceivable reason than search visibility) that you bite the bullet and reduce to 1 site.  Take your best one and 301 the others to it.  Maintain one platform and you might be able to cut some operational costs internally.  To me the strategy you are outlining above was a good idea in 2005.  Not trying to be harsh.  Hope this helps.

[Karrie_Beth]

Thanks Brad,  I don't take that as harsh at all and I don't disagree with you. Yes, search visibility, rankings of local store listings, etc is one of the primary reasons we have operated the sites separately to this point. One of the sites is a recent acquisition so that has just compounded the issue. I should clarify that content is not 100% duplicated, mainly store locator functionality and local partnership content on each site.

The other reason we have not gone the 301 route is marketing perception. Several years ago, this is how we handled it. But the brands operate independent of each other in different areas of the country. It's not a Limited example where they operate Gap, Old Navy, etc. Customers in the Mattress King area of the country, have no idea what Sleep Outfitters is and 301s to the strongest domain was causing huge bounce rates, customer confusion and low visibility for individual store locations.

So there is our issue. Weighing pros and cons and not sure which side is winning right now.

[bradwayland]

Brett,

It sounds like there are more business reasons other than search visibility.  Given that information I can see this is a more difficult issue for you.  I don't envy you.  I stand by my assessment that managing 3 brands that are so similar is going to prove to be difficult.  In my business we attempted to manage 2 for a very long time.  Ours was more driven by search visibility but we also had a brand associated.  Ultimately we decided to perform the 301s and certainly lost some business by doing so.  In the end I stand by the decision.  I think the focus on 1 hurts in the short run and pays huge dividends in the long run.

[KaneJamison]

So, for the most part I don't see any issue with this.

The only thing that comes to mind is that all 4 domains would suddenly be on a single IP address. While that's fine for the brands that aren't competing with each other, it looks like there are a few store location in KY under competing brand names. In the event that there are geographic areas where you have competing locations that are suddenly on the same IP address, I could potentially see one of the domains being affected if the SERP for "city name KY mattresses" is highly competitive. I don't have any tests I can point you towards to support this, it's primarily a theory that Google might display just 1 in the interest of domain diversity. That said, I wouldn't worry about it too heavily.

Another option is a paid service such as ManageWP.com. This would allow you to manage multiple Wordpress installations on separate servers and mitigate any unforeseen consequences of having the domains on a single IP address. I can't say that the risk of experiencing issues simply due to server IP address is enough to justify the expense, however, so that should show you that I'm not very worried about the IP consideration overall.

[KaneJamison]

My first reaction was the same as Brads. After looking at the sites themselves and hearing your response, I think it's very normal to operate these sites separately since they are separate brands. I wouldn't worry about that aspect.