Which is best 2 sites or 1?

An informational site and a commercial site, or just one site?

[Craig_F]

Hi Everyone,

Looking for some advice. I'm working on a site that could easily be 2 sites or one. Both would be decent sites. One would be purely informational, the other would be sell services related to the informational site.

So, what's the best option? I'm keep going back and forth on what I think is best...so, what do you think - and why?

Thanks,

-Craig

[agerhart]

That is tough to say.

On one hand, it is always better to have a large site, instead of two smaller ones. The articles could be something for the potential clients to read, and then you could add even more articles that are written especially for those potential clients.

On the other hand, it will be a little more difficult to gain quality links, as other sites would rather link to an informational site than a commercial one from the same market (direct competitor).

I know of sites that have the two merged together and many, probably more, that have the two seperate.

[jkruit]

This is something I have experience with. I have one site, broken into two parts. One is informational and one is commercial. Because of the informational part, I was able to index 15 pages in ZEAL which put me in Looksmart for free. Also, I get so many hits on the informational pages, that I think it is why I show up, often first, but at least 1-3 on most of my search words. Of course, that is just my speculation but I know that the info pages get hit much more than my regular site.

Hope that helps
Janine