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Looking for advice, one big site or multiple smaller ones?

by adamfdotnet
8 replies
Hi,

Long time lurker, first time poster...

Just researching my first IM project and I had a question. Not sure if this is a SEO or straight up IM question but here goes.

Is it better to have one big site that has different sections:

keyword.com
keyword.com/games
keyword.com/tshirts, etc....

or is it better to have smaller separate sites as part of a larger "network" that would interconnect with each other where relevant.

keyword-tshirts.com
keyword-games.com

The whole IM is based on affiliates to different products in each area within a nice niche. It is likely that people looking at one will be interested in another, but not necessarily. All sites would include original review and other relevant content as part of this project connecting to affiliate links.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how the domains should play out?

Initially, I am thinking that having separate sites, that interlink as part of a "keyword network" makes the most sense. The idea would be to keep within the niche, but diversify as much as possible with the affiliates areas... in some ways, starting a brand.

I would love to hear some guru thoughts on this....

Thanks.

-Adam
#advice #affiliates #big #marketing #multiple #seo #site #smaller
  • Profile picture of the author drumguru69
    I would rather make 1 dollar per day with 100 websites rather than 1 website that makes 100 dollars per day....

    Two reasons why..... I am a butterfly chaser and I like building them!
    and... if one site falls of the serps, you still have 99 producing cash!
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  • Profile picture of the author WebPen
    To be honest- there's no "best" answer

    Some people love niche sites because with an exact keyword domain, you can rank it more quickly than a generic domain name.

    Plus you have your eggs in multiple baskets (sort of)

    On the flip side- a huge authority site has a lot more ways where your visitors can see your brand. It also has the benefit that all of your backlinks will benefit future pages/sections.

    If your site is huge and has thousands and thousands of decent backlinks, Google probably won't drop it (like it does for some niche sites if they're really thin)
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  • Profile picture of the author webapex
    It appears that the benefit from exact match domain names is being diminished by google, a less than exact domain name, which may be all you can get, has lesser value.

    It's rather ambitious to tackle multiple topics right away...

    Another option, make your main domain a generic name, like bargainsHere, then add your topics as subdomains: tshirt.bargainsHere.com, game.bargainsHere.com, etc. while it might not make a big technical/seo difference they will look to some users more like separate entities. Most $8/mo class hosting allows unlimited subdomains.
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    “An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field” Niels Bohr

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    • Profile picture of the author DebbieD
      First of all, Google ranks pages, not sites. A new page/post in an authority site with good rankings and good backlinks, has a much better chance of ranking high fast.

      You can make an authority site with different categories or subdomains, but all can be relevant. For example, HomeRemodeling.com, where all sub-domains have something to do with home remodeling. Or, even broader, Homes.com, where all subdomains have something to do with Homes, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author jgant
    I've done both and achieved by far the best results (profits) with larger websites. I focus on 2 sites these days adding posts daily. Posts rank faster and traffic builds up. I'd rather do backlinking to 1 site than 10 any day of the week.

    As you focus on 1 or a couple of sites, you'll get very well informed in your niche/market which results in better content. You'll also become extremely familiar with the keywords as you continually research them for related content.

    That said, I can't argue with the "eggs in one basket" issue. It's a gamble, but I simply can't ignore the substantially higher profits from my 2 larger sites compared to my smaller sites.
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    How I hit $10,000+ per month very fast w/ 1 niche blog - Click Here to learn more (no opt-in).
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    • Profile picture of the author adamfdotnet
      Thanks for all the feedback.

      I should note that originally, the idea was keyword-books.com with a whole site dedicated to this particular niche and books that are relevant. Then, I got thinking that things like tshirts, costumes (around Haloween), etc... are actually probably of interest in the niche. That is what got me started thinking about the multiple different stores vs one big one with lots of affiliates for different things related to the niche debate.

      I could go with the keyword-stuff.com as the main site and just have areas instead of doing the whole other cloned stores. It wouldn't really be too generic as the keyword niche is not like "homes" or something huge. The only worry I have about the one bigger site is depending on one site as was mentioned above. On the other hand, I also kind of like the idea of building a "network" or brand along with it which is why I am having a "sober second thought", starting with just books and then moving into other relevant products.

      Would one possibility be to buy all the relevant top level domains, start with the big keyword-stuff.com and focus on a few things first like books, then if things get big, I could split off a section to a separate domain and store (or, if I find that there isn't as much cross connection as I thought).

      Any other thoughts on the above?

      -Adam
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  • Profile picture of the author adamfdotnet
    Any other IM wizards haven an opinion as to which route to go?

    Thanks again...

    -Adam
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  • Profile picture of the author laurenswuyts
    You should chose what you want.
    Both things are good.
    You can't really say which is better or worse.
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