In the end it comes down to a compromise, depending on your resources and the industry(ies) in which you're involved. From a customer standpoint, it may be more preferable to see a website that is just focused on one thing. So having separate sites may increase conversions, as others have said. On the other hand, if you want people to be able to find your websites in the first place, you have to market them. And marketing/promoting 4 different websites requires 4 times the resources compared to marketing just 1 website. So, depending on how related your services are, it may be possible to put them all on the same site if you do it tactfully, in a way that doesn't distract the customer. For example, if you have obvious sections for each type of service, and the customer chooses one of the sections right away from the homepage. On the other hand, if your services are really that unrelated to each other, it might not really be possible to put them all on one site without risking losing the customer's trust.

It can be better for your customers and SEO wise to have dedicated websites for your different services. It will appear that you are a master in on area and your customers looking for that particular service will be more willing to hire you than someone else.

Great questions! In my opinion, you should avoid putting too many 'non-similar' products/services on the same site. Here's why I think this:   Don't offer too many options - I've been reading 'Switch' a bestseller book by Dan and Chip Heath. The book shares a case study about doctors who were presented with options between using drugs or surgery to fix hip problems. In a situation where only 1 drug was considered as an alternative to the surgery, the doctors chose the drug route 47 percent of the time. Interestingly, in the situation where 3 medications were being presented as surgery alternatives the doctors only chose the drug route 28 percent of the time. The study actually clarifies an issue of 'deicision paralysis' that we see time and time again with consumer shopping. If a potential customer is given too many options they are overwhelmed and will more often than not, not make any purchases. Keep it simple - In my own business (website design/development and online business optimization) I learned this the hard way. I used to offer all my services on my website, from website development (coding) to design (art) to SEO (online optimization). My websites online conversion rate was low - around 1-2%. I decided to simplify my site, and took SEO off altogether (I usually bundle SEO with all my design/dev packages, and standalone SEO is best advertised by word-of-mouth... from customers who are happy with our service telling their business friends). The simplifications I made to the site increased conversions to about 4%, a small change but one that helps a ton when your company is so small (mine only has a few employees). Hope that helps! - Ben

I would always keep the sites separate instead of combining them. combining websites would confuse the customer. If your other site isn't doing much for you don't waste too much time on it or hire someone that can help you SEO(search engine optimize) the site to give you better results. Keep your focus on what makes you money and either ignore or farm out the other stuff. Surveys ---This post was edited to remove a commercial link. Read our discussion policies for more Community best practices.

Keep a focus site but as you said that your main site is earning huge $, you may want to consider putting some irrelivantproductsunder Misc. or other product but dont do any seo on those product. Try not to link all your site together as search engine may penalize youfor self promoting. Dont worry about our other site not doing better with proper SEO and some luck your othersite will start earning $$$

Thanks- especially for the advice AGAINST interlinking the sites. That runs counter to advice I was getting elsewhere & you all saved me from going ahead & doing that.

Gigavero, I really like your list and information that you have shared. I enjoyed the point about don't offer too many options. This is where I have a hard time, I just want to give my clients as many options as they need and that is not the way to run a good business.

I would support having one website for selling all the products, even if they are unrelated. Here are my reasons for saying so - There are many a successful site selling large number of unrelated goods, e.g., Amazon.com and BestBuy.com. Having a common website for all the products also would help in up-selling and cross-selling, as long as the customer base/demographic segment remains the same for all the products. Search Engines would be just fine if your website offers multiple unrelated products - as long as your information architecture distinctively classifies sections and product categories (even if there's a large number of them). Think about Root..folders..sub-folders..product pages. Folders and Sub-folders could carry words identifying distinctive categories and sub-categories of the products you would like to sell. Having one website for all products also gives your primary domain a tremendous page-rank boost and it's easy to maintain as well. Think about domain renewals, information security, CRM, website hosting and maintenance, payment gateways and CMS development/upkeep. If your intention is to not keep all eggs in the same basket, you might want to float multiple marketing websites under unique domain names .. each serving information in its own unique way: a blog, a forum, a customer-reviews site, etc. Best - Yo Dee I would support having one website for selling all the products, even if they are unrelated. Here are my reasons for saying so: There are many a successful site selling large number of unrelated goods, e.g., Amazon.com and BestBuy.com. Having a common website for all the products also would help in up-selling and cross-selling, as long as the customer base/demographic segment remains the same for all the products. Search Engines would be just fine if your website offers multiple unrelated products - as long as your information architecture distinctively classifies sections and product categories (even if there is a large number of them). Think about Root..folders..sub-folders..product pages. Folders and Sub-folders could carry words identifying distinctive categories and sub-categories of the products you would like to sell. Having one website for all products also gives your primary domain a tremendous page-rank boost and it's easy to maintain as well. Think about domain renewals, information security, CRM, website hosting and maintenance, payment gateways and CMS development/upkeep. If your intention is to not keep all eggs in the same basket, you might want to float multiple marketing websites under unique domain names .. each serving information in its own unique way: a blog, a forum, a customer-reviews site, etc. Best.. Yo Dee