Multiple distinct businesses owned by Group

[Betfred_James]

I work for a company which owns 14 different brands, all of which have their own domain, website, sales teams, management teams etc. 10 of the websites sit on the same IP address and have the same (or very similar) WHOIS records. The group website links to all the other sites on an 'Our Companies' page, using the anchor text 'visit site' underneath a brief about that company.

My question is what are the ramifications of having those 10 sites sitting on the same servers? They are distinct companies but they mostly have a similar theme. They don't really link to each other unless it's a genuine reason for a cross-over. My CEO has asked me to arrange to move some to other servers but I'm not 100% convinced it's necessary - and wouldn't moving over at this stage look like we're trying to hide something? (Most of the sites have been going for 5 years +). Looking at the WHOIS, or the address in each site's footer makes it clear that they're all part of the same umbrella group. And should I nofollow any links between all the sites? There's not many, it's mainly just the ones on the main group website.

[ConnectMedia]

Hi Jay,

I believe there is genuinely nothing to be worried about especially as All Websites under Group have their own unique and original content, but be careful to ensure that Google doesn't perceive that you infringing on Google Webmaster Guidelines, by trying to create a network of websites to inflate your Google rankings, e.g through Black-Hat tactics such as Site-wide exchanged links, as this will bring you problems to ALL your websites, and consequently be punished for same. There should be no ramifications if you have followed Google Webmaster Guidelines, find them here: <cite>https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en and here: <cite>https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en</cite></cite>

Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site's ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site. So kindly go through same guidelines and check if you in contravention of same guidelines.

Thank You

[JVRudnick]

Yeah....been there and done that too....for a client with again a series of various brands in the outdoor network...

And after all was said and done we left them all on a single IP server hosting too...made no diff to any search engine as they were all ranked individually with no penalties etc...

So I'd say pass on that....unless you need something to do....

[Betfred_James]

Thanks both of you! I had a feeling that would be the case - we're not trying to hide the fact we're part of a group; we're not linking each site to each other site and we're not contravening Google's guidelines in any way.

[ConnectMedia]

You most welcome, Thank You