Spamming Google - is this spamming or ok?

[schachin]

Hi - I have a question.. if there is a travel site that wants to offer other sites that are destination specific I know google allows this (or at least it used to state in webmaster guidelines that as long as there was unique content and information about the destination they could do it)

So my questions are:

1) Is this still the case? Is this still legal?
2) If so, what is the line not to cross?
IE Can I offer 20 different sites with original and unique content that are focused on unique cities.. that are definitely unique sites?

ex I offer one for Vail Co only with a different URL on a different domain name (though on the same IP class) with unique content about Vail CO, so that people looking to book a hotel or travel in Vail can easily locate our Vail properties. Can I do this without incurring Google wrath on my main site?

This does not seem to be any different than offering a product to an affiliate just in this case the affiliate would be the same company, but curious as to what the limitations are according to Google. Esp since travel companies are listed as a special case with regards to offering multiple sites.

What are your thoughts?

[Matteo]

Well I'll take a stab at this.

Here are the guidelines as I understand them

Google being a domain register has the ability to look at all your registry information. If you have a site with the same registry information and the competing for the same keyword and close to similar content, they will spam you.

If your Veil CO Site is the only one keywording for Veil Travel. And your other site is not at all connected to that, then it should pass the google spam censor.

For instance if a site for red wagons links to a site on blue bikes, there should be no conflict,

If a site for red wagons links to a site for blue wagons this will not be enough difference.

[seo4china]

Is the content really unique for all the 20 sites or the sites basically use the same content/template etc. only changing the destination city in each case?

If it is the same content and only the city name changes in the keyword phrase then the latter sites may be considered duplicated content and find themselves in the supplemental results. But if the first site has been established for long and fully crawled by Google I don't think it will be penalized.

[incrediblehelp]

We have to learn to stop thinking what would the search engines think as far as multiple websites and content. If your building out great unique content on separate websites and your end users find all of these websites useful then the search engines will have no issues with it.

[smo]

By spreading to different sites is it going to help? I prefer to keep content in all one site and offer different areas (within one big site).

[katropa]

... I prefer to keep content in all one site and offer different areas (within one big site).

In my opinion thats the way to go.
It'll earn you a better PR.

[crankydave]

We have to learn to stop thinking what would the search engines think as far as multiple websites and content. If your building out great unique content on separate websites and your end users find all of these websites useful then the search engines will have no issues with it.

Precisely.

Too many folks get hung up on building separate sites simply for the sake of promoting their "main" site, making them little more than a transition instead of a destination. This is where they get in trouble.

You can build as many sites as you like. As long as each one is unique and useful there's nothing wrong with it. You can make each destination a subdomain of the root. Again, as long as each sub is unique and useful there's nothing wrong with it. You can also maintain and manage a single site. Single sites with a variety of topics can rank just fine for each topic.

Dave

[vsd32]

I would suggest to stay away.
Danger. Your work it's possible to be wasted.

[timmathews.com]

Years ago, this was a good way to boost your rankings and listings.
This is not the case now.
As stated above, focus on one primary site, and structure it accordingly...
travelsite.com/miami
travelsite.com/manhattan
travelsite.com/new-zealand
etc.
etc.

This will benefit you to keep all the content under one umbrella, and also allow your listings to be picked up and ranked better.