Two services - two websites?

[Adab]

Hi,
I work with a bathroom company who primarily do bathroom renovations but also do kitchen renovations. They rank well in organic search for bathroom terms but have virtually no visibility on kitchen terms (at the moment they have only one page on their website showcasing their kitchen service).

Now they want to build the kitchen side of the business and get better traction in organic and local search. The question we're grappling with is do we build out kitchen content on the existing site - acmebathrooms.com - or do we set up a separate site - acmekitchens.com.

The main reason for considering a new site is that I've checked organic rankings in a number of cities, and for bathroom terms, I see no sites with 'kitchens' in the url / domain name ranking on page one. It's the same the other way round - no 'bathrooms' branded businesses ranking well for kitchen terms (despite the fact many bathroom companies do kitchens and vice versa).

Would appreciate any input on this and, if there is a separate website under the same showroom roof, how that would work re Google Local listings.

Thanks

 

[JoyHawkins]

I would keep 1 site. It's much harder to build backlinks to 2 sites and you wouldn't qualify for 2 GMB listings so then you'd have to choose which one to link to.

 

[mborgelt]

I would also keep one domain. It's largely possible that the site just doesn't have enough content around kitchens or it isn't optimized as well as your other service. I recommend coming up with a content strategy that shows users and Google that the site is the clear expert and authority when it comes to kitchen improvement. I would start by using Phil Rozek's questionnaire: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19XbyCZg-czzr93C6msulkQ_OUVNLuRpGGFpgcVJzOl4/edit

 

[DanLeibson]

Unless you can really create two amazing owned search assets, I would focus on one. Even SEO mature companies have a hard time balancing multiple sites.

 

[MattPelkey]

Definitely stick with one website. As mentioned in previous posts, acquiring links and building authority is much easier with one website than it is with two. I would just make a separate page or section on the website and fill that with good content around Kitchens, where you can explain your service, showcase past projects, etc.

 

[Phil Rozek]

What these guys and gals have said: I'd definitely stick with one site. One additional reason is that kitchen and bathroom renovations are such similar topics that any time you get a link that's relevant to one type of project, it'll also be relevant to the other.

I'd much sooner consider a re-brand than a 2nd site. To build on your example: if the current site is acmebathrooms.com, consider acmerenovations.com.

 

[Adab]

Thanks - I appreciate all the advice. As suggested, looks like we'll stick with one website for now and build authority around the kitchen side of the business.

That said, I've still to find a SERP where a business with 'bathrooms' as the business / domain name ranks well for a kitchen term - and vice versa - and suspect a lot of that will be down to the fact that not many businesses sufficiently boost the authority of the 'kitchen' service on their websites. (ie Google sees the site as heavily weighted in favour of 'bathrooms'). Those that do tend to rank better tend to have more 'neutral' branding - like 'renovations' as Phil referenced above - or a family name.

My gut still thinks the URL is key and a business called 'acmebathrooms.com' is going to struggle to rank for kitchen terms, no matter the authority it has gained on that front. Will be interesting to find out for sure.

 

[AndySimpson]

Don't forget you'll be using CTA + keyword text in both your page title and description.

Example:

...you get the idea.

The user will see the text first...and then the url.

And if you do it right the optimized /kitchen url might be the page that's ranking when the user searches for "Kitchen renovations near me", for example.

 

[Cherie Dickey]

Edited to add: Ok. I had a DERP moment. acme is a stand in for your business name, haha. I see now what was going on there, lol

Leaving my original comment since I don;t like posting then deleting.

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I agree with the single site strategy... but I'm confused. It looks like acmebathrooms.com is still for sale. Is there a typo in the domain? Or are you still planning to purchase this domain?

If you still are in the process of choosing and purchasing a new domain, why not go with something more general like acmerenovation.com? That way both sections of the site would make sense with the URL, and also allow for room to grow into other room renovations as well...

 

[KevinJr]

When taking on this marketing position, I acquired 3 sites and we built a 4th. I have my hands full trying to keep the 3 sites active.
The primary does well, second OK, the new one not so much.
We will be combining several sites in an upcoming redesign to focus strictly on commercial printing for 1 and signage for the 2nd.
We will be building a 3rd to focus exclusively on LARGE events (which we can't associate w/ our #2 site.
IF your company has multiple brands, it may be necessary to build multiple sites, BUT, if you can target multiple services/products within a single site, just build 1.