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Authority Site or Several Mini Sites?

by Martin N Smith
23 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I have a dilemma - what do you think is the best option:

1. Focus on ONE website and try to rank for 5 main keywords on this site, or

2. Buy 5 separate keyword rich domain names, set up a website for each and spread my time equally over all 5

I'm not an internet marketer (not currently using PPC). I'm in the market of providing quality content for blogs, news sites etc. I'm therefore really keen to attract as much organic search traffic as I can.

Do you do think?

Thanks
Martin
#authority #mini #site #sites
  • Profile picture of the author aaron_nimocks
    I would recommend doing them all on 1 site if they are related.
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    • Profile picture of the author Martin N Smith
      Originally Posted by aaron_nimocks View Post

      I would recommend doing them all on 1 site if they are related.
      thanks - any reason why?

      Martin
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      • Profile picture of the author aaron_nimocks
        Originally Posted by Martin N Smith View Post

        thanks - any reason why?

        Martin
        Honestly....

        Because you asked the question and it seems like you could be new at making sites and using SEO to get the ranked. Most people make the mistake of making a ton of different sites then building links to all of them. When none of their sites rank then they give up.

        It is much easier to focus on just one website and making the it best one out there. The key behind rankings is amazing content and I doubt there is enough to go around for 5 different sites. This way you put all the great content on one site.
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        • Profile picture of the author Martin N Smith
          Originally Posted by aaron_nimocks View Post

          Honestly....

          Because you asked the question and it seems like you could be new at making sites and using SEO to get the ranked. Most people make the mistake of making a ton of different sites then building links to all of them. When none of their sites rank then they give up.

          It is much easier to focus on just one website and making the it best one out there. The key behind rankings is amazing content and I doubt there is enough to go around for 5 different sites. This way you put all the great content on one site.
          Cool - thanks for the advice. I'm curious though, surely Google can't measure the quality of content, just the quantity (i.e the number of new pages created since it last crawled the site)?

          If this is the case, as long as I post up at least one or two news pages each week (for each site) this won't damage my potential for search traffic. TBH - i'm not really interested in direct traffic or PPC or RSS or anything else for that matter. I just want to get visitors to the site, to then convert on either affiliate products or subscribe to my list.

          Thanks
          Martin
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  • Profile picture of the author euhlir
    It is much easier to focus on just one website and making the it best one out there. The key behind rankings is amazing content and I doubt there is enough to go around for 5 different sites. This way you put all the great content on one site.
    Matt Cutt's, that guy from Google, has made it pretty clear that great content means nothing without backlinks. So that pretty much voids out everything you just said. Great content means nothing if people don't link to it.

    Coming from someone with experience, I can tell you it's 100x easier to rank for keywords when you have the exact domain and basic on-page seo. It's tough and takes a butt-load of needless work to rank for other terms. If you're just starting out with building sites and ranking then I'd recommend the smaller niche sites.
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    • Profile picture of the author Martin N Smith
      umm, two totally different opinions! Anyone else care to share their wisdom?

      M
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    • Profile picture of the author aaron_nimocks
      Originally Posted by euhlir View Post

      Matt Cutt's, that guy from Google, has made it pretty clear that great content means nothing without backlinks. So that pretty much voids out everything you just said. Great content means nothing if people don't link to it.
      But great content leads to natural backlinks which is worth a ton more than your own generated backlinks.
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      • Profile picture of the author Martin N Smith
        Originally Posted by aaron_nimocks View Post

        But great content leads to natural backlinks which is worth a ton more than your own generated backlinks.
        Thanks Aaron, but doesn't that depend on the authority of the site that's linking to you? Surely it's better to have 10 'self generated' links from sites of high PR than 100 'organic' links with PR 0-1?
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        • Profile picture of the author aaron_nimocks
          Originally Posted by Martin N Smith View Post

          Thanks Aaron, but doesn't that depend on the authority of the site that's linking to you? Surely it's better to have 10 'self generated' links from sites of high PR than 100 'organic' links with PR 0-1?
          So many factors to go over...

          Sites normally linking to you are within text, post, article, ect. Meaning users are more likely to click on the link than if your link is in the sidebar or footer or wherever. Surrounding text plays a role into the worth of the link also. Which usually only links within text, post, articles, ect have them.

          People linking to your site on their own most of the time have a site that is relevant to yours. This is extremely important in rankings. A PR0 link on a related site is worth more than a PR4 link on an unrelated site. Personally when linking you should never look at PR and focus on if the site is relevant to yours or not.

          The key to ranking easily is to make a site that gives great value to the readers. If you continue to do that then the rankings will come. End of story.

          But there are ways to make your site rank better if you can't produce that type of content. Frankly 90% of people making websites are unable to do this. Those was are by building links yourself which you will most likely have to do.
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          • Profile picture of the author Martin N Smith
            Originally Posted by aaron_nimocks View Post

            A PR0 link on a related site is worth more than a PR4 link on an unrelated site. Personally when linking you should never look at PR and focus on if the site is relevant to yours or not.
            Doesn't this contradict what the 'back linking Queen and King (aka Angela and Paul) tell us?

            Thanks
            Martin
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            • Profile picture of the author aaron_nimocks
              Originally Posted by Martin N Smith View Post

              Doesn't this contradict what the 'back linking Queen and King (aka Angela and Paul) tell us?

              Thanks
              Martin
              Like I say there are ways around it. They are selling a product so of course they will tell you that. The part they won't tell you is that your rankings will most likely not hold for a long time because Google is pretty smart.

              Meaning, they have ways to find out who is cheating the system and then people using those links sites will drop from the rankings.
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              • Profile picture of the author Martin N Smith
                Originally Posted by aaron_nimocks View Post

                Like I say there are ways around it. They are selling a product so of course they will tell you that. The part they won't tell you is that your rankings will most likely not hold for a long time because Google is pretty smart.

                Meaning, they have ways to find out who is cheating the system and then people using those links sites will drop from the rankings.
                Fair enough. Thanks for your advice - much appreciated
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    • Profile picture of the author Martin N Smith
      Originally Posted by euhlir View Post

      Coming from someone with experience, I can tell you it's 100x easier to rank for keywords when you have the exact domain and basic on-page seo.
      If this is the case, what do you suggest is the best domain for the following:-

      Keyword = Train Companies

      Option 1: www.train-companies.net (exact BUT a .net)

      Option 2: www.traincompaniesuk.com (almost exact BUT a .com!)

      Thanks
      Martin
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      • Profile picture of the author sitefurnace
        I have asked this question several times and it still remains somewhat of a mystery to me.

        As i see it so far, you have both pros and cons with each but five keywords(related) is still a small niche site in my eyes i.e.

        domain= Widgetbox › Make a Widget from Your Own Content
        keyword 2 = green widgets
        keyword 3= blue widgets etc.

        In fact if you dont have a few keywords other than the one in the domain then your site will be seen as a one page MFA site or something.

        I made another thread here which is quite relevant http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...t-samurai.html
        but no one has answered yet.
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  • Profile picture of the author XFactor
    Originally Posted by Martin N Smith View Post

    I have a dilemma - what do you think is the best option:

    1. Focus on ONE website and try to rank for 5 main keywords on this site, or

    2. Buy 5 separate keyword rich domain names, set up a website for each and spread my time equally over all 5

    I'm not an internet marketer (not currently using PPC). I'm in the market of providing quality content for blogs, news sites etc. I'm therefore really keen to attract as much organic search traffic as I can.

    Do you do think?

    Thanks
    Martin
    Do both.

    - John
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    • Profile picture of the author bfairo
      I have used some of angela's and paul's backlinks, not by buying the packets, but by using yahoo site explorer to research it myself and that with a mix of blog commenting and web 2.0 profiles am currently showing up for 57 different keyword phrases and in the top 10 for 19 of them! My site is only 2 months old. I'd have to say that the more backlinks the better, whether they are do follow or not, as long as you have a variety of diverse ip's and you use specific anchor text, you will rank. If you do use a keyword rich domain name you can actually appear on google's first page in hours depending on the competition.
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    • Profile picture of the author WareTime
      Originally Posted by XFactor View Post

      Do both.

      - John
      What John said. I'd add that on the mini's that pan out, but that are on a topic you can create more content for, build it toward an authority site. It's a lot easier to get natural back links to an authority site. I have several sites that I've done this with and I get natural links to. Sure beats spamming forums and blogs for links.
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      • Profile picture of the author mejohn
        Originally Posted by WareTime View Post

        What John said. I'd add that on the mini's that pan out, but that are on a topic you can create more content for, build it toward an authority site. It's a lot easier to get natural back links to an authority site. I have several sites that I've done this with and I get natural links to. Sure beats spamming forums and blogs for links.
        John's advice has helped hundreds of newbies succeed in Adsense websites. His advice is as good as gold. Through his advice in the thread http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...ft8VlkfmBUrr63 I increased my adsense income from almost nil to $150 per months in only a couple of months working an hour or so per day. I did not personally purchase his ebook, but would recommend it to anyone new to online marketing, as I have heard it goes into much more depth than his thread. I already had success in product marketing before reading his thread, so I applied all that knowledge to whate he taught about Adsense in the thread and have seen the beginnings of success with limited efforts.
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        • Profile picture of the author Martin N Smith
          Originally Posted by mejohn View Post

          John's advice has helped hundreds of newbies succeed in Adsense websites. His advice is as good as gold. Through his advice in the thread http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...ft8VlkfmBUrr63 I increased my adsense income from almost nil to $150 per months in only a couple of months working an hour or so per day. I did not personally purchase his ebook, but would recommend it to anyone new to online marketing, as I have heard it goes into much more depth than his thread. I already had success in product marketing before reading his thread, so I applied all that knowledge to whate he taught about Adsense in the thread and have seen the beginnings of success with limited efforts.
          Thanks for the advice everyone. I've decided to opt for both tactics.

          I'll set up ONE authority site and FIVE separate mini / niche sites (with the main keyword in the domain name).

          Can anyone recommend a good ebook or info product I should buy as I start out on my quest for IM riches?

          I've heard that Market Samurai and anything by Frank Kern are worth a read.

          Thanks again
          Martin
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          • Profile picture of the author TammieJJ
            Originally Posted by Martin N Smith View Post

            Thanks for the advice everyone. I've decided to opt for both tactics.

            I'll set up ONE authority site and FIVE separate mini / niche sites (with the main keyword in the domain name).

            Can anyone recommend a good ebook or info product I should buy as I start out on my quest for IM riches?

            I've heard that Market Samurai and anything by Frank Kern are worth a read.

            Thanks again
            Martin
            I would recommend the Adsense Masters Course. The information is invaluable, and the price is very reasonable. There are lots of people on this forum who are following his course, either to the "T", or with some individualized tweaks, and many appear to be having some success. I would start with reading the thread regarding his course, 6 Months Later: $300 Daily w/Adsense.
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  • Profile picture of the author euhlir
    If this is the case, what do you suggest is the best domain for the following:-

    Keyword = Train Companies

    Option 1: www.train-companies.net (exact BUT a .net)

    Option 2: www.traincompaniesuk.com (almost exact BUT a .com!)
    If it was my site I'd go for www.traincompanies. com or.org/.net

    All three work great for me, but they won't mean anything if you haven't found keywords that are easy to rank for. I've tried adding a word to domains and even dashes, but they turned out not ranking well for me.

    That's not to say that yours won't, I'm purely going off of my own experience with both.

    As Xfactor stated, try making the small niche sites to rank for the keywords. At the same time make a larger site and try to rank for the keywords. You could make a case study out of it and then post your results here to help others.
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  • Profile picture of the author 321sitemonitor.com
    I recently read an e-book that was all about making money over internet. The book states that there are two ways of making 100$ each day -

    Either build 100 websites and make 1$ from each.

    OR

    BUild a single website, concentrate completely on it and make 100$ per day from it.

    I strongly recommend the advice as managing more than 1 blog is even difficult then how can you manage 5 blogs?
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    • Profile picture of the author HCLee
      Generally building an authority site takes much longer compared to 5 micro niche sites. It also depends on what keywords you are ranking and what niches you are going into if you decided on the niche sites. There are people who focused solely on small niches if they like to make money on adsense. If you do, you may not stop at 5 sites because having more sites increase your income potential. Also it's an online real estate you are building and it can be quite fulfilling seeing them grow especially if they make money for you.
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