True or Untrue? The more websites I have the more I will index on Google.
We come across this a lot – where a client has been advised to have multiple websites (often incurring multiple build costs) to make sure they index ‘everywhere’ on Google. The truth is you are just competing with yourself! Gone are the days when you can just slap a site on the World Wide Web, sit back and wait for the floodgates to open, in fact the latest Google Panda/Penguin algorithm updates penalise you for having duplicate content and clone sites. Domain names now need to ‘incubate’ and they need to have history. You have to prove to Google that you are worthy of indexing on page one and that you will deliver exactly what you are promising to Google searchers, who could potentially click on your listing. No matter how many SEO consultants tell you that they can get you on page one of Google in a few days, the truth is, it’s just not that easy anymore.
“The practice of link ‘buying’ has now finished and what you need to be concentrating on is link earning”
Rand Fishkin, SEOMoz.
There are many factors that contribute to your listing on Google; factors such as, how ‘relevant’ your site is, the amount of traffic your site generates, the age of your domain, how unique your content is, but most importantly how many backlinks you have to you site. It’s not just the amount of the backlinks either; it’s the quality and the relevance that really matters. In today’s cat and mouse search game with Google, high quality backlinks are the Holy Grail.
Building links to your site, marketing your website through digital marketing, social media and SEO all take valuable time and money. Unless you have a fundamental business or marketing need to have multiple websites, such as product or price differentiation, you should always put your time money and energy into just one site. It’s easy to have sections which make clear distinctions to your customers and divide your content applicably on one site; essentially it’s all about planning. One thing is for sure, duplicate websites for SEO gain does not work and should be avoided it at all costs.