Making Profitible MiniSites

[WaftyCrank]

This is obviously one of the most over asked questions but I'm going to ask anyway.

Recently I've been thinning out some of my domains to concentrate on ones that could be turned into profitable mini sites. However I'm not a web designer/developer so am not sure of how to start or the best platform (if any) to use (i.e. word press etc).

Also I'm not sure whether to go for an affiliate type system or just aim for Google Adsense?

Finally are there services available who can pull together this stuff on your behalf (i.e. individuals with experience in mini sites who can put one together for a fee)? Would this be the decent route to go down for someone with limited time to actually put into putting some online.

Any advice would be useful

 

[nnh]

Make a basic two to five page site with unique content and some decent graphics if you can, put some adsense on it and a few affiliate links, amazon will do...make a bit of effort on SEO, title, description meta tags etc...See how it does...If it makes more than parking then do the same with your others...

Use a basic wysiwyg editor, im sure someone will recommend one here. WP is a blogging, server hungry platform, not always SEO friendly...

 

[WaftyCrank]

Cheers for that nnh

 

[RSK3000]

I appreciate that you don't have much time but I would really encourage you to do it yourself.

I would follow nnh's advice but monetise through adsense, to begin with. If any domains show particular strength then you might want to spend a bit more and get that one developed by a web designer.

Even something very basic should be enough to get you started.

I have been experimenting with a HTML editor from PageBreeze.com (I think I downloaded it from PageBreeze Free HTML Editor - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com) which is not bad.

Happy to help if you need more advice.

 

[WaftyCrank]

Interesting RSK3000, believe me if I had the time I would but I think if I got a couple built for me and they started to bring in some £££ then I could use those as a guide to duplicating it with other domains.

I'll take a look at that HTML editor although I do think CSS built sites work best from an SEO point of view.

 

[expertc]

...WP is a blogging, server hungry platform, not always SEO friendly...

Yes, WP is a blog, but SEO and WP - I would disagree. You can do absolute wonders SEO-wise with WP, just have to know the ways

 

[accelerator]

If you can, I would always use affiliate links instead of AdSense, as the difference in revenue terms is massive.

Rgds

 

[springer]

Going the adsense route can be very profitable, according to this guy.

6 Months Later: $300 Daily w/Adsense (Lessons Learned)

Well worth a read and the up to you what/if you implement.

 

[RSK3000]

Well, I think there is a lot to mini sites.

I am trying to build out my portfolio of many hundreds of domains but sometimes I think I would be better selecting a few of my best domains and building them into profitable authority sites. Then I could spend the income on developing out the remaining domains.

On the other hand there is a case for putting a minisite on each domain. These sites will earn income from type-in traffic and perhaps a little search engine traffic, but getting them to rank well is a little hit and miss, in my experience.

Writing two or three pages with 250 - 350 words on each is easily do-able and you could have your first site up after a couple of evenings work.

One thing I have been experimenting with is Amazon Shops. Where a domain has type in traffic (or perhaps residual traffic from a previous owner) you may be able to monetise this by linking the domain directly as I have done with Melodicas.co.uk. Not perfect, and no search engine traffic, but quick, reasonably easy and can result in a small number of sales, if you are lucky. You could be doing a couple of these sites a night.

In my opinion, if you have a couple of category killer domains that have the potential to pay well, I'd put money into building these into top ranking authority sites, and forget the others for the moment........

 

[rob]

Anyone want to work on a nice domain into a larger-than-just-mini-site on a long term rev share basis then drop me an email rob atsign hey dot co dot uk

Have to have some form of experiance and success at non-spammy site build. Success is making money, doesnt have to be thousands!

 

[accelerator]

On the other hand there is a case for putting a minisite on each domain. These sites will earn income from type-in traffic and perhaps a little search engine traffic, but getting them to rank well is a little hit and miss, in my experience.

I keep building out my portfolio slowly, but as far as "real focus" then I have a handful of sites which are my priority. These are the sites where I really try hard with the content and link building. I think it's a good idea to try and get a few authority / good traffic sites that you turn into high quality / high PR sites as well as a network of lesser sites where you are just catching traffic.

Rgds