Microsites

[clo2008]

I recently took on the task of attempting to fill content for a handful of "phantom sites", of which I have on numerous occasions warned the higher-ups of the potential of getting banned from Google.

These separate URLs have very similar architecture, however, the content can be differentiated. All of these sites have an advertisement on the homepage that links directly to our b2b e-commerce site. We also have news feeds and other advertisements to generate supplemental income.

My main question:

Is an advertisement on each of these homepages considered duplicate content and will this potentially bring down our main site PageRank and/or get the boot from Google?

[jimbeetle]

The advertisement itself won't be considered dupe content, that's mostly done on a page basis.

The biggest problem when marketing with microsites (take your pick from 10 years ago, call them doorways, hallways, whatever), that most folks don't realize or understand is that these sites need a life and history of their own. Take a hint from CSI:

Willows: The guy we got says the perp was from Vegas, got out of the service a few months ago, drives a gold Camaro and works at Blue Widget Plumbing Supply.

Brass: Well, no Nevada birth certificate; no DD 214; no driver's license, insurance or vehicle reg; no such plumbing company.

Grisson: Well, that can't be good.

Each of these microsites needs an identity of its own: completely different content and different backlink profiles (basically, without backlinks of their own they're worthless). You might consider making the microsites authority informational sites, maybe each concerning a different facet of the business, that can create/attract their own histories.

[clo2008]

Thanks for the feedback. Nice reference to CSI - I think I remember that episode...

[AussieWebmaster]

Very creative post jim..... I love the forensic reference..... after all a search engine is a form of forensics