Multiple websites for different service areas/business functions?

[KevinBloom]

I'm wondering what the implications are for having multiple domains for different service areas of a company?

I realize having multiple domains for one company can be troublesome because of the possibility of duplicate content, keyword cannibalization, and linkbuilding to multiple domains. But when the domains are for very different service offerings/unique business functions that each serve  their own purpose (and have  different positionings), is there a downside to having more than one domain?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Travis_Bailey]

Are we talking ACME Haberdashery and ACME Cobblers, or is this more of an ACME Plumbing and ACME Drain Cleaning situation? I gather that we're talking about local businesses, which comes with it's own bit of fun. I'm just trying to gauge if the difference in service offerings merit the effort.

[KevinBloom]

Hi Travis - Actually not referring to local businesses but a national firm with different business functions. An example would be Marketing Profs, who has their main site and then a MarketingProfsU domain. I've also noticed some people separate their blog from the rest of their site on their own domain. Any thoughts there?

[EcommerceSite]

Besides the things you mentioned it seems like one of the biggest downfalls would be creating more work for yourself. Optimizing one site is a lot easier the 2 or more. Seems like having it all on one would also help with domain authority. Is there any upside to having multiple domains?

[KevinBloom]

I think it could be easier for a site's design to have them separate if it serves two very different functions. And you could position them as separate which would create less user experience confusion (or more if the sites are designed poorly).

I agree about domain authority - it would be harder to link build to multiple sites and the secondary site(s) would probably have a lower authority.

[EcommerceSite]

If they serve two very different functions I could see the advantage. Does your client already have the the multiple websites? Or are you looking at splitting up their current site?