Oct 30

Understanding Google’s Bert Update

The week of October 25th Google released another update that they say is the biggest leap forward in search in the last 5 years! So, let’s talk about what it’s all about and what it means to us as marketers that want to be visible on Google’s first page.

BERT Understands Human Like Queries Better

BERT actually stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers which is something Google wrote about last year. this algorithm according to google affected 10 percent of queries however so far, the impact of this update on SEO has been minimal. So, the question is why is that and what can we learn from what Google is after? This new algorithm is much like Rank Brain in that it is machine learning designed to better understand content and queries.

What BERT is supposed to do is to better understand human-like queries as well as content that is written in a conversational form. It then matches the best content with the query. It is supposed to be able to pick up on the context and nuances in content. The current thought is SEO’s did not feel this as much because most queries that are conversational and more human-like are long-tail search queries or ones that are being created by actual voice search using Google Assistant. this makes the search more natural since we are conversing with the search engine to go find us the desired result.

Big Google Update Minimal SEO Impact

This update has affected 10 percent of search queries, but it seems the impact was felt more on long-tail informational searches.
It’s an algorithm that is supposed to be able to pick up on the meaning and context of content as well as any nuances in it
Google says much like Rank Brain you cannot optimize for BERT
BERT is not replacing Rank Brain but rather it works with it
According to Google so far, they are seeing big benefits from this new algorithm

What Can We Learn From BERT?

Well like all things Google we should be able to learn something from this update. Updates like this give us a glimpse into what this search engine is after and wants to see in the way of content. It also lets us know that content is still king! Long-tail searches are becoming bigger and bigger especially the conversational type and Google is working harder and harder towards machine learning that can understand how we as humans search as well as understand content.

Can You Optimize For BERT?

According to Google, you cannot optimize for BERT however I think you can! Maybe not directly but by doing what they have been saying all along. Create great content designed for the end user and not the search engine. Well if you have done any kind of search engine optimization you know that the whole build it and they will come mentality is not exactly how it works which is why SEO experts exist! However great content that is easily understood by the user is the foundation stone of any good organic ranking campaign So understanding what type of content Google wants to see is an important part of natural rankings in the long run.

How To Optimize For Google’s BERT Algorithm

Write quality content that is made for humans
Optimize that content in ways that do not interfere with its readability
Keep in mind how people would search if they were talking to the search engine.
Keep semantics in mind when creating content
Make sure you’re not writing fluff or purely to rank but rather think of quality content and ranking that content second.

This is really not anything new but what you should be doing and have been doing all along. Now it just has become more important. As machine learning gets better and better about understanding content as it relates to our searches writing content that has substance is becoming more and more important!

Sep 30

September 2019 Google Core Update Has Rolled Out!

By Beth Guide In Search Engine Optimization /

Google makes a lot of changes to their search algorithm in a years time. Last year there were 3200 0f them. These are usually minor changes we are never really told much about.

Now core algorithm changes are a bit of a different matter those are major changes that google makes to the core of how their search engine ranks websites. The last major core update in 2019 happened in June and now we have a new one that just rolled out at the end of September right around Google’s 21st b-day. Google can finally drink!

Impact of Google Core Updates

Core update usually shake up search results quite a bit since these are major changes at how google looks at your site and decides your order of importance in their search results. So when you are impacted by one it can take a bit of doing to change the impact from negative to positive. Just remember small changes in your rankings can occur and it can take up to a week for some of these to fully roll out where you can see the actual impact to your site. This latest September 2019 update seems to have had a lesser impact then the previous one according to all the third party sensors that measure search ranking volatility. So that’s good news for anyone that was doing well after the June update.

This update seems to have affected Your Money Or Your Life search terms more then the rest of the results which is not a big surprise. These are terms that are tied to finance and medical queries as well as any search that can have a negative impact on your life if the advice or service can be detrimental to your financial as well as your physical well being. Pages on these subjects are held to a much higher standard then others so its no surprise that they would be affected by a core update.

Things to Consider If you were Hit By Gogles Core Update

If your site rankings and traffic increased then you are one of the winners of a core update but what happens if you are loosing traffic and rankings? What can you do to fix the issue?

Google Core Update Site Recovery:

Google’s advice on fixing your site when it has been hit by a core update is pretty bleak up until now. The answer for the most part has been that there is nothing to fix! Well what does that mean and how can you then recover? That has been the stance up until recently however now google has given some clues as to what you should consider if you were hit. Its not a here is an A-Z of what you need to do but some guidelines as to what you might look at to improve your site. These are really not so different from what we already know about google and what they want to see in a site to give it prominence in serp’s.

Here is some of that from the horses mouth! https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/08/core-updates.html

For most of us as you go thru the advice you will see it is already things we know like quality content and authority that make up what to do.

Google has a definite focus on quality useful and factual content. Here is an excerpt directly from what they say to look at when your site had been hit by a core update and youre looking at how to recover from it.

Google Says “Focus On Content”

” As explained, pages that drop after a core update don’t have anything wrong to fix. This said, we understand those who do less well after a core update change may still feel they need to do something. We suggest focusing on ensuring you’re offering the best content you can. That’s what our algorithms seek to reward.

A starting point is to revisit the advice we’ve offered in the past on how to self-assess if you believe you’re offering quality content. We’ve updated that advice with a fresh set of questions to ask yourself about your content:

Content and quality questions

Does the content provide original information, reporting, research or analysis?
Does the content provide a substantial, complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
If the content draws on other sources, does it avoid simply copying or rewriting those sources and instead provide substantial additional value and originality?
Does the headline and/or page title provide a descriptive, helpful summary of the content?
Does the headline and/or page title avoid being exaggerating or shocking in nature?
Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
Would you expect to see this content in or referenced by a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?

Expertise questions

Does the content present information in a way that makes you want to trust it, such as clear sourcing, evidence of the expertise involved, background about the author or the site that publishes it, such as through links to an author page or a site’s About page?
If you researched the site producing the content, would you come away with an impression that it is well-trusted or widely-recognized as an authority on its topic?
Is this content written by an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well?
Is the content free from easily-verified factual errors?
Would you feel comfortable trusting this content for issues relating to your money or your life?

Presentation and production questions

Is the content free from spelling or stylistic issues?
Was the content produced well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
Does the content have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
Does content display well for mobile devices when viewed on them?

Comparative questions

Does the content provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
Does the content seem to be serving the genuine interests of visitors to the site or does it seem to exist solely by someone attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?”

EAT – Expertise, Authority & Trust

The Quality Raters Guidelines are a big clue as to what you can do to recover from a google core update. https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf

It’s a long read but one that you will need to invest in. These guildelines are set forth for Google’s quality raters which are humans that check google search results by evaluating sites that appear and manually reviewing them based on the guidelines above. Why does Google do this? This helps to server as an internal check to see that the algorithm is inline with what Google thinks the search results should be. Meaning that the sites that appear are sites of a quality that they want to see delivered in their search results. This manual review helps to adjust the algorithm if it is detected that sites are appearing that are not up to the standard set by Google.

What does that mean to you as a site owner or SEO? Well it means these guidelines are the road map to ranking and staying ranking no matter how many core updates come and go. These do get updated and amended from time to time to reflect new factors in what the search engine wants to see.

So if you got hit by a core update following the quality raters guidelines and reevaluating the quality of your content are the way to recovery!

Aug 16

What Makes For A Search Engine Friendly Website?

By Beth Guide In Search Engine Optimization /

The terms seo friendly or search engine friendly website seems to come up a lot these days but what does that actually mean to you as someone that has a business or wants to get a website built?

The short answer is that a search engine friendly website is a site that is built in such a way that it makes it easy for search engines to index as well as understand what your website is about. Were going to get into more details as to what factors make it search engine friendly.

Phantom Lighting SEO411 Portfolio SEO411 What Makes For A Search Engine Friendly Website?

Factors That Determine A SEO Friendly Website

So lets take a deeper look at what factors make for a website that is friendly to search engines. That way you can understand what to expect from a site built with this in mind. Some of the factors will be apparent and some you may not have thought about before.

Fast Loading
Good Clean Coding
A theme or design that is responsive
Easy To Understand Main Navigation
Xml sitemaps
A way to add Google Analytics
Some Pages of good content
The ability to blog or add content in the future

These are the main factors that go in to a website that will have a chance to get organic traffic. Now just because it is seo friendly does not mean that other work will not be required to make it rank but rather think of it like the foundation of a house. If you have a good foundation the house you build upon it will be strong and sturdy where is your foundation is weak your house will crumble. this is much the same with websites. If you build it properly from the very beginning when the time comes to really push the internet marketing you will already have a vehicle to get you there!

In Depth Look At What Makes A Site SEO Friendly

Lets take a more in depth look in to each of these areas so when your out shopping for a website you can keep these factors in mind as well as having a good understanding of each.

Fast Loading Site & Good Clean Coding

When we talk about a fast loading site what does that mean and what effects it? So one factor is coding itself. When a site is properly and efficiently coded the code itself is not bloated and executions of it are written in a way to make it beneficent. Therefore it takes less resources to execute the code and your site loads fast while using the minimum amount of resources. Site speed has been a ranking factor for a long time but it has now gotten more emphasis from google as something that is part of the ranking factors. Also if you site loads slow visitors will bounce off and that sends bad signals to google.

Using Word Press

One of the easiest ways to ensure good code is to use an existing proven platform like Word Press as a base and then build on top of it to customize the site to your needs. Word Press is widely supported and plugins to use to make it work for your business are infinite! However a huge amount of plugins can affect the speed of the site negatively so configuring it properly is a factor when building a site in this platform.

A Theme W/ Responsive Design

A responsive design allows your site to render properly in any device from a desktop, laptop, tablet or phone. More and more users are using mobile devices so having a responsive design is essential. Google has started mobile first indexing which a proper responsive design has you ready for.

Also when it comes to themes they not only need to be responsive but proper coding is also a factor with them. A badly coded theme can slow a website down dramatically so when it comes to choosing it one you have to make sure its a well coded seo friendly theme and not something that is bloated but just pretty to look at.

Easy To Understand Main Navigation

For the search engines as well as the user having your site navigation laid out in a way that is intuitive and easy to use is vital. For the search engines it is important because they will use this information to learn about your site and for the user it is important so they can navigate from one section of your site to the other. We usually recommend making a mind map of all the main parts of your buisness and using that as a road map for a good solid navigational structure for your site.

mindmap SEO411 What Makes For A Search Engine Friendly Website?

XML Sitemaps

Sitemaps are an important part of helping the search engine find and crawl as many pages as possible. This allows them to see all your pages from one page on the site that is a dynamic feed so when you add a page it will appear here.

To get the most out of your sitemaps it is best to also get a search console account open with google so you can submit the sitemap directly to them. Sitemaps are not a big thing for users but are mainly there to help a search engine find all your pages and index as much of your site as possible.

Adding Google Analytics

While you do not have to have Google Analytics to have a seo friendly website if you do not have something that can gauge how your site is doing traffic wise then how can you gauge how the marketing is going? There are other tools out there but Google Analytics is free and it will give you a good bit of analytical data on your site.

Some Good Content Pages & The Ability To Add Content

At this point search engines still love good content so when you put up a site that is search engine friendly a big component should be to put up some pages of content that let the engines know what your site is about.

You also want to be able to add pages in the future as well as having the ability to blog if you choose to.

All these aspects are what is needed in order for you to have a website that will have a chance of ranking in Google or any search engine for that matter.

Jun 18

Franchise Owner and Real Estate Agent Google Survival Guide

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized /

So Google completed a core update as of June 3, 2019. There has been a lot of things written on the subject. However, there is one thing that seems to have been overlooked so far. How does this core update change the game online for Franchise Owners and Realtors? The reason this comes up is the consolidation of sub-domains under its root. This impacts every franchise owner that has a web page tied to their national company.

So the objective was to alleviate duplicate content that was often found under the sub-domains. Take someone like planet fitness that has multiple locations with all the same info and the only deviation is the name of the franchisee (business owner)

Duplicate Rankings Algo Effects Franchise Owners

Now teaching SEO for as many years as I have I’ve come across many franchise holders and the story is always similar. First, they are not allowed to alter the content or the info they are given to display is a cookie cutter. The contracts often prohibit the use of individualized websites, but that does not mean that the location is not an individual. As any business owner, some do it far better than others.

Some of the people I talk to are grateful that they don’t have to maintain a website. And although I appreciate their sediment, they are very short sighted in some ways. A sound general business tip would be to always make your business stand out and to do it better than anyone, especially those that represent the same franchise as you do. I see it this in business coaching. Those that are aggressive and unique come out the winner and those that just ride a coattail get lost in the flood of sameness that tends to pollute the internet at large.

In addition, there has been a long time trend of realtors that also have felt compelled to give up their own websites in lieu of using their Houston Area Realtors page (HAR). What that has done is negate the position of the local agent in the google listing. Or using the web page provided by their broker.

So when I looked for best real estate agent in Kingwood I was met with a page that does not tell me anything other than one actual agent who has taken the time and put the investment in her business and is handsomely rewarded.

Other brokerage houses like Keller Williams have issued their agents subdomains and again the waters there will be murky because they have all been sanitized to be under the main directory or only reachable from the brokerage page.

The problem with realtors that give up their sites in lieu of these subscription sites are doing nothing to set themselves apart from both the end user. Although the realtor situation is not a forced situation like a franchise owner, the net result is the same, they have been wiped off the face of Google if they have done nothing to set their business apart. The good news is that their sitution is easily fixed.

So what did Google Change Exactly?

What has changed is the use of a subdomain and how it now is consolidated as part of the root. So from Planet Fitness to Action Coach has been consolidated with a search box now present in the SERP. This makes it next to impossible for the small business owner to differentiate themselves, just like our friends that are realtors.

So what are options Franchise owners have?

For me I’m often asked what options Franchise owners have to combat this. The way to combat this problem is simple honestly. As a franchise holder in many cases the agreement precludes you from taking actions outside the agreement. And I urge you to check with an unaffiliated lawyer to confirm this will work for you. But, your ability to run a unaffiliated website or a blog site usually falls outside of your agreement. So let’s use my Planet Fitness example.

If I ran a Planet Fitness, I would be putting up an SEO friendly website about physical fitness. How to exercise; fitness programs for Seniors…programs for body builder and so on. This would allow me to build an audience of people in your area that have a common interest with your local gym. Mentioning that gym, recommending that gym should not violate your agreement nor would an ad for your own gym on the side of the website.

Much of the problem with the franchise websites from Googles point of view is that the content is duplicated thousands of times. From the Franchise sellers point of view they want consistent information and not the brand being bastardized or in some cases outlandish claims that they may be liable for. And, for the franchisee, or small business owners take what they are provided and do little else with it.

This plan to put up websites that are unique and live outside the franchise will solve this issue. It gives the business the opportunity to shine and to be an expert. It gives google unique content. And it still allows the franchise to keep its brand.

Aug 02

Does Social Sharing Impact SEO?

By Beth Guide In Blog, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media /

Yesterday, I got up, got my coffee and sat down to cruise Facebook and Twitter, for anything Google may have changed while I was sleeping. Immediately a video was put up by Eric Enge, who I’ve seen speak many times and has written books on SEO. Great guy and super knowledgeable, so it caught my attention. Enge is definitely a thought leader in the SEO space. And, nine times out of 10 I agree 101 percent with what he says. I don’t comment or write blogs because it would make a bad blog post. It would go like this: Yeah, what he said. But today was very different and I wanted to address it. The video they put up was talking about if there is a direct correlation on SEO rankings and Social Sharing.

What is social sharing anyway?

Social sharing is what we all do when we see a page we like or find valuable. We hit the button on the website that shares it back to our social media properties, usually Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and so forth.

Now those of you who know me personally know I am a social hoarder. You will never see me share stuff related to my business that other people think, nor will you see politics, or religion either for that matter because in as much as I want you to share my posts, I don’t want to cede the limelight to others who I don’t know, nor do I want you to invalidate my opinion based on your own belief systems. So my social sharing is limited to Dachshunds, who are the funniest breed of dogs on the planet; my deep love for JJ Watt; the QB anarchy of the Houston Texans; the fact that I am proud of being from New Jersey and have a real soft spot for Joe Flacco.

So what did Eric Enge say?

The video was about how Google cannot use social sharing as a ranking variable and how links are still more valuable than social shares. And in both cases, I completely agree with those two assertions. But I walked away from the video thinking of my small business owners that really should depend on social sharing for a few important reasons, and I didn’t want that to be overlooked, and thus why the post about it.

The base premise is that Google does not use social in its algorithm. It cannot see a majority of the social posts from places like Facebook. And even though it has access to Twitter, it’s not using but a fraction of it. Both of those assertions are correct. And it would seem to me that to have social media signals baked directly into its algorithm would be foolish on Google’s part.

So far I’m directly in agreement with Eric. So much so that I’m going to take this a step further.

Google has no direct control over any of these third-party applications, which in essence is what a social network is. Tomorrow, any one of the giants could change their business model and disrupt the impact their network has. Some of us are old enough to remember know the rise and fall of Justin Timberlake’s social platform, Myspace. Google themselves have a failed attempted at a social network in Google+. And these networks come and go based on trends and fads. Facebook, once for college students now has college students flooding Instagram, with Facebook demographics shifting. Shifting sands does not allow Google to use this data directly into its algorithm and it would be bad business for them to try.

But does social sharing help SEO?

This where I split with Stone Temple on their opinion presented in the video. Their take on this topic seemed to be presented as a cause and effect between two unrelated things. Meaning just because A happened, and B happened, there was no interconnection between the two. While I agree, social sharing does not have an absolute direct effect the way a link does, there are many aspects of the present ranking factors that are a way for Google to include signals generated through a robust social media presence in the algorithm, and yet not directly cede control by including them directly into their algorithm. Understanding the hows and whys of this gives small and upstart businesses a place to compete in an ever growing bunch of hoops businesses must jump through to be successful.

What do social sharing and a co-signer have in common?

Now to understand why I am saying this, a few weeks ago SEMRush put out their list of ranking factors for 2017, with the leading factor being traffic.

We all remember at some point in our lives going to the dealership to buy a car only to be turned down for not having credit. We were told to go find a co-signer. Unfortunately, small and upstart businesses now have similar problems. If you don’t have traffic you may not be legitimate enough to give you a ranking that will actually bring you traffic because you have no traffic. It’s a vicious circle.

In days gone by you could put up a page of good information, and if you had something important to say, your page would find itself atop the SERPs. For a small or upstart business, it was a great equalizer and allowed them to be on the same playing fields as the far larger brands.

But now, with traffic and brand awareness being a large contributing factor, the days of the little guy being able to compete are morphing and small business needs a way to validate itself. Social sharing is the perfect vehicle for this in my opinion whereas it helps traffic, brand, and referrers. Three of the seven factors.

So what are traffic, CTR, and referrers?

These three metrics are really metrics of engagement and validate that your website is ‘real.’ They are found within Google Analytics.

Traffic – How many visitors your website receives. In other words, how popular you are and how many people think what you have to offer is worthwhile, because not only is Google looking at how many people are visiting, they are looking at how long they are staying. If people come and don’t stay, that’s a bad thing.

CTR or Click Through Rate – How many times your site is shown in the SERPs and then how many times it is clicked on. If a site shows a lot and no one clicks on it, it can be inferred that it is a bad result. But for a smaller brand, it means that people don’t know who you are, and therefore are skipping over you to someone they know.
Referrers – These are the multitudes of websites that send someone to your website. And Google is using the information to judge the site.

Now that we understand these three drivers, I want to come back to social media and social sharing. For a small business that needs engagement, which is what these are metrics of, social really boils down to these and can easily be slotted in and used to help drive up the traffic numbers, increase the brand awareness, and therefore drive up the CTR and by appearing across multiple social platforms, it’s a way to increase your referrers, your visibility, and really aid you in getting links.

The rest of the SEM Rush variables, a small business site can handle, meaning how many pages do visitors read? Do they bounce immediately back to Google? And how long is your content? These are all things you can control.

So here is the path I would say a small business should take to help drive organic rankings:

Come up with a great piece of content (like this one).
Post the Great Piece of Content on your website.
Create a great graphic (or if you’re brave, a video) that will make people want to click through to your website.
Share your content socially (using the graphic or video you made).
Go to the Ad Manager of the social network and set up a small ad campaign that will drive traffic to the Great Piece of Content on your website. This is not about boosting for likes.

In effect, this will act as a co-signer to help you validate your web site and feed Google some of the data that is part of their algorithm. So, although we can argue that social sharing is an unrelated event and there is no cause and effect, I more think that Social Sharing allows smaller businesses the opportunity to bring some traffic, increase their brand and referrers, thus allowing them to have all the metrics Google is looking for when they choose to rank a page.

For my students, this is an example of what I mean when I say don’t share someone else’s something. Read it. Digest it. And write about it.

Jul 30

To Have Two Sites or Not to Have Two Sites? That is the Question.

By Beth Guide In Uncategorized, Blog /

We often get this questions from clients who are considering adding a new product or service to their company that doesn’t fit inside what they presently do. So today I want to take a look at navigating how to decide what to do.

There are a lot of factors to consider when launching a new vertical for your brand and how the size and scope of your business may impact this. Each situation should be looked at and assessed on its own merit. The first question I ask is, what are the goals and what are you hoping to accomplish? This often gives me insight as to what recommendations to make.

But see, I have a dual vision when I look at a problem. What is the client hoping to accomplish, but also how is Google going to perceive this? And then, how do you balance these two things? The natural progression in the conversation usually comes around to why should Google care? The answer is pretty simple. This can easily be perceived is trying to game Google’s system or trying to mislead them to gain larger traffic or market shares using their search engine. If you are only having two websites to gain market share, with no speakable difference in the two sites, then you should not have two sites.

Gaming the System

Google’s organic algorithm is designed to rank the most relevant website on any given term. So sometimes when trying to address this new vertical, it could be perceived that you are setting up a site to ‘game’ Google’s system. And Google does not take too kindly to that.

In the SEO world, you will hear a lot of discussion on the utilization of microsites and why they work. It’s a very pedestrian and rudimentary approach. And its probably past its shelf-life in terms of effectiveness. No matter, I still hear people discuss this and therefore I believe Google has a hypersensitivity to why this second site exists.

So here are a few honest scenarios we run in to.

Scenario 1: I have a top-ranking, focused, relevant website that is focused on Family Law and I want to now open a secondary product line that talks about corporate tax law. Well the only things those two things have in common is the word law. Aesthetically those are two different client types. The words surrounding each of those terms are different. So If I wanted to add tax law I may do a risk analysis and decide that I need a separate stand-alone site to address the needs of those clients and not dilute my primary business, which may impact it negatively. Additionally, there is the who is going to hire a Family Law person to do Tax Law or vice versa? Considering you have about eight seconds for people to decide if they are staying on your site, diluted messaging would not work well. I like to think in terms of what people know, so this would be like Taco Bell and KFC. Both owned by Yum Brands but marketing in two very different ways to two very different audiences.
Scenario 2: I have two unrelated topics, for example, I have a tax preparation business and I own a print shop. Those two things share nothing and therefore two sites are fine. And there is not much more discussion needed on that.
Senerio 3: I have a product that services two different markets, let’s say oilfield and aerospace. And this is where this can get very tricky to do it right. So, a large corporation that services multiple industries can put this on one website and do just fine with it. And in fact, most businesses would do just fine with it if you silo the material properly and use your brand as the umbrella. Take for example Trelleborg, their website makes sense. Google understands it and it is set up properly for that. Mostly because it was set up as an industry-specific site, with Trelleborg being the common thread between them all.

Fork in the Road

So what about a smaller company whose website was not set up around the industries they serve, but rather the products they sell? Because those silos are not built out and because the site ranks very well under the product side of the business, there may be a short-term negative implication from just adding them on to the site.

First thing I would determine is are they the same company or do they do business under separate names:

Example: Marathon Oil vs. Marathon Petroleum / ExxonMobil vs. ExxonMobile Chemical

If they are two separate companies, with two separate addresses, separate corporate structures and different attributes like separate phones, we are well within our bounds to have two separate sites and allow them to operate as two different entities. It would also be assumed that they would have two separate product offerings and would not be piggybacking one off the other.

Cannibalization of Keywords

Once you determine you do need two websites, you must stay above board. The natural inclination would be to cannibalize keywords or try to make the product offering the same on both sites thinking you will get a bigger market share. But this is where this starts leaning towards stepping over Google guidelines as well. If you felt these two businesses needed to be different and have different websites, there should be no inclination to blend them back. Resist the temptation.

Products, content and approach must be unique for both sites or you risk damage to one or both of the sites in the SERPs. There would be places that you may compete, but overall they should remain different.

Google My Business and Local SEO

One other concern that has come up since I originally posted this is how essential Google My Business has become. However depending on which path you choose and what direction you may or may not want a unique Google My Business page for the entity. In most cases, I would say you do not. It is like notifying the police that your speeding so that they can give you a ticket. The first question I would ask is, would the company have local foot traffic or need a unique map listing. If the answer is yes then proceed on. If the answer is no don’t mess with it. But if the answer is yes, here are more decision guidelines.

I am a lawyer who wants to add a separate wills site for my divorce site. I have two different addresses but they are similar and walk-in business would come really to the same place.
I would not open a separate GMB account.
I have 2 unrelated businesses. I would have 2 GMB for that.
Are each company/division offering similar things that Google may think are too similar? If so I would proceed with caution. If no then it might (stressing might) be okay

Conclusion

Each situation should be evaluated as to where it makes the most impact, but here are a few rules to follow that should help:

Evaluate Ownership
Assess the Audience
Avoid Cannibalization
Do not make a second site with the only intent as to game Google
Understand that each site will have to be cultivated independently. Separate content, links, social, and engagement.
General speaking use good common sense when deciding on setting up a separate Google My Business account

If you don’t have a clear path or resources and aren’t willing to do all that is entailed, add your new product or services to the main site as long as there is a relationship between the items. In other words, don’t add Veggies to a Shoe site. And once you put them together, it will be very difficult to pull those pages back out and put them on their own. To understand this is not a decision that you can make and unmake and make and unmake.

Author: Beth Guide