Same layout but different content

Hello everyone!

I started with a dating site in one country and I am gradually going to
make regional version of the website for other countries...if time permits.

I want to keep the same layout so that everyone knows that those websites all belong together somehow.

However, all sites are different as far as the content is concerned.

If you sign up for country a, you will only see members who live in country a. If you perform a search you will also only see members from that country.

If you are using the website of another country b, everything is adapted for this country. The idea is to keep it simple for the users.

I know that many (commercial) sites pretend to be different and only look different at the front page, and once you are logged in, everything is the same.

I would like to be listed in the relevant categories as otherwise nobody will find out that the websites do exist, as usually people often tend to look in their area first.

So far I am listed for one medium-sized country and one tiny country, which I am quite happy about. Most of my traffic comes from the dmoz directory and sites using dmoz. (So a big thank you!)


At present I finished a localized version for another country and one international version, which I submitted more or less at the same time.

But either it just takes a while or they are not added to the directory as
some editor who only quickly looks at it might think that it is the same content with different urls/subdomains - which might make me appear as someone trying to spam the directory with the same site in various categories.

In fact, all sites are different as far as the search functions, categories and options is concerned. Only the layout is the same. (The opposite of many sites with the same content and different layout)

Therefore I believe both sites should be added and have a reason to be listed. Someone who is looking for a date in country A is not likely to search for international sites....on the other hand someone who is interested in a global version would never find it if it is listed only under country A and he happens to be from a completely different country d.

Do you know what I mean?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Yes, I think we'll think you're spamming.

Our thinking works like this: conceptually, underneath the hood, there is one site and one database engine. (We don't care how many databases or servers you spread it across--that's an implementation detail.) You could have implemented the sites as one single site, with visitors selecting the country. Or you could encode part of the search key (the country) into the URL. We don't really care HOW you do that coding: subdomain, subdirectory, search field -- technically, they ALL count as "search result URLs", which we Do-Not-List. (In fact, we really don't care if the databases are on the same server: if they conceptually could have been one database, we'd want to treat them as one. This avoids rewarding people for splintering their database -- not a desirable behavior.

The exception (which may apply in your case, or may not) is that a site may be listed in each applicable language. So if you have a front end to your database for France and Quebec, that would be one listing, but a front end for France and Greece would be two listings (in World/French and World/Greek).

The Google search engine database is huge. They are a global company.

Google have registered 90 different domains that the data can be accessed from (scroll to very bottom of page), but even such a large company as Google doesn't get that many listings.

What is the difference between 2 different website for 2 different counties based on different code and different layout ......(so basically 2 different websites) run by

(a) one person and
(b) run by 2 persons?


Where do you draw the distinction?


I agree that different languages would make a difference.

But e.g. USA and Australia would be the same languages and still,
a visitor on a directory will look in the regional directory of Australia first.

And isnt everything about offering a service such as DMOZ aimed at the people who use it?

Why would I not be allowed to submit a dating site for instance for Australia if I already have one in the USA ?

For instace: Every country has different laws as for the minimum age, every country has different timezones, different famous people, bands or tv series etc....

I think most websites, no matter what category, need to be targetted at the different countries and need to be customized.

Therefore one version for all would not be suitable.

And if there are different versions, they should also appear in the specific categories.

But feel free to convince me of the opposite - I am open to anything....

You have asked a question, and have got an answer. I'm sorry that you don't like the answer and want to debate it, but the general rule is that one company gets one listing. There are many others in situations like you - it is an issue that has been debated on many occasions in the past.

There should be at most one listing in the ODP for your company. If you choose to make it easy for your users to find their localised content, by making the site have an easy-to-find "pick your location", then the public will be served.

I would not change my business model just for a dmoz.org listing but I would change my submission strategy. I would submit the highest site to dmoz.org - which would be the International site and make sure that all your other pages are linked from that page. You can promote the localized content in many different other ways besides dmoz.org while still making the content findable to people who enter through the International site. That is my 2 consultant cents for you. Good Luck!