Multiple Domains for Real Estate

[Jon_B]

Hi,

We have 10 different website for our apartments. I am thinking about consolidating them all into 1 website. Is this a good or bad idea? I think it would be good as we would get all the authority for the 1 domain so it would be easier to get new apartments ranked but I am not too sure. I am trying to optimize for local SEO.

I am pretty sure that consolidating them is the best option but I would like to be certain about it before we make the investment.

[WilliamKammer]

In general, I find it's always better to consolidate and build a nice big authority under one domain. In your case, it'll take some analysis of how those 10 sites are already performing. If they are well-built and already established, it may be better to keep them. If not, create pages on your one domain for them, redirect the old sites, and create listings for each one, pointing to the landing page for the property. This is, in general, the better route I've found 9 times out of 10... and now-a-days maybe more like 99 times out of 100. Especially in real estate, which is a very competitive market.

[GPainter]

Agree with you William, one site that's well made can be a benefit but I just wanted to point out if you're trying to rank locally whilst you can set up single pages to help ( exsample.com/localarea ) but Google Local can be a pain in the bum with one site but if I'm honest it easier to focus all your energy on one site than split it 10 ways and get less focus.

[Lumina]

One thing I would add is that it depends on HOW your domains are currently set up and differentiated.

If each domain, for example, is for a different region wherein you have apartments, or another manner of separating by "category", then tweaking the keywords may be more beneficial than consolidating. However, William is right in saying that overall, having one larger site with strong ranking is better than several weaker ones.

Also keep in mind that if each of those 10 domains aren't specifically targeting different things/keywords, then they're not just competing against your competitors, but each other as well.

Another option may be to use one or a few of those domains as secondary property - like a blog, a more refined listing site, a photo gallery, etc. You get the idea.

Good luck! I hope we've all been helpful for you Jon.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Jon,

I would say this depends upon the business model. Are these 10 different apartment building with different names? Or, perhaps, some other arrangement? I think it would be helpful if you could explain the business model in a bit more detail.