ForumsInternet/eCommerce

The way I do it is with multiple sites, under one umbrella company. IF the products or services are completely different and don't compliment each other, then there is no reason to put them together.
Plus it'seasier to target specific demographics for each rather than trying to attract several to one site.

Even Honda doesn't sell lawn mowers and cars together. But we all know they make both.

I agree with those who mentioned building multiple sites.
Having a parent company and working with multiple channels that control a certain product or service you do seems more localized.
Customers feel more secure knowing that you focus on one product or service at a time, rather than all your products or services in one area.

I build websites and if you need any additional information, you may contact me at ori@smoothpixel.com.

Good Luck!

People nowadays get distracted easily, especially when it comes to the Internet medium.

The more distractions you spare them from, them more sales you will make.

Also, from a search engine stand point, it is easier to rank a website that is entirely dedicated to a keyword than one that targets many keywords that are not semantically very related.

Multiple websites are definitely the way to go. Just ditch the losers that don't justify the effort and put more effort in the winners. Remember the Pareto rule: 20% of your efforts will be responsible for 80% of your revenue.

Hope I could help,

Multiple websites are definitely the way to go, if you don't provide a duplicated site. You can create complementary contents on the same subject or you can create a related site.

Why duplicating the exact same site on a different domaine name?

"However, in some cases, content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic. Deceptive practices like this can result in a poor user experience, when a visitor sees substantially the same content repeated within a set of search results."

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66359

I will have to go against the grain, and recommend you consolidate into one larger site.

Not sure why everyone suggests multi-sites, when you said you don't get much business from the other sites.
If it's not working, then clearly you need to do something different.

Since you didn't say what it is exactly that you do I can't say specifically my recommendations.

But if the services/products are similar enough, here are some reasons why one site is better than many.

• Less work: Obviously maintaining one site will be a lot less work than maintaining 5
• Save money: If you have contracted a web design firm, you'll need their services a little less. And if you maintain your site yourself, well... doesn't time = money?

From an SEO perspective.

• Links inbound: your main site may have done well, because it had the time and history to develop links. Now, you have to do the same for all of your other sites. Which means lots of work and time to wait
• Links internal: When you have multiple sites you are bound to link them to each other. Google will know you control them all and devalue and perhaps soft-penalize you.
• Site size: Typically a larger site can have a better SEO campaign, so by consolidating your sites you can achieve better results than separate sites.