Multiple divisions, how many websites?
As companies become larger, often times they start to break down into divisions. For example a furniture company many break down into two general divisions such as commercial and residential. They may also break down further into sections such as bathroom, living room, etc. The question is, do you create different sites for these different divisions?
Now there is no hard and fast rule for this, but at Ignite we would tend to lean towards the answer NO and/or probably not. We realize this doesn't sound very convincing but let us explain. In the case of the furniture company our answer would almost always be hard no. A company like this will benefit from having all avenues available on one site. The cross selling potential far outweighs any reasons you may have been thinking to have more then one site.
How does it affect the search engines?
Of course there are search engine reasons why one site is also beneficial. With one website you are able to concentrate your marketing efforts on that site and that site alone. You don't have to decide when you are requesting a link which site you should point it to. Also, the amount of content on your site will be far greater which will allow the search engine spiders to index more.
Won't it get confusing?
A large site can get confusing if not planned out properly. However, a large site can be as easy to navigate as a small site if some thought and planning is put into it. Take that furniture company again, their home page can be setup to drive people into either the commercial or residential sections of their site, which would have the same effect as two sites would. Once the visitor is in that section you can break down further into the different categories and also allow them at anytime to jump over to the other section.
There are times when more then one site makes sense. If you have multiple businesses that really do not have anything to do with each other, or you are testing the effectiveness of one site over another. However, for most businesses having one website is better for your customers and the search engines if built correctly.
Remember to plan before you build, otherwise plan to rebuild!
--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization
Now there is no hard and fast rule for this, but at Ignite we would tend to lean towards the answer NO and/or probably not. We realize this doesn't sound very convincing but let us explain. In the case of the furniture company our answer would almost always be hard no. A company like this will benefit from having all avenues available on one site. The cross selling potential far outweighs any reasons you may have been thinking to have more then one site.
How does it affect the search engines?
Of course there are search engine reasons why one site is also beneficial. With one website you are able to concentrate your marketing efforts on that site and that site alone. You don't have to decide when you are requesting a link which site you should point it to. Also, the amount of content on your site will be far greater which will allow the search engine spiders to index more.
Won't it get confusing?
A large site can get confusing if not planned out properly. However, a large site can be as easy to navigate as a small site if some thought and planning is put into it. Take that furniture company again, their home page can be setup to drive people into either the commercial or residential sections of their site, which would have the same effect as two sites would. Once the visitor is in that section you can break down further into the different categories and also allow them at anytime to jump over to the other section.
There are times when more then one site makes sense. If you have multiple businesses that really do not have anything to do with each other, or you are testing the effectiveness of one site over another. However, for most businesses having one website is better for your customers and the search engines if built correctly.
Remember to plan before you build, otherwise plan to rebuild!
--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization
Labels: web site design
posted by Ignite Media LLC at
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home