Two sites, heavily cross linking, targeting the same keyword - is this a battle worth fighting?

[A_Q]

Hi Mozzers,

Would appreciate your input on this, as many people have differing views on this when asked...

We manage 2 websites for the same company (very different domains) - both sites are targeting the same primary keyword phrase, however, the user journey should incorporate both websites, and therefore the sites are very heavily cross linked - so we can easily pass a user from one site to another.

Whilst site 1 is performing well for the target keyword phrase, site 2 isn't. Site 1 is always around 2 to 3 rank, however we've only seen site 2 reach the top of page 2 in SERPs at best, despite a great deal of white hat optimisation, and is now on the decline.

There's also a trend (all be it minimal) of when site 1 improves in rank, site 2 drops.

Because the 2 sites are so heavily inter-linked could Google be treating them as one site, and therefore dropping site 2 in the SERPs, as it is in Google's interests to show different, relevant sites?

[IM_Learner]

Hi,

Yes, it is in Google interests to show different and relevant sites to users.

You said, "2 websites for the same company (very different domains) - both sites are targeting the same primary keyword phrase, however, the user journey should incorporate both websites, and therefore the sites are very heavily cross linked - so we can easily pass a user from one site to another."

I am assuming the by very different domains, you mean different site address because two sites on two different topics can't be heavily interlinked. In this case, I would recommend to have a single website that is performing well in the search engine and merge the other one in it. As you said that users journey should incorporate both the websites, this means they are closely linked. In this case, it would be better to have a single website that suffice users' needs.

Regards

[Chris.Menke]

Alpha,

Is the domain authority the same for both sites?  How similar are their back link profiles?  Is there other interlinking going on between them and other sites? If all else is on the up and up, my feeling is that Google wouldn't be seeing them as a single site but that as the algorithm evolves, Google's understanding of the relationship between the two sites is being more clearly defined.

But then again, if you think in terms of "entity", (rather than "sites") maybe Google does see them as "conjoined twins" : ), with one being stronger than the other and a searcher finds one, it will certainly find the other.

Maybe it's time to start experimenting with redirecting things to a single domain.  You could start a single page or category and see how traffic or rankings change.  I wouldn't bet that it would bring you more traffic but maintaining a single domain vs. two interlinked ones could save time and effort.