SEO Tycoon

**JMasterJ** · 08-13-2009, 07:02 PM

Hi all... I have 2 web sites currently, let's say a.com and b.com (sorry for the privacy!).... here are some characteristics so you can help me best:

- b.com can be characterized as a subset of a.com, but is a large biz on its own
- they have both been around for about the same time, same quality, very similar content structure and effort, and both are horrible at SEO right now
- they are both in the competitive area of promotional products in the middle of the general marketing world, i.e., no specialization in any particular niche, i.e., we deal with all and every request for any product that can be promoted or logo'ed...

We want to spend a little to get these sites up and optimized instead wasting more money on PPC ads right now in this economy... no one is clicking and converting off those now, so my thinking is to build up a site so that a few months down the line, they will come up much higher on organic search... I am thinking of starting local first, maybe within the county and city, and then maybe expanding later if the budget allows.

So the first step, and thus my question here is, even though a and b can be separate categories and separate web sites, isnt it more prudent to join them and spend all my resources on promoting that one URL, and keep "b" as a subset of "a"?

And if I do this, do I totally get rid of b.com, or do I still redirect it to a.com? Is it better to make a subdomain or produce a new one like b.a.com? I just need to know the best way to handle this and get it out of the way so then I can really start my efforts on SEO and marketing.

Thanks!

**vangogh** · 08-13-2009, 07:42 PM

Depends a little on the specific domains I suppose. As long as what's on both a and b are related I prefer having them be on one site instead of two mostly for the reason you mentioned. Why have to promote two sites instead of one. Also one larger site is probably going to be seen as having greater authority in the eyes of search engines. More links coming into the one site overall.

As long as you plan on holding onto the other domain I'd redirect (301) to the main domain. It's probably not going to help at all in terms of the seo, but if you think people might type the name directly or if you do want to occasionally promote that domain for some reason you know the domain is still driving people to the right place.

It's not as though a domain costs much money either.

With the PPC are you sure no one's clicking in general or is it that no one's clicking on your current ads? You should be able to set up your campaign so it makes you money regardless of the economy. It could be that you need to improve the ads or bid on more targeted keywords. It could also be you're bidding too much on the keywords you have in the campaign now.

Not saying you shouldn't think seo, but don't automatically give up on the PPC. Your campaign might just need some tweaking.

**soumenpaul** · 08-17-2009, 08:23 AM

If both domains are running the same content, then i prefer to get b.com 301 redirected to a.com and start putting on your SEO efforts on a.com and never think about b.com in future.

**johnch** · 10-02-2009, 02:57 AM

I really don't get why you have been trying to promote and do other seo on two sites when you really could have just one site since they are related and just focused on one.

**vangogh** · 10-06-2009, 07:02 PM

That's why I prefer having things on one site too. Why work to promote two sites, specially when they'll be competing with each other. Better to put everything into one site.

**Dave011** · 10-06-2009, 11:59 PM

yah, I think its good if they will dominate both on first page so that visitors have high percentage to visit any of the site.