Better Domain and Page Authority Than my compeitors

[Veebs]

Hi All,

I have a pretty extensive question but wanted a starting point if you don't mind. I have a situation where I created 4 sites that I would say are almost identical other than I have loaned my other websites to other agents. My content is rewritten but it's still roughly the same. You will see, when I give the URL's, that they are similar, and almost identical in templates.My question is going to be, Since I have built some authority on all of these sites, is it wise to simply take them down, or just change the templates and take away the content and start over. If so, what do I do with the existing pages?  Or is there a better idea I'm not thinking of?

My other question is, this site: goo.gl/Tf00rc

Is my main site. It has a higher domain authority and page authority than any of my other local competitors, yet I'm still ranked #13-15 for my main keywords. I will say, many of my other competitors have older domains and I'm sure didn't try to manipulate the serps either.  Thoughts and recommendations? Here are my other similar sites which have almost identical templates and very similar content but not copied and pasted content.

1. goo.gl/Wwb0Tg  2. goo.gl/3gpR1X  3. goo.gl/FwD8Bk  4. goo.gl/vpuQv2

My dilemma: I want to make sure that my other agents have a great site that can perform well, as well. If I completely remove these sites, they have no site. I'll say that right now the sites that get the most traffic are the goo.gl/Tf00rc and goo.gl/Wwb0Tg then is the goo.gl3gpR1X, and lastly goo.gl/FwD8Bk so they all get about 3k, 2k, and 1k  and 500 visits a month respectively.  The total visits of all of these is pretty good. I feel like the max would visits would be around 10k per month in my market.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have spent a lot of time and money getting these sites where they are only to be penalized, I'm sure, for duplicate content.

[BenDuncombe]

Hi,

Reading through your question I believe you already know the answer to it. In my opinion I would assume that they will eventually get penalized for duplicate content, your best bet would be to go back to basics of seo and try and differentiate the sites with different content (this may even benefit you), as I'm sure if they are being rented out to your customers they may even appreciate that. Try and make them distinct, and maybe not go down this path again.

For you ranking 15th I believe it is just seo factors and you are going to have to do some trial and error, as the higher you get on rankings, the harder the competition also gets.

I hope this helps and i wish you luck

[Guest]

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[Veebs]

Thanks All. It looks like I have a LOT to do! We shall see how that plays out. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know.  I am trying to figure out the best plan of action before I get started.