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Are You a Cannibal? Cannibalism in Online Marketing

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Do You Own More Than One Website? (ActiveRain doesn't count.)

Yes? Then this is for you!

Okay, a little marketing 101 to start off: When Crest decides that they want a larger market share of the toothpaste market, they try and come up with a new product to attract additional market share.

So they come up with Crest Tartar-Control. Personally, I think this is the dumbest thing in the world, because... Well, why in the heck would anybody want to buy regular Crest when there is a tartar-control version available right next to it? Do some people want tartar? It's stupefying when you think about it.

So Crest doesn't get any additional market share; instead, they cannibalize their own brand. That is to say, they spend a bunch of money trying to get new buyers, and meanwhile, all they succeeded in doing was getting some people to switch from regular Crest. Tartar -control Crest is a cannibal.

From Answers.com: In marketing, cannibalization refers to a reduction in the sales volume, sales revenue, or market share of one product as a result of the introduction of a new product by the same producer.

How This Applies To Realtors with Multiple Sites:

Although everything about the Google algorithm is "secret", most search engine experts agree that Google looks at who owns a site and where it is hosted on this big blue marble.

Makes sense, right?

So again, when Google indexes your page, they also index the name of the page owner and the domain host's I.P. address, using a service called WhoIs.

If you visit WhoIs.net you can put in your own website address and see your name, address, probably your home phone number... All kinds of neat stuff. Try it on any domain you'd like. You can get the email address of the big cheese in charge, direct phone numbers, even the name of their hosting company.

So, if you have 4 sites about Orange County Real Estate, all registered to you, and all hosted by the same company (which means it is extremely probable that all of your sites have the same host IP address) --- do you really think Google doesn't know this?

If you have 4 sites about Denver Real Estate and all are registered by the same guy or gal and hosted with the same hosting company, you will not do as well in Google if you just had one super-site. After all, you know you need unique content for each site... So you must be dividing your energies, right?

Remember: The Google algorithm is far too sophisticated to be outsmarted by even the smartest Realtor or mortgage broker.

1. If you have multiple domain names, register them under different names. Not fake names. Just "give them away" to all of your (married) sisters. It will keep you from being identified as a search engine spammer.

2. Host each domain name with a different company. This will mean that you will have four websites-- all with different IP addresses. Do you really think Google is impressed that there are 5 Phoenix mortgage websites, all hosted with a Phoenix company (goDaddy.com), all registered with GoDaddy.com and all owned by the same guy? That is a great way to be identified as a black-hatter.

3. But the best advice of all: Retire all but your best website. Keep a blog on ActiveRain and have one website under your name, about a particular topic, in the Google index. I only have one site: www.azwm.com and the last time I checked, I was number one for Arizona mortgage in Google. I don't have more than one website for National Wholesale Mortgage.

I hope this makes sense. Any questions?

Posted by Michael and Karen George on 11/09/2007 01:20 PM

Comments (62)

seo

62 Comments on Are You a Cannibal? Cannibalism in Online Marketing

NOV

2007

HI Karen,

Good post. I have a few different sites that accomplish different goals for different areas of my business. By the way nice last name...was mine before I got married!!

Hi Karen, Hmmm... Makes sense but does go against current poopular wisdom. Keep up the good work.

Great post Karen! Save time and (possibly) money! It's a no-brainer!! And you don't have to worry about marketing consistency when there's only one site!

Tartar control... reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg (comedian) joke: "I love tartar control toothpaste.... I always tell people, 'yeah, I got tartar... but that stuff is UNDER CONTROL!'" lol.

Hi Karen- I am currently getting rid of all of my sites except for one, and I'm definately keeping Active Rain. Great post, with a lot of great advice. You Rock!

Hi Karen - makes a lot of sense and saves a lot of time - thanks for the info

I'm glad I read this. I just about to build another website targeted at high end properties. Now I need to rethink my strategy. Any ideas would be welcome. I also had planned to build a site for historic properties. Now I need to incorporate them into my standard point2 site. Help.

Karen - Love the picture. I would agree with the premise of hosting your sites in different places but not necessarily the thought that you shouldn't have more than one website. As a perfect example is Larry's comment above about setting up a site for just high end properties.

Russer a.ka. Mr Internet who is a high respected authority on the web, actually preeches this motto. Having one generic website that doesn't "speak to" anybody in particular and just the masses is a mistake. His belief is that agents would get much more out of the internet if they had a focus and tailored their sites as such. He feels that you should have more than one site. You could have a site that has a focus for just your home town and another that is just about luxury properties as an example.

Karen...Well, this is such a true bit of common sense that it proves that common sense is unfortunately NOT common. It seems that there's a fair bit of commotion regarding getting multiple sites and registering multiple domain names. It's never made a whole lot of sense to me as I find it quite enough to simply keep up with one website. However, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on having a blog which is not linked to a social network like activerain or real town blogs.

There are two or three other Chris Griffiths. Does that mean if all three Chris Griffiths have an Advanced Access site google looks at us as spammers?

Karen, Good info as always. How do you feel about one having a website and a blog (not active rain) hosted at two different companies?

Good advice. However, if there is an ideal name, such as buysellhomesmodesto.com, for example. I would also buy all the other names associated with it, so no one else can use it.

Karen, You don't have different domain names that point at the same site? I have a domain for each city I service, but they all point to my real site. That way I can market to sellers in a way that shows I'm focusing on their city.

Karen:

I create individual sites for most of my listings. I also have my original site that gets too much traffic to retire but it is my name. Since then, I have created two sites with names pertaining to real estate and my area where I am building to eventually over take the one with my personal name. One is with godaddy and all the other domain names are with one company and hosted there. I register most of them as "private" - will this make a difference with google since I am not registered publicly? Also, one of my sites is foreclosures which the others have another target. It is a hassle to manage all these and if one is at the top like yours, that's all we need and life would be a lot easier.

I've heard of guerilla marketing, but not ever considered cannibalization in the real estate realm.

Kind regards,

Cindy Seaton, REALTOR

Bryan, TX

I have four sites, The 2 that get the best SEO are hosted by 2 different domain hosts.If you have 2 blogs one here and one domain bought from godaddy. Both hosted different will this hurt.

You ALWAYS come up with the best stuff! I hope all is well.

Ok Miss Karen, I have a question for you. I have 2 websites not counting AR and my RSSpieces blog site. My first website poincianaproperties.com is a template site with homes.com that I have had for about 8 years. I have another domain name MLSandMore.com that points to it. My 2nd website is also a template site with point2agent www.buypoinciana.com. This one I have had for about 5 months and have another domain name sellingpoinciana.com that points to it as well.

Now my question is: I made a mistake on the last batch of envelopes I ordered and have about 5000 of them with sellingpoincianaproperties.com printed on them so I bought the name but just have it parked at godaddy. Which site should I point it to and how will it affect me? Maybe my blogsite brokerbryant.com which is about a year old? That way my 3 sites each have 2 domain names. What do ya think?

Hi Karen - love to see you posting, and I hope you're feeling well and doing even better!

There are some good questions in the commnents, and some of them cover what I would ask, so I'll check back to see the answers to those questions - Bryant, Missy, & Lisa covered the things I would have asked.

Glad to see you here!
Ann

Hi Karen. This makes me think as I have an outside blog as well as my AR one and 2 websites. I'll be watching to see your comments to all the questions posed here.

Hmmm...OK, point well taken. I've currently got 3 websites and a blogsite...Problem is I want the blogsite to do well, but my "main" website is 5 years seasoned, something we can't replicate. I could do away with the main website, switch the new website to the old domain name, but it was wrong. My name dot com verses BCS Real Estate News.... Any advice there?

Very interesting, as usual, Karen. Thank you for sharing your insight. I currently have 2 websites that are registered to the same person, but hosted by different companies. One reason that I have 2 websites though, is because the first website I purchased was created with HTML and not user-friendly. My new website is a Point2 site and will be my main site.

I never thought of it this way! I need to go back and read your post again. Thanks!

NOV

2007

Hi Karen, this makes good sense. Nice post and I am glad to see your in full swing of things. I wish you the bestest of Thanksgivings too.

Karen,

Great post and informative as always. I work wayyyyy to hard at this SEO stuff to have what I'm doing set me backwards. Thanks for the heads-up.

Hi Karen, hope you are feeling better. :)

so here is a thought, and I will preface it with the fact that I understand and agree with what you are saying about the domain ownership and where it is hosted. also, that I know you know your stuff. I feel like I know a little somethin-somethin too :).

Not going to try to shoot your ideas down, cause I know they are true and correct.. but, here is my doubt. All my domains are registered under me. Most are hosted on the same IP at the same host. I dont (or keep it to a VERY minimal) to interlink them.. yet they all still rank pretty good for my terms. what gives? ps. like I said, I keep linking between them to a minimal, and all have different content.. no duplicate or near duplicate anywhere. is the hammer gonna drop on me someday? :)

thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Karen, I really hate this. I almost always agree with you but on this I cannot.

If you think Crest is cannibalizing their own market share you are wrong. It is all about "shelf space" in the grocery store. More varieties means more shelf space which means more total sales (it doesn't matter which variety).

More websites means the same thing, more eyeballs, which means more sales. Variety and specialization garner more interest.

Bill Roberts

NOV

2007

Great information as usual. I had not thought about the "cannibalization" factor. Makes perfect sense. What you wrote makes me feel better sense the other day I shut down a site. Now I am down to one and will put all of my time and energy into just the one. Thanks.

...okay, this is not the type of response you are looking for, but in Crest's defense.... I have a condition which makes my tongue extremely sensitive to walnuts, acidic fruit, caesar dressing, spicy food....just to name a few. I can't use Tarter control toothpaste for the same reason - it makes my tongue swell. I, for one am grateful for the variety.

Karen, I like this post. I had been wondering about the benefits of maintaining multiple sites. I have found that I really don't see one. It does pull your attention in so many different directions that you hardly know which way to turn. All I wish now is that I could find a way to rename my blog here on AR and I would be one happy cookie!!

NOV

2007

Wow, Karen! - Thanks for breaking it down. I thought I was just being smart having 5 different sites. I now realize that I am probably hurting myself.

Hi Karen,

First off I Hope your feeling good today! Although I'm not religious, you are in my prayers everyday :)

I have kind of an unique situation as I have a mortgage company and a web design company. I do websites for Realtors as well as a number of other types of business here in my hometown of Spokane Washington. I host most of them on the same IP address of the virtual server that I have. I currently have 30 domains on the server and can have up to 100 before needing to upgrade to a different server package. I have four other IP's that I can use but have been saving them for any that might need a SSL.

I understand that 10 domains relating to Spokane real estate registered to me (I usually register my clients domains for them) and doing SEO on all of them will not be seen by google as a good thing. (although there doing fine on the engines) but my question is what about having a "Spokane Mortgage" site and "spokane Dentist" as well as all the other Spokane business types?

Will google spank me for being the king of Spokane SEO? I like to think that I'm getting pretty good at it now, (thanks in part to you!) and wondered if I should start having my clients purchase their domain names? I don't want them hosting other places as it is good residual income.

Any Thoughts will be much appreciated :) and cheers to the rest of you Rainers!

Karen-Thanks so much for continuing to post about tech type or web type information. Until I found AR I honestly didn't know what an IPO, SEO, etc. was. I still don't know alot but I'm learning. Thanks so much for the valuable information! :)

Thanks because I keep wondering if I should have another domain name and most likely would have used the same source. Thanks for the education.

NOV

2007

karen,

glad to see you, so it means that you are giving ideas to disguise the with other names and webhostings ? LOL, just kidding, great information and I just came to say hello.

keep the good blog as always

Ray saenz

Bill Roberts: From Colgate themselves---

Colgate-Palmolive considered many different names, which included,
“Colgate System III, Colgate Advantage, Colgate 1.2.3, Colgate Contour,
Colgate Sensation, and Colgate Probe” . Colgate-Palmolive decided
upon the name Precision, because they did not want a name that could lead
customers to associate the new toothbrush with their already existing
toothbrush, Colgate Plus. This is called cannibalization.

Hi Karen - bummer! I didn't ask a specific question as what I would have asked was already covered in others' comments, so I was hoping to come back here and see the answers and learn from those.... ;-(

Hope you're doing WELL!!
Ann

Well Ann! Just go ahead and ask away and I'll post your answer right here! No bummers for you!

Thanks Karen! My questions are about what others have asked:

-- what are your thoughts about having different URLS/domain names pointing at the same site?
-- what are your thoughts about a variety of domain names all hosted at the same place? say for instance some of the domain names were bought through GoDaddy and point to the same site as in the first question...
-- and my last question is like what Bryant asked - about the pointing of domain names, and does it matter if they point to a newer site or an older site, and why, if it does?

Many thanks - look forward to hearing your thoughts on those.
Ann

Okay, I've got a question. I have a site---oklahomainsurancesolutions.com. I bought the domain name through GoDaddy, but designed and hosted through VodaHost. Then, I bought liveinlawtonoklahoma.com, .net, .org and .info from GoDaddy. My plan is to use the .com site as a "bait" site, listing a couple of Realtor's listings, links to community information, schools, mortgage lenders, insurance brokers, etc. Basically a community resource page with some really nice vFlyer listings on it.

Okay...........I had GoDaddy point the .net, .org and .info domains back at the .com domain, so I just have to build one site, the .com site. I had planned to design and host this site on GoDaddy, but the sitebuilder they have is so atrocious that I have to use something else. Until I read this post, I was going to go ahead and just host this one through VodaHost as well. The sites are totally different---oklahomainsurancesolutions and the bait site---but do you think I'll get "Google slapped" for hosting both with Voda, both registered to me?

Missy--- It sounds like you are doing everything correctly to me.

Lisa Hill-- It would be much better if you created sections on your main site for all of your individual cities. Here is an example. Search for Arizona mortgage in Google. You will see that I am number one.

Now search for "Colorado mortgage company". I am number 3 for that. I didn't have to create mulitiple domains to nail multiple states--- I do it all from one domain.

Bill Gassett-- See comment above. I don't need multiple domains to hit multiple markets. Case in point: There is a little site called "Active Rain" that covers every city, county and state in the U.S. Why doesn't AR have "multiple domains"? There is nothing generic about AR and nothing generic about my site and I cover everything I want. But I get your point.

Broker Bryant-- I am sorry, but I've spoken with 3 other Realtor-clients about "pointing" their domains somewhere and each one had a different definition of what "pointing" means. To me, pointing a domain means logging on to your host account and changing the nameservers on record with the registrar. Could you be a wee-bit more specific as to what you mean by "point"? I would really appreciate it!

Hi Karen - I have another question, that Seth made me think of. I own a number of domain names, all purchased in my own name. And all are at 1 of 2 companies that I bought them through. so by owning and maybe not using them, would I still be penalized somehow? I guess I'm not understanding that part.

Thanks!
Ann

SETH-- I can't say for certain. Remember, most of this stuff is theory. Well, actually all Google SEO is theory, no matter what anybody tells you.

It sounds like your issue is site design. Why don't you keep the first one with Voda and host the second one with alamode.com (which has an awesome, easy-to-use interface for building sites) or try Point2agent, which I personally think is much more difficult to use than AlaMode, but to each his own.

Ann-- heck no you won't be penalized. I own 600-and-some domain names. All registered at GoDaddy. That doesn't matter to Google at all, because those domain names are not "indexed."

Hi Ann---

-- what are your thoughts about having different URLS/domain names pointing at the same site?

What do you mean by pointing? Not trying to be a smart alec here, but I have a certain definition of "pointing" and am afraid you mean something else.

-- what are your thoughts about a variety of domain names all hosted at the same place? say for instance some of the domain names were bought through GoDaddy and point to the same site as in the first question...

Personally, I would never do that because if you have an account at GoDaddy, all of your sites have the same I.P. address in your account. I use Bluehost.com, Godaddy, Winsave, and two others that I can't think of right now. (Only one site is my mortgage site, but it makes the links coming from my others so much more reputable, because they are coming from other IPs.)

-- and my last question is like what Bryant asked - about the pointing of domain names, and does it matter if they point to a newer site or an older site, and why, if it does?

And so sorry, but I'm back to not understanding this question. What does "point" mean to you and Broker Bryant? This is what it means to me:

Domain Pointing

Hi Karen - by pointing, I mean that I have a website that has the domain name/URL of www.anncummings.com. I also own www.anncummings.net or www.annecummings.com. I have those URLS pointing to www.anncummings.com, so that if someone misspells my name or uses. net instead of .com, they still get to my site. That's the kind of pointing I'm referring to. Not sure if that's what Bryant meant or not, but I suspect it is from the way he asked the question.

I hope that's clear enough to show what I mean when I asked about pointing. ;-)
Ann

Okay, from what you---and others are saying---it is okay to have a number of domains registered in one place--GoDaddy---but you should host them at different places to keep Google happy.

Ann-- I'm so sorry... You were using the term the same way I was. Like I said, I have just had a couple clients that meant something else.

There is nothing wrong with what you are doing. In fact, thousands of companies do it for the exact same reason-- misspellings. That's totally fine!

Hello Karen,

I remember reading on one of your blogs suggestions to have multiple domain names, now I am confused, I know that domain names are not the same as websites but still....

Rachel Zeppinick

Hi Rachel---

I didn't mean to confuse. I have multiple domain names because I buy them up like Real Estate. I recently sold www.buyflowersonline.com for a very good price... So I own lots of domain names, but I only HOST one domain that is about Arizona Mortgages.

I also have several sites and several domain names. With goolgle changing their algorythims there has been a chalange that goes beyond content. i am considering also going to one site with the names that I have pointing to diferent pages.

Bonner

We had just tought about that. Thanks for clearing this up. We have some cleaning up to do... We also have several domain names pointing them to one site. Thanks for sharing this.

Karen, Like Anne I have two very different sites that accomplish very different goals. Our friend George kept bugging me about them both being in my name so I went in and changed one of the domain names over to my husands name. I could not believe how easy it was to change. There was a small fee but I still maintain everything exactly the same. I had to fax them a picture ID so they could make sure I was legit but otherwise was a breeze. My sites are hosted with two totally different companies so that one is taken care.

Thanks again for the great advice!!

Karen,

Being new to SEO, blogging, and web sites this information is invaluable! Thank you.

NOV

2007

Karen,

Back before SEO and all this, google was a number, 10 to the 100 th power if I remember right. That is a 1 with 100 zeros behind it.

If I could give you that many points just for the SEO posts that you have shared with all of us I would! Now, I can't even give you a five.

I only lately ran across you and your wonderful gifts to us, But thank you so very much.

Know that you are helping people all the time. And we are rooting for you!

If you do another seo blogging experiment I would be proud and thankful to be considered. I think that I am meandering along in the right direction, but I sure would like your help!

Mike

NOV

2007

Hi Karen,

I guess we'll be following everything more closely in the hopes of doing things to better accomplish our goals. We thank you oh so very much for your generosity in the Rain and personally. We wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

Karen, that is an eye opener. Thanks for the information.

Great post...I do have three sites. I'll be making changes.

Thanks for all you tips. And I hope your health is doing well.

NOV

2007

Hi Miss Karen ~ So great to be reading your well thought out and informative posts. I am so blesed to have such an intelligent friend. When I get a little more caught up with some things, I will be giving you a call for some specific thoughts. Hugs to you... :) Sarah

Karen, Welcome Back.

Now my head hurts, I have separate pages on the same site for each area and each small housing development. I have a couple of blogs that all point back or is it point forward?? to my main website. I link and point out or in??? or is it up or down??? at?? toward?? at the main KW intl site and now I've widgeted and blidgeted youtubes..... OH MY Goodness...

Actually I'm not sure where everything is registered until I get the request to renew and I am trying to get everyone to my homepage, www.RentonHomeFinder.com where I have a blog off the front page. Great post,

List and Sell, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving,

NOV

2007

Karen,

Thanks for the great advice! As usual, I have part of this right and part is wrong - I will have to make some changes when renewing my hosting next year.

NOV

2007

I always learn great stuff from you but you don't take me to the cleaners in exchange! LOL Thanks Karen.

JAN

2008

What a great post Karen. I've been hearing a lot of discussion about this lately. "get more than one site so you can link them to each other and obtain more traffic and higher rankings in google." I wasn't sure if multiple helped out rankings or not, so thank you for clarifying. I only have one website and after reading this, am going to keep it that way!

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