Do I Need to Hide from Google that I Own 2 Sites Targeting the Same Keywords?

[MrMedia]

I have a strong feeling that if I were to launch a new site, competing for the same SERPs as my current site I would be able to rank pretty easily. I understand the niche and have the skills to ramp up content production fast.

As evidenced in the latest updates brand new sites have broken into page 1, often positions 1-3 on very low powered domains. Yes for the record these sites also do not have the incoming spam factor.

My quesiton is this -

Do I need to go all secret agent mode to try and stop G from seeing that I am the owner of two sites in the same SERP or is this generally ok given that many media companies also have sites in the same SERPS.

If I can rank the second site close to as well as the first then I would effectively swallow up a larger share of the search traffic for terms that I know are rankable and have traffic.

Would be a cool experiment too to see if a fresh site is the answer to a lot of the mess recently inflicted on search.

Thoughts?

 

[bernard]

I think you're right that you could probably do it until they do a refresh of the HCU, which might include gathering data over several months, so your site might not even register in whatever index they use.

If you know the keywords and what approach works, then yes, I find it easy to replicate, very quick too.

You can also do variations in how you approach it. Links, style, optimization etc. Make sure to cut out the content that didn't perform well first time around, that's what I did. Keep the content grouping tight. Don't do exact match internal linking. Be less obvious in titles and headers (I'd rewrite in clickbait/news style) etc. Have your social and EEAT set up bulletproof from getgo. Personal branding everywhere.

In many ways, the HCU and March update should allow for a new iteration of sites to do well. I think the key to do well here is to have a good linkbuilding strategy though. Google is very slow to index a fresh domain imo unless it has some solid links.

 

[MrMedia]

I think you're right that you could probably do it until they do a refresh of the HCU, which might include gathering data over several months, so your site might not even register in whatever index they use.

If you know the keywords and what approach works, then yes, I find it easy to replicate, very quick too.

You can also do variations in how you approach it. Links, style, optimization etc. Make sure to cut out the content that didn't perform well first time around, that's what I did. Keep the content grouping tight. Don't do exact match internal linking. Be less obvious in titles and headers (I'd rewrite in clickbait/news style) etc. Have your social and EEAT set up bulletproof from getgo. Personal branding everywhere.

In many ways, the HCU and March update should allow for a new iteration of sites to do well. I think the key to do well here is to have a good linkbuilding strategy though. Google is very slow to index a fresh domain imo unless it has some solid links.

Thanks - I have a solid domain in mind with good metrics but still relatively fresh.

I guess my question is - do I need to try and hide the fact that I am the owner of the two sites in order to not nuke the existing site and to give the new site a chance?

 

[Smith]

Thanks - I have a solid domain in mind with good metrics but still relatively fresh.

I guess my question is - do I need to try and hide the fact that I am the owner of the two sites in order to not nuke the existing site and to give the new site a chance?

How would you do this? Separate ownership in GSC? Something else?

 

[bernard]

Thanks - I have a solid domain in mind with good metrics but still relatively fresh.

I guess my question is - do I need to try and hide the fact that I am the owner of the two sites in order to not nuke the existing site and to give the new site a chance?

Disclaimer: The following is my opinion only in case of wanting to make a quick buck, with a high risk tolerance and not based on extensive testing, purely speculation

I wouldn't bother and I'd even go a step further and linkbuild from my existing domain to my new domain. I've done this and it works very well. Literally page to page, keyword to keywod.

I'd definitely try to hide the obvious, like try to use different contact info, different themes, etc. I don't buy the GSC stuff, but hey, it's not that much extra work.

My thinking is that there's no such thing as playing it safe now, so it's more important to move quickly, get earning quickly.

 

[Steve Brownlie]

My thinking is that there's no such thing as playing it safe now, so it's more important to move quickly, get earning quickly.

Yeah everything could be burnt to the ground in 2 years if Google's ex Yahoo apocalypse man decides to go scorched earth on the serps and google so may as well tuck in now while we still can with any ideas we have.