Forum Moderators: skibum
Anyway, to make a long story short, I have decided to create a 6 month plan to build sites and wait and hopefully see results in 6 months to start trickling in. I’m just looking to get my knowledge from theoretical to practical. I would like to run my plan by you all to see how the gurus feel about it:
•I will be creating mini-sites and will create 2/week targeting a variety of niches.
•I will use my personal domain to host the sites, each in their own directory or sub domain…not sure which is better ((Should I have a domain for each mini site I create?))
•I will select a niche, do keyword research and select a list of 7-10 keywords
•The keywords should have ppc bids from $0.25 and up (I wont be targeting the $10-25 keywords since there will be a heck of a lot of competition there).
•I will create a simple straight forward looking site with 7-10 pages each based on the keywords. I will find an affiliate prog and add a banner or two and try to apply for adsense. After the first week, I would submit the 2 sites to google, msn, DMOZ, etc.
•Content pages will be 300-600 words long
•I will interlink the pages with one another and will have ~2 outgoing links to authority sites from each mini-site.
•I’ll keep building these mini-sites each week so that by the end of the 6 months I should have ~48 sites.
Here are my problems
>> I have no ‘authority’ sites of my own so I will not have back links
>> I only have one domain to use (the actual domain name is in google already but no pr)
Is this a recipe for success (however minimal) or is it a recipe for a waste of time? Any suggestions?
Thank you
I would suggest using seperate domains.
I have seen problems with using a ton of sub-domains as far as search engines are concerned.
Other than that, you are maybe out 6 months. That is worth it.
I say try it, hell I might try it, with a few tweaks to the plan.
So far the one thing I really will need to look into is the domain issue. I.e. is it worth it to get a domain for every mini-site you create given that many of them may not make any money? hmmm
I agree with the don't be desperate statement. The amount of effort you put in and the amount of time you put in will be proportional to how well you succeed. Work hard and learn at the same time, and in 6 months you will be fine.
To your Success,
C.K.
do not use subdomains or subfolders. Invest $10/month on a cheap hosting solution and they will give you domain pointers (and then if you know some scripting, you can redirect them to a subfolder in your hosting account).
Your 6 months to success/failure is a bit melodramatic :) what will happen is that in 6 months (if you do your homework) you'll be making from $1/day to $#*$!.xx/day. Once you get into the groove of things you will start seeing new nuances on what needs to be added/changed/removed and you'll start tweaking like crazy. From then, it's up to you if it's worth your time (and the very nice future rewards) to keep doing it, or be discouraged because the numbers aren't to your liking yet.
If you've got the skills, that's 30% of the battle won. The other 80% is how committed you are to the 'cause' :)
I'm busy on a project (before I launch it I will create about 50 content pages), and I think I'm going to try the subdomain way. I hope that by doing this my site will get ranked in Google after a few days.
The only advantage I can see with using a subdomain or subfolder is because of what Beer234 said.
Let's face it, domains are cheap. What happens if 1 of your domains get's banned? I am not 100% positive, but I could see all your earnings go crashing down as the whole thing is banned.
Be safe and get a domain name for each site. Go for a .com unless you are targeting a specific country. If you plan on building a bunch of sites/domains, get a reseller account for your hosting.
Thoughts?
All the Best,
C.K.
Do it right the first time.
I'm wondering too which one would be better:
- a new domain
- a subdomain of a well indexed site
- or a folder of a well indexed site
Go for a combination of domains and folders. That is, go the domains route, but if you can "team up" any somewhat related topics, then I would do so (i.e. electronic widget 1 with electronic widget 2 on the same domain).
I would definitely go with folders over subdomains. Subdomains can be confusing and seem spammy to the user.
As for the domain issue, well, I am still torn. My generic domain which is not niche specific has been around for 5 years or so. So maybe using folders on that start would be a good idea. Ultimately I can run my own server with multiple IPs and multiple domains per IP (I have experience running a server so that shouldn’t be an issue)
Now since I do admit I have somewhat of a short attention span, mini-sites are the way for me. Multiple smaller sites with 5-10 pages each. Maybe 20 on the high side. I want to focus on acquiring traffic and learning the SEO side of things before delving into the bigger sites.
So here is another question for Beer234 and those of you who stated that they got their mini-sites in their folders get indexed quickly….is it realistic to think that a site like that could get indexed from a 5 year old domain (with no PR) within a month?
And how many people here run multiple mini-sites as opposed to single megasites?
Thanks
your primary domain probably is not sandboxed. this could be a huge, huge advantage to you. putting up new sites under subdomains will allow you to see immediate, decent results- no sandbox. however there's going to be a bigger risk.
how attached are you to your person site? here's what I might do: move your personal site somewhere else (ie, another domain). establish an comprehensive authority site on this old domain, if it's possible (might depend on the domain itself). use this to get a flow of cash coming in. from there you could get yourself in a position to be able to buy non-sandboxed sites.
it's possible to be successful while sandboxed... it's just a whole lot harder :)
Are you guys thinking I should add some content to the generic domain and try to create an 'authority site'? What exactly detrmines a site being authority (backlinks or outbound links)?
The most important thing is: Topics of your sites. What are you going to sell? Lamp or cell phone?
I dont think the domain issue is the biggest thing here. I just wonder if there some success to be found in building these mini-sites.
Sites, domains, subdomains, directories are little things only.
The most important thing is: Topics of your sites. What are you going to sell? Lamp or cell phone?
if you're going for organic traffic, the domain is a huge factor.
the bulk of organic traffic comes from google. it's near impossible to do well in google with new domains.
I only have one domain to use (the actual domain name is in google already but no pr)
I doubt sticking to this one domain would be of any major benefit.
They are both important. You start picking all these hot topics and put all the content up on the same domain...
It will be a confusing mess. I really think you should go the separate domain route.
C.K.
As for kewyords/niches, thats not a problem as I feel I know how to pick niches that are less glamorous but may have more potential than others may think. Right now I'm not really focussed on the money making aspect...I'm more interested in being succesful in getting indexed within a month or two and getting in the top 25-50 at least for each main keyword I chose. I'm targetting "used toliet seats" .... any money in that :o))) Just kidding
Two points that I have concluded:
* Probably use seperate domains
* Use my old domain to point to the new sites/domains
* pick moderate keywords that have value but are not on either extreme
Well...I've got 6 months of work ahead of me...thats guys :o))
Conroy makes a good point about hyper competitive niches. If you want to do something in a competitive market, look for a niche within the bigger niche. Make sure it gets traffic (keyword research) and build.
C.K.
