building a site made of many sites

and connecting them using one umbrella

[idolw]

here is what I am thinking about:

There are 5 main types of widgets.
I am thinking about building 5 websites (one per widget type) based on the same template - database and html would be very similar.
Connect these sites with one umbrella site that would present the company and give one brand to the whole group.
Major pros:
- less work on technical stuff for each single site - more work can be assigned to content building.
- creating one major brand name for the company that operates all types of widgets
- sites with more popular widgets may drive traffic to less popular ones

The major cons I am afraid of:
- all 5 sites will look very similar. They will be just about different widgets.
- there will be probably some sitewide links between member sites in the group.

Would that work in the eyes of SEs?

What other disadvantages of that solution come up to your minds?

tia

[sarika mosaic]

Hi Tia

I dont think that would be a problem as long as the site does not contain similar content (which SE find similat) basically multiple domains with same content.

Thanks

Sarika