Should I have separate websites and domains for multiple businesses?

Q. When dividing content, what are the criteria for deciding how to divide it?

From the customer’s perspective, it is important to consider whether the information on the other business will be “useful” or “just noise”. For example, if the business is a cleaning service for individuals and a cleaning service for corporations, it would be better to combine them into one site because it would give customers a sense of security that the technology is also employed by corporations.
On the other hand, if there is little relationship between the businesses, such as “watch repair” and “basketball team management,” and customers interested in one are unlikely to be interested in the other, it is better to consider separating the sites because the information will be noise.

Q.Should I also get a new domain? Can’t I just use a subdomain or subdirectory?

Basically, it is rarely necessary to have more than one domain, a subdomain or subdirectory is often sufficient.
From the customer’s point of view, they usually do not care much what the domains look like. Therefore, the decision on what to do with the domain is mainly made from the perspective of SEO and site operations management.
Although this is only a guideline, possible options include a subdomain if the business content is very different, a subdirectory if the difference is only in the target audience, or a new domain if there is a possibility of a change in the operating entity in the future. However, since the optimal solution will vary depending on a variety of factors, careful judgment is required.

I am Nakayama, representative of Roundup Web Consulting.

We have discussed the value of a unique domain name in the following article, but then some people wonder whether it is better to get a separate domain name for each business unit or service.

→ Is it necessary to have my own domain name for my website?

As the size of a company grows, the products and services offered by each department may differ considerably. Even if this is not the case, you may have trouble finding the right place on your current website (homepage) for the new products you are planning to handle.

At this time, there are two options: “segregate them within one website” or “create separate websites”. There are two further options: “make each under a separate domain” or “make them under the same domain”.

Which is better? It is a case-by-case basis.

In addition, while it is important to consider the merits and demerits in terms of tactics, such as SEO, advertising, etc., it is also important to consider what kind of website (homepage) the customer wants in the first place.

This time, we will consider “two businesses” for clarity.

First, you talk about whether or not to separate the sites, then what to do with the domains.

Conclusion on site separation: One site is good if the relationship is such that the customer can say, “I see you’re in this business too, let’s take a look.

Suppose there are two businesses, A and B, and there is a customer who is gathering information about business A.

If that customer sees a link or banner to information on business B as he or she is navigating through the Web site, and thinks, “I’ll have a look at this one, too,” then it is better not to separate the sites. It is better to have a reciprocal site that is easy to navigate.

Because it means that the information is useful for customers to judge whether the service or product is good or bad.

At this point, it is better not to think in terms of “can upsell” or “can cross-sell.

This is because customers wear clothes to satisfy their own needs first, and they do not want to increase the number of other things they have to think about.

If you are going to do it, you should do it at a time such as after a business meeting or contract.

For example, suppose a company that provides cleaning services to individuals also provides cleaning services to corporations. This should not separate the sites.

This is because for the individual, it leads to a sense of security, “Can my place be done with the technology that is also employed by the company?

Navigation depends on how much the customer wants to know.

At this point, the degree to which the ease of going back and forth between Business A and Business B should be facilitated depends on whether “it is sufficient to let them know that we are also doing Business B” or “it is better to have them gather some information about Business B as well.

If you just want to tell people what you are doing, just put a banner with a big image. There is no need to put it on the menu or global menu again.

However, if you want people to circulate more actively, you should make sure that menus and other navigation features are well placed so that people can go back and forth to each other.

This is the part where we will decide on an individual basis whether we want it to be at the cognitive stage or whether we want it to be received as a decision criterion. This is also the part where we would like to take data to make a decision.

If there’s no synergy at all, you might as well cut them loose.

On the other hand, if Business A and Business B are not related at all and you are not interested in getting to know them, it is better to separate them.

For example, if there are two businesses, “watch repair” and “basketball team management,” would someone who is interested in one be interested in the other as well?

You may be wondering why I am writing an article like this, but from the perspective of a customer who wants to achieve his/her goals in a flood of information with as little judgment stress as possible, this does not need to be together.

Because it is just noise. Some companies may represent a variety of product services and may have a wide variety of products and services. It is enough to be listed in the service listings.

Customers only see what’s relevant to them.

Today’s customers are really swamped by information. Similar websites, similar taglines, similar prices due to competitive principles, similar unsubstantiated claims of “strength”…

We are gathering information that we can use to make a decision. I am sure that the people reading this page are the same way.

Therefore, ideally, the website should be “a website where only the information that each customer wants to see is displayed.

Unfortunately, however, that is technically difficult, so at the very least we need to create a site that “does not expose information that is obviously unnecessary”.

This is a point to be kept in mind not only for those who do not separate the sites but also for those who do.

…

Please review the subject that you are all thinking of dividing or keeping together, based on the assumption that the customer’s behavior is “I’m not sure I want to do that.

I hope this gives you an idea of what to do and what connections to make. If it is difficult, it is better to gather various opinions, such as asking a third party. Do not make decisions based on assumptions.

Summary of Relationships

In sum, “from the customer’s point of view.”

• I want to know information about both of the two businesses → Parallel listing in the website
• For one side, it is sufficient to know what the other side is doing → Separate the navigation, but let people know the existence of the other side with a banner, etc.
• No interest in the other business → Don’t show it, just make sure it can be traced from the list of services, etc.

The gradient will be

in other words

• If the target users are different, basically separate sites
  Because the keywords to target and the contents to put on the site are quite different from those of other services, the overall theme of the original site will be lost if they are not separated.

It is.

However, this is an area of concern, especially if you have several more businesses, so we would be happy to discuss this with you if possible.

About Domain Name

Regarding domains, first of all, please keep in mind that “from the customer’s point of view, it doesn’t matter what the domain is. For better or worse, only the management cares.

Especially in the case of mobile, the URL field is rarely seen, so the domain does not affect user behavior at all.

So what you do with the domain is just about SEO and site operations management.

Strictly speaking, it is better to think about how Google considers “from where to where to where as one site,” etc. However, since this is a complicated subject, we will omit it here.

Also, from an SEO standpoint, it is not good to have content under one domain that is far removed from the main content. However, it depends on the degree.

Criteria under separate domain, subdomain, or subdirectory

With that assumption in mind, we suggest that you keep the following in mind

• Basic premise: Basically, there is no need to have multiple domains, subdomains and subdirectories are sufficient.

• Image that the contents are very different between businesses, so much so that they are different except for the company profile → Subdomain if you prefer to keep the connection with the company name, separate domain if you dare to cut it off.
• Slightly different content between businesses, different wording because of different targets, etc. → Subdomain or subdirectory
• You may need to hand over ownership of the domain in the future, such as to a different operating entity → New domain

As I write this, I feel that it is case by case. I would appreciate it if you could take it as a guideline only. In reality, the optimal solution will vary depending on a number of factors, such as the distance of keywords used to attract customers between projects and the subsequent content creation plan.

In addition, there are also considerations from the perspective of analysis, such as the fact that subdirectories are troublesome to separate when viewing data in SearchConsole, so the safety tile may be a subdomain. However, subdomains are also involved when there is a server-related relocation of the parent domain, and so on…it is difficult.

summary

It is complicated, and indeed it is complicated. However, if we take the easy way out and get a new domain name and launch a new site, it will cost man-hours to maintain and add content, and the man-hours required to add content will increase that much more, so if possible, we would like to consolidate similar items into one site.

If only some of the services on the site become bloated, Google may recognize it as a service-specific site, which may reduce the exposure of other services. Then it can be said to be a matter of balance.

After writing this far, I still feel that this cannot be neatly divided into patterns, and that the optimal solution cannot be found unless it is done with business in mind.

I would be happy to discuss this with you if you would like.