Multiple Domains w/ Similar Content

Hello,
I have read the discussions on this topic but could not find an answer to my (perhaps) slightly unique problem. I will try to be as brief as possible. My appologies in advance if I have submitted this question to an inappropriate forum.

There are a number of Web Sites that I have created for a herbal supplement company that each target a slightly different group of users. The sites sell a range of herbal supplements, and each have their own domains which are all hosted on the same server.
warning: please note that i have not submitted any of these sites yet and will not until I am sure I wont' violate any ODP policies.)

In the "real world" their marketing strategy is to zero in on each group individually. Different persons within the company are responsible for the "real world" marketing to different groups. For instance, one is targeted towards sports teams and organizations, one is targeted more specifically to individuals and "everyday" people who lead active lifestyles, and another is targeted towards firefighters who may be interested in the products (and one of the owners is an actual firefighter and therefore wanted a site that would appeal to firefighters.) This format is to be used for a number of different targeted groups.

I have some concerns before I begin promoting these sites, and I want to make things easy on both myself and the ODP Editors.

1. Will these sites be penalized for having similar content? (i have decided not to post the actual urls here just in case I am violating policy, and I want no links to the sites until im sure about this - but trust me, even though the sites all have their own "look", the sites have the same or very similar products and descriptions and would be considered mirrors by your standards - i think?)
2. I have a number of other unrelated sites already listed in the directory. Will any sites that link to these new sites be penalized for linking to any of these sites?
3. If I can only submit one of these sites, how can I avoid having the others seem like pure affiliate or mirror sites (which they are not)
4. Have i permanently damaged all the sites chances of being included in the Open Directory, or hurt their positions in the search engines that use ODP data?

I guess I'm wondering whether there is ever any exception to this rule (since there is a legitimate reason in this case for having different sites with similar content.) The sites all look visually different but follow a similar structural pattern and contain the same products and similar product descriptions.

I would also like to point out that there was never any intention on my part or the site owners to be tricky or cheat in any way, the sites are simply meant to compliment and appeal to the different targeted groups (firefighters as opposed to lacrosse players). As previosly mentioned, I have successfully submitted many sites in the past, and I always try to follow the rules and guidelines set out by the ODP.

If anyone could advise me on this situation it would be most
appreciated, or if you could point me to some information that would answer these questions it would also be a great help.

Thank you very much for any help you can give.

We don't list sites based on the target market, we list based on unique content. If one site has essentially the same content as the rest, it would get listed but not any of the others.

Thank you for your prompt reply kctipton. If I may dig a little further....

So lets say that I decide on one of the domains, or create a whole new site that acts as the "company headquarters" so to speak.

1. Can I link to the other sites/domains from the "main" site/domain without the "main" site being penalized?

2. (I know you can't speak on Google's - or any other behalf) but do you see these sites running into a problem on any of the search engines that use the ODP database? As in, if all the sites do not meet ODP guidelines and only one is listed, will that be the general way things go on the rest of the directories/search engines?

3. As in the case of the company wanting separate sites that appeal to both firefighters and lacrosse players - but sell the same or similar products.... how do we approach that issue without violating any of the common policies that the ODP or others put forth? Is there a reasonable (honest) way of dealing with this issue, or will we have to get rid of them all and just create one "generic" site?

Thanks again for your help kctipton. If anyone else has any comments please feel free to jump in.......

An "umbrella" site, with links to all the company's products, is more likely to be accepted, and MUCH less likely to be severely penalized. Yes, that would be the recommended approach.

I'd recommend putting all the content on the umbrella site. If the doorways into the niche markets ("dead ends"?) MUST be on separate domains, then that's your choice. WE don't have to deal with them.

The only problem with the "umbrella" domain approach: If the content is all on other domains, IT looks like a doorway, and all the other domains end up looking like fraternal-mirror blind-drop-ship spam.

"Directories favor large, stable sites," not the "room full of twisty curvy links" all going to other rooms with the same description. (Yes, I'm probably showing my age here.) Give us a domain that DOESN'T have 90% of its content on 10 other domains, and we'll have MUCH more trouble not listing it.

One method that I've seen to accomplish what you are describing is to have the actual secure shopping all be on one server from the parent website. The marketing sites can be independent, but when someone clicks to buy, they go to the same secure shopping place. This makes it pretty clear that it is one company, which could be enhanced by an about page on each site which links to the parent website. As a user, I'm far more wary of sites that you can't figure out who or what is behind it, than the ones who make the effort to tell you they are legitimate. In this case, the ODP would list the parent site, as being the one with the actual products.

The only other caution I have is that the products you are selling must be your own. The ODP doesn't list franchises or affiliate partners. (One Herbalife listing is enough. ) As has been said before, it isn't the business model we dislike, it is the lack of unique content, in these cases.

Good Luck!
-Lissa

First of all, thank you to all for your support and advice.

It has been difficult to nail down a solution to this problem since I have put the question out on a number of forums and news groups and have recieved many different "opinions" on the matter.

So basically this is what I am getting.

All of the sites/domains can exist but only one can be listed by the ODP. That much seems logical and I agree with and understand it.

Here is what I need clarification on:
If I create one "main" site, can I link to the other sites/domains from it. Also, can I link to the "main" site from these other sites/domains. Will this crosslinking be considered spammy? If I make it clear on all the sites that they all belong to the same organization (as suggested by lissa) via an "about" page (they all contain this about page already) and the copyright info and company logo on all sites is clearly pointing to the one company. Is this ok, or will the crosslinking hurt or possibly get all the sites banned?

Lissa also mentioned the fact that ODP does not list affiliate or franchise sites. Does this mean that, even though the company has it's own products, and all of the products are being sold through the same secure shopping system (which is clearly identified as being owned by the said company), that they can not sell any other products on the sites? The reason for asking this is that the company also has distribution rights for another product line, and they eventualy want to also sell those products on those sites. Can they or can they not sell these other products on the sites? If they put one of these new products on the site, will they site be violating rules, and get the site banned?

Thanks again for all your help.

I'm sure some of the senior editors will respond, but theoretically

If I create one "main" site, can I link to the other sites/domains from it. Also, can I link to the "main" site from these other sites/domains. Will this crosslinking be considered spammy? If I make it clear on all the sites that they all belong to the same organization (as suggested by lissa) via an "about" page (they all contain this about page already) and the copyright info and company logo on all sites is clearly pointing to the one company. Is this ok, or will the crosslinking hurt or possibly get all the sites banned?

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This would be great, especially if the "about" or "contact" pages were on the domain of the main (or umbrella) URL.

Lissa also mentioned the fact that ODP does not list affiliate or franchise sites. Does this mean that, even though the company has it's own products, and all of the products are being sold through the same secure shopping system (which is clearly identified as being owned by the said company), that they can not sell any other products on the sites? The reason for asking this is that the company also has distribution rights for another product line, and they eventualy want to also sell those products on those sites. Can they or can they not sell these other products on the sites? If they put one of these new products on the site, will they site be violating rules, and get the site banned?

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You should be OK if your products are featured. Noting that one of my decisions to list an umbrella site was overriden in favor of not listing either the umbrella nor the individual sites....

On the internet, it's sometimes hard to tell whether a page is an internal doorway, affiliate doorway, paid banner, -- all of which aren't listed -- or the actual web presence of an actual entity -- which still may not be listed if there is insufficient information about that entity's unique products and/or services. Anything that helps clear up the confusion helps the editor -- which is not the same as getting listed.

But yes, if all the spokes of the umbrella link back to (and identify) the hub, then the whole mass would be recognized as, and be considered, one website -- which we could begin to consider whether to list. (This is a significant part of reviewing a retail site. ) There's still a lot of checking that needs to be done for each site. (a burden that affiliate spammers impose on everyone -- editors and actual businesses alike -- and the entire cause for 99% of the delay in listing shopping sites.)

The reason for asking this is that the company also has distribution rights for another product line, and they eventualy want to also sell those products on those sites. Can they or can they not sell these other products on the sites?

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When reviewing a site, editors mentally block out all of the affiliate and distributor stuff, and then consider the remaining content. As long as your own products are easy to find and featured prominently, the remaining affiliate stuff shouldn't matter. However, if the site design is such that the first 3 or 4 products are recognized by the reviewer as the same products as a gazillion other sites, the reviewer is likely to stop looking further and hit delete. Again, you can design the site in many ways, some will hide your content more than others. You could consider different ways to get to the content, for example a search by manufacturer could group all your own products together, while a search for a specific product mixes up your products with some from the affiliate/distributor side of the business. Be aware that at some point, the affiliate/distributor content can outweigh the unique content. I don't edit in Shopping/ but I would probably list something that was 50% unique products, but I'd delete something that was only 5% unique.

If the business has its own products, an explanation of the manufacturing, photo of the store, and similar is always helpful to show that they are actually unique.

Thanks Lissa

The company in question owns and manufactures most of the products. They own North American distribution rights to these and other products and no other persons/companies have these rights.

They will be selling these products and are developing an affiliate program which will be incorporated into all of the sites. So although there will be an affiliate aspect to the sites, none of the products sold on the actual sites are sold as affiliate products. We will not be selling other peoples products on the sites. Does that make sense?

Does even offering an affiliate program on the site jeapardize ones chances of having the main site listed?

>Does even offering an affiliate program on the site jeapardize ones chances of having the main site listed?

It shouldn't, and probably won't, at least if it's reviewed before we're snowed by the affiliates. There are two issues: an affiliate program is (if unique) itself evidence of uniqueness, if we can identify this as the One-True-Official-Homepage of the program.