Multiple websites linking to main site

[jamecl]

I'm sure this topic has probably been discussed here before, but I haven't been able to find anything after searching.

I'm constantly seeing competitors of my client with multiple sites all linking back to their main site. All of these sites are very professional and for the most part don't contain duplicate content, but may contain content on the same subject. And they don't hide it.

Seems like this violates the Google Webmaster Guidelines. Am I wrong, or is this acceptable?

If this is a violation, I'm sure I'm not the only one seeing this type of behavior, what do others do about it?

Thanks!

 

[mborgelt]

The way you are describing the scenario does not seem like there is any violation. Having content discussing similar topics is not considered duplicate content. Could you provide more details on what you think the violation is?

 

[jamecl]

Same owner having multiple sites with reciprocal linking. For example, the main site is plumbingheaven.com, another site is denvertoiletplumbing.com and another is denverhouseplumbing.com. All the same owner with reciprocal links from the main site to each of the "child" sites. Content is not duplicated, for the most part. Looks like a public blog network.

It seems like this violates the guidelines. I could be wrong.

 

[mborgelt]

Ok. This is still fair game for the most part. What would be a violation is if there were separate business listings for each of these companies and they shared the same phone number and/or address. It's not uncommon for one business have several companies underneath it and having websites for all of them.

 

[CaseyMeraz]

Care to share the website? I like looking at blog networks

 

[JacobMaslow]

It is absolutely a violation. It is called doorway pages.

Below is more info about doorway pages and a link to file a report with Google.

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2721311?hl=en

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/spamreportform?hl=en

 

[Maginot]

So URLs that point are bad?

I got a client that is looking to get a website for the first time and the question of URLs is popping up.

We have plenty of options with the URL including one that I thought was great. Going through the Moz breakdown of the algo, geographic keywords in the URL are a plus! Right?

1) johndoedds.com
2) johndoechicago.com
3) drdoedds.com
4) drjohndoe.com
5) dentistsinchicago.com

So would it be better to have one and only one? Whats wrong with purchasing all of them and have four pointing to one? Is #5 a violation?

I look at wal-mart, they own walmart.com and wal-mart.com; with the hyphened pointing to the one-word. Are they penalized?

 

[JacobMaslow]

Doorway pages is having multiple sites pointing to one site and it is done solely to manipulate google. The links I included explains exactly why it is a problem.

Owning other domains that redirect isn't a problem and is not going to hurt or harm you. The only thing it does is ensures if someone misspells your biz name they will still find you. You arent manipulating google, you are just making it easier for your customers and it has no effect on your rankings.

Additionally, Banana Republic, Gap and their other brands may all point to the parent but they are separate businesses.

The question you originally brought up was one business that has multiple web sites each linking to the main. It is one location and one business but multiple other sites are being created and linking to it. That is a link scheme which is one issue. Second issue is that it is a doorway page. The other four sites do not do anything different than the main site. If a customer was to use google and decide he wanted to see other results and came across the same business under a different URL, he will be frustrated.

Naturally, Google needs to have some diversity in their search results in order to maintain their search business.

---------- Post Merged at 11:56 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:56 AM ----------

Doorway pages is having multiple sites pointing to one site and it is done solely to manipulate google. The links I included explains exactly why it is a problem.

Owning other domains that redirect isn't a problem and is not going to hurt or harm you. The only thing it does is ensures if someone misspells your biz name they will still find you. You arent manipulating google, you are just making it easier for your customers and it has no effect on your rankings.

Additionally, Banana Republic, Gap and their other brands may all point to the parent but they are separate businesses.

The question you originally brought up was one business that has multiple web sites each linking to the main. It is one location and one business but multiple other sites are being created and linking to it. That is a link scheme which is one issue. Second issue is that it is a doorway page. The other four sites do not do anything different than the main site. If a customer was to use google and decide he wanted to see other results and came across the same business under a different URL, he will be frustrated.

Naturally, Google needs to have some diversity in their search results in order to maintain their search business.

 

[Maginot]

From what I can tell from the links and the video on cloaking, the main faux pas isnt the multiple domains but content manipulation. wal-mart.com isnt providing something different than walmart.com (main). It is merely a redirect. Its not providing unique content to the googlebot vs the main site.

Since the other 4 URLs will not have a website, per say, its not like they will be SEO'd enough to show up in the results anyway. I thought that was the beauty of the G+ page and local search at-large, a business can assign its official URL with domain authority. And if I do my job, all the other engines and citations will only provide the primary URL.


*****maybe this needs to go on a different thread*****
One of the stickied threads on Linda's forum suggest using the company's website to list all the geographic competitors. If I were to create a website with the URL on dentistsinchicago.com and have 95% of the content about John Doe DDS, and the rest with the NAP and links to our competitors, is that manipulation?

Folks on this forum have complained that competitors with search terms in the URL or business name get preference in rankings, yet Google considers that fair game. Stonebrooke Apartments gets competitive edge over Turtle Bend Villas when people search "apartments in Springfield, MO" because "apartments" is in the name of the business and URL...so why shouldnt Turtle Bend play the game?