More than one site in same industry

[BobGW]

A client wants to have 3 sites in the same industry with a lot of overlapping keywords. Is that white hat? Will Google mind?

[mememax]

Hi Bob, I can't see why this could not be white hat, the main issue I see is not on the bots side but on your own.

Having many sites in the same niche may be difficult to manage because you want to differentiate them enough to get the most of them, also it's hard and time/money consuming to build strong brands in a particular niche, branding nowadays is an seo factor too (not directly but it affects).

You're saying you're overlapping keywords, you can do that but consider that you'll have hard time to choose sites where build links for one and not to another, you then need three unique ips, and if you'll achieve results your client will complain due to one site cannibalizing the other, so actually the growth of one would be the loss of another.

Be wise, and try to understand the real needs of your clients and why he wants to build 3 similar sites at once in the same niche.

[McTaggart]

Why? Is this just a tactic to dominate the SERPs or do they have 3 distinct offerings?

[Chris.Menke]

If your client wants to maximize their SEO dollar, they need dig deep and divine what really, really makes them unique in their market in order that they're able  to present a worthwhile value proposition to visitors (prospective customers). For many, if not most small companies that's not an easy task in itself.  If they're really working hard to network and provide sharable content based on their brand, their value proposition, and their prospect's needs, they're not going to have the time or resources to do if for multiple sites--and they won't need to.

If you let them think short term and only about content based on keywords, your value to them is going to be minimized, the value they get out of their domian(s) is going to be minimized and in a year from now, neither of you are going to be able to look back with pride at the SEO work that was done on this project. [end proselytizing]

[EGOL]

Does this person currently have any respectable rankings in this industry?

If that answer is an honest "no" then it is a joke to attack with three sites when this person does not have what it takes to make an appearance even with one... because nobody yet has shown that they know what they are doing or have any ability to do it.

[MattAntonino]

I agree with a lot of the other answers but let me give you some backstory on what we did.

When I had a photo studio, we had 4 distinct websites.  They offered something unique - each photographer's portfolio and the opportunity to book exactly who you want.

So we had:

• Studio
• Owners
• Associate 1
• Associate 2

So our main studio had our branding. It showcased everyone, was very "newsy" about the studio, etc.

Our owner site was an overlapping brand but you could only see the owners work, owners about page, owners everything.  Even the contact came directly to me, not our sales@ address.

Associate 1 and Associate 2 had completely different branding.  They were based on the personalities of our photographers, not our main business. If someone was more interested in a fashion photographer, they wouldn't want us, they'd want our associate1.  If they wanted more of that rockstar grungyness, book associate2.

So the plan was simple - dominate the SERPs on our main keywords and then sell to those who wanted each brand.  It worked beautifully.  We were one of the most booked studios in my area (maybe shot the most weddings between 2009-2010.)  Associate1 grew past our business and now has her own studio.  It was a tremendously successful plan.

If you offer something unique per site or at least some reason to get backlinks to more than one "business" it can work.  I've MADE it work. But if you're just going to double up to hedge bets, it won't work. You'd be better off ranking #1 for your main than #8 and #10 no matter which study you believe:

http://searchengineland.com/organic-click-thru-rates-tumbling-study-97338

Of course, position 1 + 3 beats 8 alone.  So it just depends on the situation.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Bob,

You are getting some very thoughtful answers here. I thought I'd pop in as we've chatted so much about Local SEO. Thought I would add...if this client is Local, remember that he must NOT duplicate the address or phone number on these websites. In other words, if his legal business name is Bob's Appliance Repair and his main website uses his NAP, no part of it should be replicated at Bob Fixes Heaters or Bob Fixes Washing Machines. He would need to obtain completely different addresses and local area code phone numbers for the other businesses. I do not recommend getting suite numbers in a situation like this, because the services rendered are the same or similar and Google would likely catch on that something was odd.

I will also add, I have seen local businesses make an absolute mess of this concept of multi-sites or micro-sites. The end up with a bunch of neglected, thin or duplicate content sites. It would be so much better if they put their money/effort into building one really strong website to which new elements are being added on a regular basis. In my experience, local business owners who want a multi-site approach have either come across bad advice somewhere or have an excess amount of energy. If you can step in with great advice and funnel that great energy toward them building a killer on-site blog, you may be able to save them from being spread too thin and assist them in becoming an authority resource in their field.