Two web sites with the same contact info is this a problem ?

[weddingshoesandaccessories]

I have two web sites and a physical shop. I run the web sites from the the same post address as the shop.

I am concerned that if I add the actual address to both web sites which also has the same telephone number that google might see this as suspicious activity.

The reason is I bought a competitor out and now run two sites.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hi,

There is no problem running more than 1 business from the same address. Look at all the thousands of office complexes around the World that house multiple businesses.

The only time I would be concerned would be if the same products are being offered from both, or duplication of pages.

-Andy

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi there

If you bought out the other business, I would consider redirecting their site to yours. There's a post from Rand called Should I Rebrand and Redirect My Site? Should I Consolidate Multiple Sites/Brands? that can help you evaluate such moves. There's also a great migration guide that can help you through the process of moving the site.

This is heavily dependent on the other brand's authority and industry reputation, so you would have to consider that. You'd obviously have to evaluate such a move. You'd also have to do backlink clean up for their site and update their citations and backlinks to point to your site.

If you decide to stick with the two sites and one location, this shouldn't be an issue. According to Google:

Two or more brands at the same location

If your business location combines two or more brands, do not combine the brand names into a single page. Instead, pick one brand’s name for the page. If the brands operate independently, you may use a separate page for each brand at this location.

Not Acceptable: "KFC / Taco Bell" or "Dunkin' Donuts / Baskin Robbins"
Acceptable: "Taco Bell", "KFC", "Dunkin’ Donuts", "Baskin Robbins"
If your business sells another business brand’s product(s) or service(s), use only the name of the business, excluding the name of the brand being sold, which cannot have a page for this location.

Not Acceptable: "Staples / UPS", "America’s Tire / Firestone"
Acceptable: "Staples", "America’s Tire"
However, if the business location is an authorized and fully dedicated seller of the branded product or service (sometimes known as a "franchisee"), you may use the underlying brand name when creating the page.

Acceptable: "TCC Verizon Wireless Premium Retailer", "U-Haul Neighborhood Dealer" As long as you stick to the best practices above, you should be fine. If it doesn't feel right, simply don't do it, but make sure you read the resources from Google to understand what they expect.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[jorisbrabants]

Already some good angles from Patrick,

I would go for the redirect as Patrick mentioned above, but there's one particular situation in which I would keep both sites, and that's if you're using another proposition for your products/services.

Let's say you sell sunscreen, and one is completely focused on sunscreen to protect the skin of your children, while the other one focuses on sunscreen to have a nice tan. Maybe a stupid example but I hope you know what I mean.

There are many situations in which people are looking for other stuff (or use other keywords/search terms) but at the end just need the same solution (in this case Sun Screen).

Pro of using both sites: you can get more targeted traffic and really focus the proposition on those people.

Con: you have 2 websites which you need to market, which can cost you more time (and money).

[weddingshoesandaccessories]

Thanks for the answer.

The two sites do sell the same products. there is no duplicate content only duplicate images.

[weddingshoesandaccessories]

Some good info here ,Thank you. We took a competitors web site over and have traded it for 12 months now. We have tried our best to keep everything separate and original as regard content and both sites rank for different reasons. Both sites offer different shipping methods and terms and conditions and having two sites makes sense because we can trial different ideas also. Over the Christmas break one of the web sites servers was attacked which took the site down on and off which was worrying but the other was ok.

It all works well in a business and management sense but moving forward we can do with out being penalised so im taking every ones comments on board seriously.

A redirect is the simplest thing to do but what about the people who compared both sites and chose to buy from one because of shipping  issues or terms and conditions. These customers may be forced to compare against a competitor.

Thank you Patrick Delehanty I appreciate your comments

[weddingshoesandaccessories]

Thank you for your comments.

I agree with you. Both sites do sell the same product but they do sell the product from a different angle and with different Ts and Cs, shipping etc etc.

One site promotes its local shop as well online sales and works well online because we have a shop and people can see we are experts in our field. Also we tend to use the site to bring people to the shop so we can offer a far greater service. This site also has products that can be seen but not purchased online and are only available from the shop.

The other site is mail order only and is more faceless but does appeal to some. I would argue that a 301 will loose some of these customers as they have already looked at other sites and decided t buy from here. I accept that the extra flow of traffic will result in sales but will it result in the same level of sales ?

But if I get penalized could loose all round business so your comments will be taken serious and I appreciate your input. Thank you