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Simple Beginner Question:

by seoinprogress
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi everyone. I have a plumbing business and am trying to set up a website with the aim of ranking as high as possible on Google. I have a friend who is a self-proclaimed SEO expert and he has set-up a similar business to me (has now employed 3 people to answer phones for him to handle incoming calls) by using MULTIPLE domain names in relation to each specific local area.

E.g. northlondonplumber.com and southlondoplumber.com and southwestlondonplumber.com etc.
He didn't want to give me away too much advice (which is why I am here) but he said it would be better to do the above RATHER than just having one domain and trying to rank that highly for each town? He said he would do it for me but would want a 30% stake of my business from calls/jobs that come in through our website. I am yet to decline this offer because surely I could pay a reliable consultant to do work for me, pay them and NOT have them earn of my business for life after the jobs done?! The fact the guy is my friend led me to believe that if he put forward such a proposition that he must have some incredible secret no other SEO consultant does?

I am a small business that wants to focus on LOCAL SEO, with the aim of getting into at least the top 3 search results for about the 10 nearest towns in my area (say within a 7 mile radius). Given I live just outside of London and am focused on local SEO I do not believe my market is highly competitive especially considering we are tradesmen and many of them seem to lack any marketing/advertising skills...lol.

Cliffs:

Is it better to make one website and try and list locally in the nearest 5-10 towns OR make multiple domains/websites with the name of the town in the domain?

Thank you in advance.
#beginner #question #questions #simple
  • Profile picture of the author gnunez
    That´s nonsense. This is not working like that any more. Don´t waste your time with several site. Create only one, do it correctly and with it, you can target all the areas you want.

    It´s important to be listed in yelp, foursquare, google business... with the correct address and telephone. If you keep updating your pages once in a while it would be OK as long the competition is not high.

    Needless to say that you would need to have patience, it would require time, you are not goin to rank first overnight.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author elenaamato86
    seoinprogress hello, I agree with what he says gnunez. There are many factors influencing the ranking, what I suggest is to rely to a web agency. Request of quotes and compare them, choose one that has the best quality - price

    What you need is a web marketing plan. The investment you'll make will have a positive return.
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  • Profile picture of the author marguerite
    There is value in having the name of the town in the domain. The only problem I see is in how you are going to make each site town-specific. You don't want to just copy the same thing on each site. So you need town-specific content on each. And you will need to market each one separately. But I actually think it's not a bad idea.


    It does not cost a lot to buy a few extra domain names...
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  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    Personally I wouldn't create multiple domains to geotarget a business. Not only do you have the overhead of maintaining multiple sites, you also dilute the cumulative backlinks you have for all the sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author Point Blank
    If it were 3 years ago, I would have suggested going the multiple domain route. I would have said buy some software use millions of crap links to blast your way to the top. Today's SEO climate is geared more about quality over quantity. Meaning 1 paid link from one domain can be worth more than 10,000 free links from other domains. As always there are exceptions to the rule. That being said, you can still try the 3 domain spam route while working on a long term asset if you have the extra cash.

    Depending on your skills, time, and resources it might be wiser to consult with a trusted SEO outsourcing the whole project.
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  • Profile picture of the author jameswilliam724
    It can not be good. try to have one best suitable domain name and let your friend do some SEO process to your website for your targeted keywords. It'd be great rather than having 3 different domain names.
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  • Profile picture of the author the osirus
    I have worked with some small businesses consulting with their SEO, for a reasonable monthly fee I will point you in the right direction, Starting with the keyword word assessments and looking at the pros and cons of having multiple websites for your plumbing services. I am an SEO specialist who can point you in the right direction.
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