Add New Pages or Build New Sites?

When it comes to building Affiliate Sites, the big question is whether you should add new pages to existing websites, build a new website for each and every micro-niche, or use sub-domains...

Which of these options you choose depends on what your overall goals are, so here are the things you should take into consideration when making this decision:

Sub-domains are treated like separate domains, or websites. The content (or pages) on one sub-domain are not counted towards the overall size of the website on the root domain name. (subdomain.domainname.com)

Sub-directories are part of the root domain name, and all of the content (or pages) within a sub-directory counts towards the overall size of the website on the root domain. (domainname.com/subdirectory/)

Web Pages should serve as stand-alone Landing Pages, each with their own "call-to-action". You have to keep in mind that the search engines index pages, not sites, and that each web page is potentially an entry page into your site. More web pages equals more opportunities for top 10 search engine listings, which means greater traffic potential.

When it comes to making the sale, the main focus is the single page that the visitor lands on. This should either be a product page-- or a content page that leads them into a buying decision.

Web Sites are 'judged' based on their size and quality. While this hasnt always been the case, Google has recently proven that they prefer larger content-based websites that offer unique content over 'mini-sites' or 'landing pages'.

The larger your website, the more internal links you will have pointing to each of your sub-categories and web pages. These internal links (links from other web pages on the same domain) combined with external links (links to your web pages from other domains) count towards your overall Link Reputation.

Going Deep vs Going Wide

Personally, I like to start out with a broader niche or topic, and then use categories and sub-categories (internal pages) to target the "micro-niches" within that general topic.

To illustrate this strategy I'll use "pets" as the broad niche, and assume we are using the domain PetCrazy.com. On the main page of this site you can feature each of the categories that you cover, and then set those "mini-sites" up as subdirectories on the main domain name - like this:

PetCrazy.com/cat-lovers/
PetCrazy.com/dog-lovers/
PetCrazy.com/bird-lovers/
etc...

Within each of those categories you can then target the specific needs (ie keyword phrases) of that micro-niche - like this:

PetCrazy.com/cat-lovers/cat-toys.html
PetCrazy.com/dog-lovers/small-dog-sweaters.html
PetCrazy.com/bird-lovers/bird-cages.html

Alternately, you could also use subdomains instead of sub-directories and set your site up like this:

cat-lovers.petcrazy.com
dog-lovers.petcrazy.com
bird-lovers.petcrazy.com

The only difference between using subdomains and subdirectories is in how the overall internal and external links count for the root domain name. With a subdomain, all of the internal and external links only count for that particular subdomain or section of your overall site. With a subdirectory, all of the internal and external links across each section count toward the overall site.

If you plan to build out each section with great depth, then subdomains would be a fine solution. But if you only plan to include very few pages for each of the different sections, it would pay to use subdirectories instead.

If you do plan to go into great detail and offer a lot of content for each of the micro-niches, you might ask why it would be better to use subdomains than individual domain names. To be honest, there isnt much difference in those options - but there are two things to consider when making the decision between using subdomains or individual domain names:

Interlinking If you use subdomains, interlinking each of your 'sites' is not a major problem. Since your main page is related to the topic, you can link back to it from each of the subdomains and also link to more general sections on the main site - such as a discussion forum. If you choose to use separate domain names, heavy interlinking of each of your sites could be considered 'spam' to the major search engines, and adversely affect your ranking potential.

Cost & Availability Finding a cool domain name for each of your micro-niches may prove to be difficult. If you are using subdomains, you only have to worry about purchasing one domain name - and then you can use almost any set of words you can imagine for each of the subdomains.

Outside of purchasing the domain name(s), there is usually no additional cost to set up subdomains or even add-on domains. An add-on domain is when you point other domain names to the same hosting account, allowing you to set up multiple sites on one server. While not all Web Hosts offer this option for free, HostGator does. They allow you to point up to 50 domains to your one account, and/or set up unlimited subdomains.

If you are targeting niches or even micro-niches that are not closely related, then you should use individual domain names for each 'site'. Here is an example of being general and unrelated:

copywriting.lynnterry.com
mortgage-loans.lynnterry.com
pet-supplies.lynnterry.com

Obviously you would not (should not!) interlink sites like these, and since they are completely unrelated they would be best served by using individual domain names. In addition to your Search Engine Marketing strategy, you should consider the branding of your website and whether it appears credible and professional to your target market.

An intelligent person could easily strip the URL down to the root domain to see what you have at LynnTerry.com, and even do a simple search to find out what all is associated with that domain name. If they are seriously considering hiring you or making a purchase from you, and notice that you dabble in all types of unrelated markets... they may think twice about doing business with you at all.

The best strategy is to go both deep and wide within your niches. Going deep means to cover your niche (or micro-niche) in great depth. Going wide means to cover multiple niches or micro-niches in your overall Internet Marketing portfolio. For example, you may have PetCrazy.com and cover all of the subcategories for pet-lovers on that one domain. And then you may also own MovieCrazy.com and cover all of the topics in that niche as well - etc, etc, etc.

Keeping all of this in mind should help you to build solid online empires that result in long-term success in Internet Marketing!

Best,

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Learn Internet Marketing! This article is a current issue of the SSWT Newsletter, which is part of the free online community & information site that I manage.

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