Are Mutliple Sites Bad For Seo Options

[Promoman]

I moved my second site to the same web host server as my main site in late may and noticed a huge drop for
my key search terms (from top 25 to 300's). Some products on second site are same and copy is similar. Second
site used to be a Yahoo store and now has same template as main site. Is this a problem?

[Randy]

Welcome Promoman ! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hi.gif)

A question or two for you...

Did the page filenames and url structure remain exactly the same during the move? Or did the urls of individual pages change?

And if they changed, have you set up 301 redirects from the old page addresses that are now gone pointing to the new page addresses?

[Promoman]

Welcome Promoman ! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hi.gif)

A question or two for you...

Did the page filenames and url structure remain exactly the same during the move? Or did the urls of individual pages change?

And if they changed, have you set up 301 redirects from the old page addresses that are now gone pointing to the new page addresses?

No they did not. No 301 directs. Problem is not newly moved site, but the bigger site. Worried that I lost search posiition becasue recenlty moved site
became too similar.

[Jill]

That could be the problem. Why do you need two sites for the same products? Have you thought of just 301-redirecting one to the other?

If not, then make one site for certain products and the for the other products.

[Promoman]

That could be the problem. Why do you need two sites for the same products? Have you thought of just 301-redirecting one to the other?

If not, then make one site for certain products and the for the other products.

One is for promotional products, the other for candy (but there is candy on the promotional site). Never a problem when a yahoo site. I started the candy site as a practice site when i started this and it brought in some revenue.

Are you suggesting I kill it entirely? Probably would not make a difference as I would still get a lot of traffic on main site.

How do I do a 301 direct?

[Randy]

Okay, good to know the urls didn't change. It's the single biggest mistake I see people make time and time again.

Do you still have access to the old server to see if it's still trying to respond when a request is made for your site? The local DNS there either needs to be totally killed off on the old server or the local DNS needs to be pointed to the new server's IP number. This is to clear up any confusion the search engines and even users of certain ISPs may have if there's DNS caching in the mix. And there always is DNS caching in the mix. This also keeps from getting 404 Not Found errors because the old server tries to respond to requests, but the site isn't there anymore.

I'd definitely conduct a pretty full review of the DNS particulars. Normally moving a site from one server to another doesn't and shouldn't cause something like what you've described. That's not to say having duplicate content on two domains is the best way to do it, but it's still not something I normally see when a site moves from one server to another.

What kind of time frame are we talking about here? How long ago did the move take place?

Do you have access to the raw log files? Can you see Googlebot visiting on the new server? If you still have access to the old server, check the log files there for the same thing if you can.

I'd be willing to bet it's going to turn out to be a technical glitch somewhere.

[Julien]

How do I do a 301 direct?

Hello,

www.webconfs.com/how-to-redirect-a-webpage.php

Here is a website explaining how to redirect a webpage, as the url clearly mentions it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[chrishirst]

Hello Julien (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hi.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Jill]

How do I do a 301 direct?

You don't need to go to another site to learn how to redirect, just check out our 301 redirect thread.

[Promoman]

My issue is not with the site I moved, it's weather my established site is being penalized in serps because I moved new site to same server/host.

[Randy]

Ahh... Sorry, I missed that bit of clarification after the original question.

Does the 2nd site show up essentially in the place where the original site used to in the SERPs?

If so, you may be onto something. This can and does happen even if there's not actual duplication of content once Google has determined the same person owns two sites in the same keyword market. It's usually just a filtering of one or the other site though.

[Promoman]

Ahh... Sorry, I missed that bit of clarification after the original question.

Does the 2nd site show up essentially in the place where the original site used to in the SERPs?

If so, you may be onto something. This can and does happen even if there's not actual duplication of content once Google has determined the same person owns two sites in the same keyword market. It's usually just a filtering of one or the other site though.

No, the major keyword, which is 'promotional products' really is not used a lot on second site. Second site has maintained natural rankings. The main site seems to only have gone down for 2 major key phrases and nothing else.

I may be on wrong path and it could be that I am over anchorlinking with those words.

I was only wondering if Google does not like similar looking sites by one owner.

[Randy]

I was only wondering if Google does not like similar looking sites by one owner.

I guess it depends upon how one defines them not likeing something.

The most I've ever seen Google do in a situation like this where the duplication is pretty limited (two sites only, not full duplication) is to filter one or the other site so that both don't show up. However this filtering takes place on the back end of the process, and is keyword specific.

In other words, it's not a penalty.

It sounds like you think the main site has been penalized. I've never seen Google do something like that until and unless there's some pretty massive duplication going on.

My initial hunch is it's a coincidence. In such cases it's usually best to do absolutely nothing for a few weeks to see if they correct it all by themselves.

[Julien]

Hello Julien (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hi.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Hello Chris,

You must think I'm a freak but it's not my fault, every forum I go to, I find you there, being a moderator (IMG:style_emoticons/default/searchme.gif) You are everywhere!
I do like this forum the best because of the no-follow policy. No spammers saying :"build more links" "thanks for sharing"