Are Mini-Sites or MicroSites Dying?

I feel that it is fairly certain that the X-Factor type micro-sites will not survive. The only area I see them really surviving is where they are genuine, in that they continue to update with relevant content and maybe have visitor interaction.

I think the authority sites are the way to start a business now, effectively turning the micro-site into a page on the authority site. A lot less work, once you get it rolling and much stronger.

I haven't got lots of micro-sites to comment, but one that is a year old has been dancing from the number 1 spot to nowhere over the last 3 months - most frustrating!

I'm concentrating on niche authority, apart from anything else it feels a more genuine contribution to the internet. I get tired of finding so many junk sites when I'm searching for something online.

KL

I think they are.

They will always serve a purpose to marketers. Just depends on what your purpose is really

Since the Panda update, google turns everyone to a spammer, the panda update is an algorithm that filter low quality content, since micro and mini site has lack of content, google will de-rank it.

Authority sites squish micro niche sites like bugs.

Just my opinion.... based on creating hundreds of sites over the
years...

The smaller micro niche sites = many gone, many lost rankings,
many swallowed by the Google gremlins for an appetizer.

The larger authority sites = increased rankings, increased traffic,
more Google love.

The biggest difference between the sites? The authority sites have
pages and blog posts added on average every other day. The word
count is usually over 800 words per blog post or article, often times,
depending on the blog/niche, they are well over 1,200 words. And
they are all 100% uniquely written by college educated USA writers.

Heck, just uploaded one earlier today that was over 2,000 words.
Site has been up for about 2 years with content added daily. Gets
about 80K unique visits a month, is very sticky, bookmarked,
socially liked, etc.

Why invest the time into 20 micro niche sites when you could put
all that work into one authority site and have 30-40 1000+ word
articles when you make it go live?

Once you have the authority in a niche, find a keyword you want
to target, and if it is not too competitive (meaning there are a
bunch of micro sites, articles, affiliate sites, etc. in the SERPs)
write one killer page/blog post, post it, bookmark it, backlink it
lightly onsite and off = BOOM. Instant first page results.

Google is NOT the only way to promote a website. And for the most part, the micro-sites that focus like a laser on one product convert easier. So just because Google doesn't like them, doesn't mean that you have to abandon them all together. Just find other ways to get your targeted traffic to them. And there are a million and one ways out there to do it.

If the main traffic source is organic traffic from the search engines, then my experience tells me bigger sites do well. I've directed pretty much all my attention to 2 projects that I'm growing into larger sites.

New posts on larger sites rank decently quite quickly. Much more so than on some of the small sites I have.

However, if you pay for traffic, size doesn't matter as long as the site adheres to PPC source's TOS, which doesn't require too many pages at all.

I think it depends on how you drive traffic to them.

I have several micro-sites, that contain only an opt-in page, a privacy page and a contact us page. I drive traffic via niche-related forums and do quite well with that. If Big G don't like you, turn to forums, or Facebook Fanpages.

Where there is a WILL there is a WAY.

I think Goggle traffic will diminish to these one or two page sites, but if some have updated content and are a little more substantial, they may last a long time. Certain niches just don't have that much authority competition.

Hi,

when you are not a good writer and you must hire a writer, to build an authorithy website with 1-2 pages (productct pages to promote) and blog posts lets say 20-30 ore more posts every month, this will be an huge investment, you will lost money, you must spend minimum 5$ per good 800 word written article
x30 posts every month= 150$ invest every month.

With this after a year perhaps you have 1000 visitors a day traffic. Before that you had invest 1500-1800$ in this year.

When I build a micro niche site with 1 page (1 product) with lets say 800 words (then the merchnat page/sales letter has more content too) I have to invest max.12$ for mycontent for 1 page,so I can build 5 such micro niche sites every month.

marco005

There are micro sites and there are mini-authority sites. I build the later ones. just 15-20 pages targeting a specific keyword and they are doing well at the moment.

To a some extent micro sites are getting affected . Its more tough to bring rank of micro sites but still you can't say that it dying .

Thin sites are old and busted. Go authority or go home.

We've created (and still create) tons of niche sites. We have a "failure to launch" rate in that some of the sites we create never seem to rank, don't have any real earnings to speak of, etc. Still...others are working out just fine. Are niche sites dead? Not for us, but the opinions tend to vary widely on this topic.

We had a pretty massive debate post regarding Authority Vs. Niche Sites you can check out here:
Debate: Niche Sites Vs. Authority Sites | AdSense Flippers

For anyone starting out, I'd seriously consider going with niche sites first. You'll see a quicker return and can iterate much more quickly to improve your process. Once you've got that down, feel free to upgrade or expand your process to include larger sites.

In one word NO.

I see and have minisites that have done well even through penguine. Are there mini sites that have been affected and are affected from panda/penguine, YES. But so have authority sites where the owners went from five/six figure incomes to almost nothing. There are no guarantees.

The real question you should be asking your self is, can you afford to put everything in one site and risking the house with one of google's algorithm wiping you out, or spreading your risk?

True, but the whole point of this development style is to not put much effort into each individual site.

I think as the internet grows they will be less able to compete in the search engine results.

Very interesting reading. Perhaps i should work on my authority site.

I've been shutting down some of my smaller sites and incorporating the content into some of my larger sites that I am attempting to turn into authority sites.
So, if they are not earning money, I'm saving money also in that I no longer pay for the domain.

Hi,

@TryBPO, yes respect ,you are one of the big business prof here. But on my budget I can not make your business model it is to expensive for me (build 100 adsense niche sites in one time and pay a lot for some writers).

I will concentrate make money on niche sites, but as an affiliate-not with adsense.

Then when I have 2-3000$,then I can build 100 adsense niche sites in one time.

marco005

IMO, it's not at the extent of dying yet and still a viable choice for newbie. Then again, it's a good idea to mix up this strategy with creating authority site.

Micro sites are not dying unless you are a creative person.
Post quality articles frequently and share it to get user attraction with social media like fb,twitter ...
Im sure u will get great attention within months

I think sites like this one will die out:

Prescription Swimming Goggles - Prescription Swimming Goggles

"For people who wear prescription glasses, swimming can be a challenge. Without the aid of prescription swimming goggles they are left with only two choices not swimming, or swimming blindly."

Come on, who writes this stuff???

[I'm outing this site since they spammed my blog].

I think there will always be a place for niche sites. I mean how much content can someone really write about "blue nail polish for men"? :-)

Well, I'm not saying this because I have a service building them! But they are most definitely not dead, what you need to understand is that the lastest updates have been specifically designed to filter out rubbish. Rubbish content, rubbish backlinks, spam, spammy sites. A micro niche site doesn't have to be a rubbish, spammy site. It can actually be a quality, helpful site. Get a decent MNS with good content that actually offers something to the reader. Put all your best SEO backlinking practices into gear and I'm sure you'll find that MNS are not dead. Do a quick search, many still dominate the SERPs, but now they are mostly ones that conform to Matt Cunt's way of thinking. Google are getting better at what they are supposed to do and that is provide high quality search results and filter out the spam. You've just gotta step up a gear. Give them a good quality site and plan your backlinking better than ever before and you'll be fine!

Hey freemen
It is not like the micro sites are dying due to the Panda update. Google always says to offer something new to the end users on your website. If visibility of micro sites of your competition is dropping then you are having a good opportunity to be appear on SERP by providing user friendly unique content and performing white hat SEO work in right way.

Not to sure where I saw the video, but I saw Mr. Cutts (our best friend), say that it does not matter the size of a website.

What I think matters is the content that is on the site and how relevant it is to the search query.

If you are putting out junky content, well then expect junky results.

-Omar

Absolutely. It's time to start building a real business. Learn how to get people to know, like, and trust you, get them on your email list, and then build relationships that get people excited to support you and spend money with you.

They are if you don't have real products to sell cause people with real products are learning how to sell them themselves. Drop shipping pretty saturated with all the people in the game now. Affiliate links are getting harder to cloak, and manual reviews more frequent.

Awesome post
I'm new to IM and my first site is a niche site.
I'm a herbalist so I'm concentrating on healthy program that deal with over all health.
so should I build a large site that all my products can go on???


THANK YOU
liquid181

I've heard debates from 10 gurus on either side.

In my book, the science of SEO is still valuable, but it's also everchanging.

So people who clinge to ideas and paradigms may be upset when things don't calculate the way they want.

So, microniches may very well work, but there are so many variables that determine RANKINGS (micro niches are supposedely all about SEO) that it's questionable if they have any longterm value

I have a handful of micro-niche sites that, collectively, bring in around $200/month. They USED to bring in $2,000/month. So long term, it was a great investment but I wouldn't waste my time doing the same thing again and I'm not going to put more money into it now.

Having a big site gives you more leverage. I can make small tweaks in my site now that take a few minutes and generate $200/month. Much easier than starting over with a niche site.

Like or not, Google is weeding out the low quality sites that overall sully everyone's internet experience. Instead of walking into the dollar store, it's hopefully like walking into Barnes and Noble, a much more enriching experience.

If they are built from copied content then I think they are. Ive noticed more and more auto blogs get slain from googles changes.

Im more about building an audience. An authority. Some form of leadership in the markets that Im in.

What Im not interested in is promoting some crappy website like cheapcanon60dreviewsnow1.com full of spun articles.

For micro sites to be a long-term money maker, you have to keep pumping them out every month. You can't rest on the success of just a handful, as those that ranked one month will vanish the next.

I should note that micro sites aren't necessarily "poor quality". A 5-page blog on a subject is often more helpful than a single-page article on ehow, but with google's current approach, the later will virtually always outrank the former over time. Writing "good quality" content for your mirco site isn't enough.

Authority sites are a better investment, but they also carry a risk, as you're putting all your eggs in one basket. You really have to build up a steady audience that will come back regardless of where you show up in google.

Yeah having a bunch of niches sites that generate small amounts of cash via adsense and the like are, or were good, but you have to keep up with them and maintain them and add content to them on a regular basis. With authority sites, I think that in the long term, this is your best bet because you can focus on one really good site, and build it up.