Should I Split Sites Up for SEO purposes?

Dodd · 08-29-2010, 12:43 PM

Hey Warriors, wondering if I can get your insight into this....

I have a client who offers services in the paralegal and private investigation industries. They are currently using only 1 website to market both businesses online. My question is, should I suggest they split it up so they have one website for paralegal and another site for private investigation to better optimize the site for keywords? If not, how would I redesign this to maximize SEO return?

Thanks for your help Warriors!

D.

clickbumped · 08-29-2010, 01:26 PM

You don't have to, if the services are all provided by the same business it is best to keep everything on one main website. The best way to this is create a subdomain for each service (private-investigation.yoursite.com). This is like an entirely different website, but still sticks to your main site which looks better to clients. You can optimize the subdomain separately from the main site this way.

theseoguys · 08-29-2010, 01:43 PM

If the site is built right, it can be properly SEO'd for 2 unrelated terms, not a problem at all.

lbtillmanyoung · 08-29-2010, 03:39 PM

Eh... In my opinion you could go both ways with this. What I've seen a lot of companies doing now, especially in the medical field, is building 5-6 pages geared towards a specific keyword.

For an example lets say that I am doing SEO for a laser hair removal company and I'm trying to rank for a city term as well as state. While my already established website name might be "Shannon's Laser Hair Removal" I know in the back of my head that big G plays big favorites for exact match domain names. But at the same time I want to maintain my brand and create a "brandable" image.

The answer to the problem is landing pages. Create mini-sites that rank for certain and specific keywords that then link back to your site using the keywords that they are ranking for as anchor text.

So if you were to map it all out our visitors would hit your site in the following fashion:

Google search - Seattle laser hair removal ---> your website "Seattlelaserhair removal.com" ---> your money/branded page.

People might say that this is sloppy but in my opinion I think that you should really take advantage of how big G works and play the game. The worst case scenario is that your long-tail sites drop off. If so they are still linking to your website using the correct anchor text.

It's sloppy but believe me it works.s

My .02

Mini · 08-31-2010, 01:56 AM

If they are 2 separate businesses and share 1 domain name then I would split them up. If anything were to happen with one of them for any reason at all it affects both businesses. I'm not a fan of having all eggs in 1 basket.

08-29-2010, 12:43 PM	#1
Dodd Warrior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 6 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Should I Split Sites Up for SEO purposes? Hey Warriors, wondering if I can get your insight into this.... I have a client who offers services in the paralegal and private investigation industries. They are currently using only 1 website to market both businesses online. My question is, should I suggest they split it up so they have one website for paralegal and another site for private investigation to better optimize the site for keywords? If not, how would I redesign this to maximize SEO return? Thanks for your help Warriors! D.

08-29-2010, 01:26 PM	#2
clickbumped Active Warrior Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 120 Thanks: 4 Thanked 21 Times in 9 Posts	Re: Should I Split Sites Up for SEO purposes? You don't have to, if the services are all provided by the same business it is best to keep everything on one main website. The best way to this is create a subdomain for each service (private-investigation.yoursite.com). This is like an entirely different website, but still sticks to your main site which looks better to clients. You can optimize the subdomain separately from the main site this way.
	*I am not Scott Blanchard. I just thought this name was cool. =p

08-29-2010, 01:43 PM	#3
theseoguys Jordan K War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Canada Posts: 833 Thanks: 18 Thanked 92 Times in 80 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Should I Split Sites Up for SEO purposes? If the site is built right, it can be properly SEO'd for 2 unrelated terms, not a problem at all.
	SEO Search Engine Optimization

08-29-2010, 03:39 PM	#4
lbtillmanyoung lbtillmanyoung Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Everywhere Posts: 27 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts Contact Info	Re: Should I Split Sites Up for SEO purposes? Eh... In my opinion you could go both ways with this. What I've seen a lot of companies doing now, especially in the medical field, is building 5-6 pages geared towards a specific keyword. For an example lets say that I am doing SEO for a laser hair removal company and I'm trying to rank for a city term as well as state. While my already established website name might be "Shannon's Laser Hair Removal" I know in the back of my head that big G plays big favorites for exact match domain names. But at the same time I want to maintain my brand and create a "brandable" image. The answer to the problem is landing pages. Create mini-sites that rank for certain and specific keywords that then link back to your site using the keywords that they are ranking for as anchor text. So if you were to map it all out our visitors would hit your site in the following fashion: Google search - Seattle laser hair removal ---> your website "Seattlelaserhair removal.com" ---> your money/branded page. People might say that this is sloppy but in my opinion I think that you should really take advantage of how big G works and play the game. The worst case scenario is that your long-tail sites drop off. If so they are still linking to your website using the correct anchor text. It's sloppy but believe me it works.s My .02

08-31-2010, 01:56 AM	#5
Mini Warrior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Should I Split Sites Up for SEO purposes? If they are 2 separate businesses and share 1 domain name then I would split them up. If anything were to happen with one of them for any reason at all it affects both businesses. I'm not a fan of having all eggs in 1 basket.