Should apartment management companies have a separate website for each of their properties?

[mikleing]

I work for a company that owns and manages apartments.  I would like to know which of the two website design decisions are better from an SEO perspective:

1. One single website that contains pages for all of our apartments.  (Example: http://www.equityapartments.com)
2. Separate websites for each apartment and one main corporate website allows users to search through our apartments.  (Example: https://www.greystar.com)

I have spoken to three marketing companies have all recommended option 2.  The best reason I have heard is because then the separate apartments are all more likely to rank.  They say Google doesn't want to rank multiple pages of the same website.But Google would still know that I have an administrative relationship between the sites.  (Source: https://moz.com/blog/how-google-knows-what-sites-you-control-and-why-it-matters-whiteboard-friday)  So I don't know why they would treat multiple sites differently than one site?For what it's worth, it seems the majority of apartment management companies use a different website for each property.So should have a separate website for each of their properties?

[KaneJamison]

Hey Mike,

Outside of Local SEO, one single site would be the clear winner because it’s easier to build the authority of that one domain.

Within Local SEO, having dedicated domains could make more sense. One could make the argument that it’s simpler for Google To understand a single location, but there are plenty of retail sites with single domains that refute that argument.

One could also make the argument that it might be easier to build homepage links to separate domains, but I don’t think it’s enough of a factor to change your web structure.

Option 2 is the standard in your industry, for certain. But it typically means higher web design costs to build and maintain them all, even if they’re somewhat cookie cutter. Frankly I think that’s as big of a factor in your decision.

I wouldn’t worry about the administrative relationship you described. It’s not going to be a major factor - you’re not deceiving Google by separating the sites, you’re changing how users experience the sites.

A couple of clarifying questions:

• Are any of the communities near each other, or are they in many cities across the country?
• Are you seeing subpages of corporate sites ranking in the local search results for any of your communities?
• Is there any administrative value to separating the websites? Outside of SEO considerations.

[mikleing]

Kane,

Thank you for your response!  Here are the answers to your clarifying questions:

Are any of the communities near each other, or are they in many cities across the country?
The communities are near each other.  Most of the communities are in the city called Forest Lake and one is in a city of Blaine.

Are you seeing subpages of corporate sites ranking in the local search results for any of your communities?
Yes, our subpages are ranking.  The one community in the city of Blaine is ranking consistently at the top in local search.  The rest of the communities in Forest Lake are having mixed results.  But there are times we will see two communities take a spot in the top three local search engine results.

Is there any administrative value to separating the websites? Outside of SEO considerations.
No, it would be easier to have one website instead of multiple.

[Buddyantra]

Hello,

I think the best thing is to have single website as Buyers will get choices which one to buy in a single place. As a internet user I will prefer to get things at a place in different prices. Its easy to get hingh ranking in one website rather then multiple websites. single site can be low cost.

[mikleing]

That's a good point.  If we did the multisite option we would still have a way to see all the properties from the corporate site.

We are running into one key issue with one site instead of many.  That problem is that our site only shows up once in the search results for searches like "apartments in Forest Lake".  But we have about a dozen properties in that city.  It's my understanding that if we had separate sites then we could show up multiple times, once for each property.

Is that true, and is it worth the hassle to do that?

[KaneJamison]

Knowing that all of your properties are in the same area, this seems like the biggest argument in favor of separate sites. Google may be more likely to rank other sites instead of subpages of the same site to avoid what is called domain crowding. However, it still happens in local. Just search for "office supply stores" and you're likely to see multiple listings for Staples or OfficeDepot, for example.

Honestly you could do both. Have a corporate site with pages for every property on it, and set up microsites with single properties on them. If the site is setup well with something like Wordpress Multisite then at least the same software can be running and updated simultaneously. In that case I'd probably use the microsites as the landing pages for Google local listings.

If you do go the route of multiple sites, I'd recommend having a clear button or call to action to "View Our Other Properties in the XYZ Area".

[MiriamEllis]

Hey Mike,

Great discussion going on here. I want to clarify - when you say "apartments" you are talking about apartment complexes, right, not individual apartment units within a development? In other words, Tan Apartment Community, Green Apartment Community, Blue Apartment Community; not Apartment 3, 20, and 35 within communities?

[mikleing]

Miriam,

Thank you!  Yes, I do mean apartment complexes (e.g. Blue Apartment Community).  I am not proposing creating different sites for each unit (e.g. APT #203).

What's your opinion on this topic?

[mikleing]

Kane,

We have ranked two apartment complexes in local search using the same domain.  So I do agree, separate websites may not help local search unless Google limits the same domain from ranking more than 2-3 times.

Ranking organically is very hard to do beyond the 9th or 10th position for key words like "apartments in Forest Lake".  Big players like Apartments.com and Zillow have really concurred that space.  There are some long tail keywords like "luxury apartments in Forest Lake" that we could link for.

Having all the apartments on one site would help the domain authority of that site because the backlinks are not spread out.  This may help us reach position 8 instead of 10.  Splitting the site up would allow us to capture spots 10-20.

As I write this, it seems that capturing spot 8 is better than capturing spots 10-20.  What are your thoughts?  Are my assumptions even accurate?

[MiriamEllis]

Thanks for the clarification (and so sorry I addressed you as "Mike" - I read your screenname incorrectly).

My thoughts on this would be based on a few factors:

1. If the brand were the same across all properties (Blue Apartments), then, no question, I would consolidate. This would be like having a single website for Taco Bell or any other brand, vs. having thousands of Taco Bell microsites representing their many locations. A single site would not only be easier to manage, but would consolidate all SEO benefits into a single site, building its authority. I'd have a single site at BlueApartments.com with a landing page for each complex (Blue Apartments on The Beach, Blue Apartments Theater District, Blue Apartments Downtown, Blue Apartments Westside, etc.) And, I'd build a GMB listing for each of these complexes IF (and only if) it had an on-site office, and link these listings to their respective, very well-built landing pages.

2. If each apartment complex has entirely distinct branding (Blue Apartments, Green Apartments, Red Apartments) then the conversation changes. I want to state that I've never done Local SEO for a multi-apartment-complex enterprise, but I see these business models doing both the single and multi-site approach in the city nearest me, and both approaches are managing to rank. I'm just looking at this at a glance, of course, but that's what I see. At the end of the day, I think that the unique branding scenario would incline me to go with a multi-site approach, for better ease-of-use for consumers, whether it impacts SEO or not. These are distinct physical places, and unlike Taco Bell, they each provide a different living experience. If I had the resources, I think I'd create a good, strong site for each property (and, if it has an on-site office, build listings for each). But, if I was shaky on resources, I would not attempt to manage multiple websites for fear I couldn't do them justice. What I would not want to end up with would be a handful of weak, duplicate websites that aren't earning any links. Lack of resources would turn me away from this approach. But sufficient resources would make it appeal to me.

My answer is a bit general here, not knowing the precise details of the business and its available resources. I'd recommend looking at the competition in your target city, and look at how direct competitors who are ranking best are operating. This would contribute to my final decision on this.

[KaneJamison]

I'll just jump in and add that Miriam thinks about local SEO much more than I do, so I'll second all of her opinions.

[MiriamEllis]

I thought you raised some really thoughtful points, Kane. This particular situation isn't one of those black-and-white ones with a super obvious call - it's nuanced. So, I thought the points you brought up were very valid in an "it depends" kind of scenario. Thanks for the very kind words.

[flybox22]

Hello All,

Late to this thread, but I was wondering what the best approach would be if you have a corporate site that is the brand term for example let's break it down like this:

Modern Apartments - Corporate site.

Modern Seattle - One of the entities in seattle, but with brand name.

Modern LA - another one of the community, but in different city.

Would it be best to house all of these in the corporate site under modernapartments or would it be better to have them on individual sites?

All the properties will have different phone number, address, and potentially website.

Thanks!

[KaneJamison]

Those are all the same brand. Something like the following on the same site makes more sense to me from both a branding and SEO perspective.

• modernapts.com
• modernapts.com/locations/ - overview page
• modernapts.com/locations/seattle/ - city/location page
• modernapts.com/locations/los-angeles/ - city/location page
• modernapts.com/locations/seattle/capitol-hill-penthouses/ - building page

This is more or less the same as any retail/physical chain that has location pages.

Here is an example of an actual brand that has locations on the same domain, city level pages, and building level pages:

• http://www.equityapartments.com/san-francisco-bay-apartments - city/location page
• http://www.equityapartments.com/san-francisco-bay/mission-bay/azure-apartments - building page

I have not reviewed their overall SEO setup, but this is a great example from a URL point of view, and they have lots of useful information on their actual building level pages. The city level pages are great for SEO and targeting city-level keywords as well.