Should I Do A Mini-Site or Not

To Mini-Site or Not to Mini-Site

Kasie wrote to me and asked:

"Alice, my biggest question is about affiliate websites. Which is better a mini site or a bigger content based affiliate site. On my site I am promoting two affiliate programs. And I am stuck deciding which is best. Last night I was on a teleseminar with Jim Edwards, and he swore by affiliate 'showcase' sites... I am totally confused!! I hear so many different views and would like to know which would be the best decision."

That is a tough one. You hear many different views on the subject because many different methods work. Here's one thing you can't argue -- the more choices you give your visitor, the less likely they will be to make one. If you can make a very tightly focused site around a certain product or topic, it's easier to do a number of things:

Keep your visitor focused on what you want him or her to do. A large site with lots of links can become very confusing to someone surfing the net. They might just leave instead of trying to figure it out.
Target your market better. If you have a huge site on different (but related topics), it's tougher to understand your target audience and give them the information and products that they are looking for.

On the other hand, there is something to be said about larger, portal-type sites:

It becomes easier to create "name recognition" and establish a reputation in your market. If you're the "go-to" site on certain types of information, people will send traffic to you, they will link to you...and it won't cost you a thing.
If you have a site that search engines seems to love, adding more and more content can bring you a lot more visitors quickly. It's often easier to get organic search engine traffic to a site that is already established than starting a new site. You can use this traffic as a "feeder" to your mini-sites.

So, what's the solution? You can do both. If you're just getting started, that doesn't mean that you have do it all right away. Start building your mini-sites. See which ones do well and you may want to start creating larger content sites around the same thing. The nice thing about doing business online is that you can change and adapt your website plans according to what works best.

The only problem is if you think about it too long and don't get started, nothing happens. :(

And good news...coincidentally, I'll be chatting with Jim Edwards on May 26 about Mini-Sites and you're invited. Sign up for the free teleclass here.