Two or one website?

[ruff]

My company operates in two locations (the second location is not yet operational.)

The distance is about 150 miles. I own both .com and .biz domains. The .com is used for the operational location.

Trying to decide if I should have:

1) One site with two locations on the home page. Advantage: Simpler. Disadvantages: I loose the ‘local’ company advantage. I’ll need to incorporate a lot more of the text that helps local Google shoppers find me, both on front page and other pages. It makes it cumbersome and repetitious text for the reader, that is o.k. in small amounts, annoying if done too much.

2) Home page with a nice blurb about the two locations and how local we are etc. Once they click on a location, it will take them to the specific web site.

3) Two separate web sites. One with the a .com; the other with the .biz ending. That way every site is totally separate. I can emphasize and push whatever is most advantageous for that specific location.

In the future I may sell (not actually sure yet) the operational location but may want to keep the .com domain (as I assume that it is a more commonly used and valuable.)

Am I missing something?
Any thoughts or feedback will be appreciated.
Also, has anybody here had to deal with the same situation? What did you do?

 

[Brian R]

You can always build the new website and put all the info from both on the main one until the new one get's some time under it's belt.

Starting a new site doesn't have much credibility right away...so unless you do some serious SEO...it will take time to get it to show.

I would use the one site....use the home page for the better area and build a page specific for the other area.

You can also sign up with the Network and get a page for each area for the $60.00 subscription. :mrgreen: and I'll link them to whatever page you like.

Ok, seriously...I'll stop plugging my crap now. lol

Hope this helps.

 

[ruff]

Brian and FCC,
Thank you for your answers, I truly appreciate it.

FCC, you lost me with the subdomain sub folder definition, me being a web site simpleton.

What is the difference?
What will be the advantage of them being connected?

As far as the sites, they will be exactly the same, beside:
1) Front page for one will be "San Francisco Carpet......." The other will be "Gold Country Carpet....... " and off course the different phone numbers etc.
2) Throughout the different sub pages I will insert key words and sentences that refer to the location (say- "Gold Country quality carpet cleaning" etc.)

Creating the new web site is not going to be very expensive, so the cost is not the issue.

Also, I am actually not so concerned about the new site kicking in quickly, as I will have my hands full.

It is more about making the right long term strategic decision.

Unless I change my business model (not likely as I am stubborn, long in the tooth and I like the way things are,) it is geared towards the discriminating home owner (not the religious price shoppers.) In other words people who seek high quality and are willing to pay for it.

That is why I assume that not connecting the sites will convey a better image, as many (again an assumption) prefer local. Having them go through the main site will broadcast that we are a multi-location company, therefore they will assume- large. Yes, I can, if necessary, counter it with text.

And there is the issue of potential sale and which domain is more valuable.

I hope this long post explains the dilemma I am trying to solve here. And your thoughts and ideas help me clarify it.

 

[Brian R]

Fred, is a subfolder the same as a subdirectory?

I've created subdomains in the past and yes they are considered by engines as being separate from the site.
I have subdirectories but other than adding "pages" to a site I don't see "subfolders" just "subdirectories"


Kolfer, like Fred sed...if you're selling or ever going to sell, just do a new site.

If you want a bigger more powerful site that will help both areas within itslelf...do it all under one domain.

If you do it all under one domain you can buy URLs to use instead of the looooong url that you will end up with.

With Yahoo domains, I have the ability to redirect the domain name with a "mask forward" so while the visitor is on the site, they only see the domain name they clicked on (not the long urls of the actual pages)

This is good to keep them thinking they are on the site you pointed them to...but not good if they wanted to send a link from one of the other pages in the site....because the wil all have the simple domain name instead of the actual page name.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

With there being 150 miles between your two companies I would do two separate websites. Unless you are going to do a website like Stanley Steamer where the customer chooses location by zip code.

 

[Brian R]

With there being 150 miles between your two companies I would do two separate websites. Unless you are going to do a website like Stanley Steamer where the customer chooses location by zip code.

I need a zip code program to add to my site...anyone know of a good one? :mrgreen:

 

[Brian R]

yes they are same Brian.
The way you explained above sounds like you are just adding pages to the root though.......

Yes, because I don't see another way to do it with Yahoo site builder. I can do it in the online interface but I'm not HTML knowledgeable enough to make it happen.

I generally use the subdirectories for thumbs and my blog is a subdirectory...which is made with wordpress.

 

[Brian R]

Oh wait...since I am the "cut and paste" king, I can just copy the HTML code into the subdirectory. Hmmmm....is that better for business?

 

[Bioman]

I use mutiple websites for my cleaning and restoration business and it works very well keeping the phone ringing. Check it out! It might help you out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lVgIzOHs38

 

[Brian R]

Your website links are broken

 

[Brian R]

if the phones are ringing that much you might want to look into renewing the domains.......

Hey, his business has "turnt" around


"Repeatiatly"? Really?

Dude, that Google is obsolete.