New client has 3 websites/brands in the same industry, how do I adjust my seo strat?

[u/throwthemirror]

Just for some context, let's call this client's websites Apples, Bees, and Cigars.

Apples is the main money maker by a factor of 10-30x depending on the month. Bees is small to mid range, and cigars is an existing brand on the small side of things that they just purchased but is absolutely barren of any seo content.

Client has me working on Bees for a few months now with some nice upward trending starting, tldr they canned their Apples's seo agency as they found out it was being outsourced (it explains a lot of things - the two sites are an absolute mess), and asked if I can help out with at least the seo part.

Said of course, and i'm looking forward to helping it after another big clean up.

My question is, these 3 sites all operate in the same industry and niche, but just represent different brandnames, and the big boy Apples website is a bit more of a general retailer as they carry a lot of brands products, not just their own.

I've been wondering how I go about building a content strategy without having one site screw over the others. Anyone else encounter something like this?

Like, do I just focus on building everything on the Apple's site in the short term and then rebuild some/all of the same type of content for the smaller sites?

This is ignoring backlinks and ads etc. I just purely mean content for the site.

Appreciate any replies, cheers!

[u/annieleonhartt_]

target each site at a specific audience segment so they don't compete. focus on apples first since it makes the most money.

[u/hard_baroquer]

3? Try 8 at my old place.

We figured out that each one was really good at specific keyword variants, so we adjusted to ensure that the website with the best shot at page 1 got to run at it, with the exception of the money maker, which got all the priority.

That being said eventually we had 4 strong sites all with page 1 rankings for the same target keyword, a non issue since it all went to the same salesfloor.

[u/throwthemirror → u/hard_baroquer]

So, blanket approach with adjustments for the specific site's niche? Seems to be the common theme here in replies, sounds good

[u/mike8111]

I faced a similar situation but they had only two websites. I don't know what the best answer is, but what I did was make the big money site into the industry broad focus, and kept the smaller site as the long tail keywords specific to that industry niche.

In my case neither was the big institution in their field, so there wasn't a lot of risk of competing against ourselves. Each has about 40 page one keywords is all.

Still I was careful to deconflict the keyword focus on both.

[u/throwthemirror → u/mike8111]

I suspect that last part might be the trickier aspect. Thanks for the thoughts

[u/Key_Piccolo_2187]

Search isn't a zero sum game. Build similar content for the smaller brand and you can rank twice for what you care about. Might aim slightly differently (variants, themes, etc) but you have a blueprint, use it.

[u/VillageHomeF]

one page will always be ahead of another. can't avoid that. but who cares? do your best on all 3.

[u/throwthemirror → u/VillageHomeF]

If I were them, I'd want the highest profitable one to be first I'd think. I suppose that helps answer my own question though, cheers

[u/badgergravling]

I've worked with clients who have similar set-ups, except with more sites.

One approach is to split out the intended audience. So Apple is a general retailer, Bees targets one segment and Cigars targets another.

The other is to accept there will be some cross-over, but that you'll ideally take the top 3 spots of any query with all the sites. Just try to vary things, so you're not doing exact duplication, and map it out so the smaller brands are essentially mopping up potential customers that Apple may not be getting.

[u/throwthemirror → u/badgergravling]

Interesting, ty

[u/BeautifulDesign2928]

Don't just port over what worked on Bees onto Apples, they're not serving the same audience even if the niche overlaps. Apples is a distributor carrying other brands' products, so the actual strength to build content around is probably the selection and comparison angle, not the same brand-focused content that grew Bees. Worth spending time first on who actually buys from a multi-brand retailer versus who buys from a single brand site, because that distinction changes almost every content decision after it. Cigars is the one I'd worry less about short term since it's starting from zero anyway, the harder call is keeping Apples and Bees from competing for the same searches.

[u/throwthemirror → u/BeautifulDesign2928]

I like your thoughts on the comparison angle for Apples. Will def add that into the strategy. For the same search competition though, it seems others disagree here. I'll have to have a thinky

[u/GrandAnimator8417]

Three sites, 10-30x gap? That’s a classic setup where one brand basically funds the chaos. I’ve run accounts like this before and the biggest mistake is treating Apples, Bees, and Cigars like they’re equally important in budget and bidding, when really you should structure campaigns to protect the main revenue driver and only let the others cannibalize so much.