The question is this:
I'm just about to launch a new site. It should really be 3 site but the client talked me into making in one or the deal was off. It's for private sales of cars, property and boats. It also has a business directory for each section. The sections are in sud-directories rather than domains for easy maintenance.
I don't really have any spesific question other than is this a dumb setup?
Should I talk the client into separating this into 3 sites (It would be quite easy as I would clone it 3 times then delete 2 sections)?
Can it work as it is?
Will SEOing it be a nightmare?
Any suggestions?
And the answer by their moderator is this:
Search engines rank and list pages, not sites. There is no reason why every page on a site has to be "about" the same topic; there's nothing wrong with having pages or entire sections covering all sorts of different stuff. Amazon.com doesn't just sell one thing, and they seem to do okay.
You can SEO a three-section website just fine. In fact, it should be a little easier, since links you get pointing to a common home page can potentially help all three sections, rather than having to build out links for three separate websites.
I don't think that is good SEO advice, but before I challenge it I should get other opinions.
My opinion is that it is better to SEO a website that has one common product or service. I would hate to try to sell boomerangs, lipstick, and plumbing services on the same website.
