I could go on and on about why building minisites is not a business model I recommend (yes, money can be made but there are LOTS of better ways to generate revenue out there) but it would be pointless given the fact that the reasons should be obvious if we apply a bit of elementary school logic.
First of all, let me define what most domainers consider a minisite and take it from there. According to most folks, a minisite is a website which has let’s say 5 – 10 pages of unique content, a custom header and is monetized via Google AdSense. That’s pretty much it, feel free to check out some of the various minisites domainers provide as examples on forums and you’ll see that my definition applies to most of them.
That being stated, here’s how an elementary school teacher would explain the way things stand with these minisites:
1) The guys who are running the Google search engine hate you. They do not want their listings polluted with sites which do not provide any real value. If you think that your 5 or 10-page minisite actually provides value, you couldn’t be more wrong.
2) The guys who are running AdSense hate you as well. Why? Because your average 5 or 10-page minisites represent MFA (Made For AdSense) websites in their eyes. In case you were wondering why so many people get banned from AdSense, the answer is simple: MFA sites are against their TOS.
3) Everyone knows that the folks who are running the Google search engine and those who are running AdSense all work for the same company. As a result, it’s safe to say that if you’re building minisites, Google hates your guts.
In other words, your business model is 100% dependent on a company which hates you.
You want Google to send traffic your way, yet they hate you.
You want Google to send money your way, yet they hate you.
Need I say more?
July 4th, 2010 at 5:27 am
I know a friend brought his small site on top of google and he had to work a little for it. After he was there his rankings only lasted a few weeks then he was buried too low on google to get anymore traffic. He worked too much for just a few weeks traffic and like you say google hates him now!
July 4th, 2010 at 6:52 am
but for a beginner are they alright to learn??
July 4th, 2010 at 7:06 am
so ,
would u classify the sites-powerred-up-by-Epik as minisites ??
thanks
July 4th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Great take on mini sites. I agree they can be successful. (Though out of 100 I have had, not one made more revenue, not one grew the traffic, not one showed any results whatsoever and these were domains with traffic) But they are limited plus all the other things that you suggest that are spot on. Especially about Google.
I think we need mini 2.0 that does not use Google and comes with a cash register that you control.
July 4th, 2010 at 8:51 am
“If you think that your 5 or 10-page minisite actually provides value, you couldn’t be more wrong”
I disagree with your above quote.
When I am looking for an information on an internet, sometimes just one paragraph of information about the searched item satisfies me, sometime one page does the job. Therefore 5 to 10-page of information on subject in many niches are more than enough for most (may not be all) of the needs of users of search engines.
July 4th, 2010 at 9:07 am
To monetiza using adsense is very frustrating. Since they are so demanding and pay so little. I rather work with CPA or peddle digital content.
July 4th, 2010 at 9:33 am
Google hates to pay for what he is giving and is normal!
If most of your traffic comes from Google and in addition you are asking to be paid for it (through AdSense) so what will happen is Google will dramatically affect your serps and your site should fall to the troublion, not immediately but wen the fall down will begin get sure you will need years to restore it.
July 4th, 2010 at 9:45 am
@fromthenet: nope, you’d be building on a shaky foundation and that’s not exactly something I’d recommend
@Eunice May: this article refers to the most common minisites (“According to most folks, a minisite is a website which has let’s say 5 – 10 pages of unique content, a custom header and is monetized via Google AdSense.”). I’ll write a post about the various other types of minisites out there shortly (later today or tomorrow) because I think the “are minisites worth it?” debate deserves its own series of articles on DomainingTips
@Rick: there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s a huge difference between a site that makes the Internet a better place and a minisite. You’ve made it clear that when building sites, you have to build businesses on your blog and I couldn’t agree more. But what about people who own thousands or tens of thousands of domains? How many businesses can one person realistically build and run? This is probably the most important question domainers are asking themselves and I’ll refer to it either later today or tomorrow in a blog post which will let’s just say be a lot longer than this one
@Peter: I run a content writing business and we’ve written thousands upon thousands of articles so far. The #1 thing I always teach my writers is this: no filler junk. There’s authoritative content (content which actually provides value to the reader: I’m talking about articles which contain lots of data and where it’s clear that there’s more involvement from the author than a 2-minute Google search) and then there’s filler junk which was simply written by someone who churns out article after article in order to make a fast buck. Now when it comes to most minisites out there, I have one simple question for you: are the articles authoritative or filler junk?
July 4th, 2010 at 11:22 am
You said “Then there’s filler junk which was simply written by someone who churns out article after article in order to make a fast buck. Now when it comes to most minisites out there, I have one simple question for you: are the articles authoritative or filler junk?”
I think in your blog instead of generalizing minisites as 5 to 10 pages, you should have been more clear to mention “minisites with authoritative content” and “minisites with filler junk”.
In that case title of your blog should be “Why Minisites With Filler Junk Are NOT a Viable Long-Term Business Model – An Elementary School Teacher’s Explanation”
If Google and Adsense were to hate minisites, it is simple to count number of pages of a website when they crawl and just ignore websites with max 5 to 10 pages. But that doesn’t happen. I see many one page to ten page unique content websites on page 1 of Google.
July 4th, 2010 at 11:26 am
There’s a lot of truth to what you write, but there are exceptions for mini-sites. If the content is helpful and related to the domain name, chances are it will help people searching for that information and it is a useful site. If the domain for the mini-site gets type in traffic, then the search engine ranking doesn’t matter much anyway, and it’s better than parking.
I agree that mini-sites that are churned out with gibberish filler articles are crap though, and I know what you mean there. I just wouldn’t paste all small sites with the same brush.
July 4th, 2010 at 11:53 am
@Peter: saying that would have been way too vague, kind of like saying something like “good sites are good, bad sites are bad” 🙂
As I have mentioned previously:
“feel free to check out some of the various minisites domainers provide as examples on forums and you’ll see that my definition applies to most of them”
Again, most 5 to 10-page minisites do not provide value to the visitor. Not all but the vast majority.
@domain report: in my opinion, if you do not want to generate traffic and want to rely on type-in traffic instead, parking your domain is usually a MUCH better choice than building a minisite.
Why? Two simple reasons:
1) Your CTR with a parked page will be a lot more impressive. You can make a lot more money by developing a domain if and only if you generate additional traffic. If you want to simply monetize a website’s type in traffic, building a minisite is just not worth it IMO
2) Since, as mentioned previously, most minisites suck, people will have no real incentive to check out more pages. They will simply leave after landing on your homepage and never come back
In other words, the folks who arrive on your site (again, I’m referring to the 100% type-in traffic scenario) will leave right away with both parked pages and minisites, simply because they do not have a valid reason to stay. With a parked page, they will at least be far more likely to click on an ad.
July 4th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I think Google is mostly interested in making money. They do have to protect their brand and so we hear a lot about Matt Cutts and ‘quality scores’. But if Google really cared about the overall quality of information on the internet they wouldn’t be providing ad feeds to parking companies, they wouldn’t be monetizing bulk-content sites like eHow, and they wouldn’t offer products like Adsense for Domains.
Can you tell us a little more about:
“LOTS of better ways to generate revenue out there”
“I run a content writing business and…”
July 4th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
@John: why wouldn’t Google provide an ad feed for parked domains? Domains will be parked anyway, they might as well make some money. The important thing is that parked domains do not pollute their search engine. I can’t stress this enough: they don’t care about the overall quality of the Internet, they care about the overall quality of their main product (the search engine).
They don’t hate minisites because they have nothing better to do or because a domainer who builds minisites for a living pissed off the CEO, they hate minisites because they don’t want their search engine polluted with listings which don’t provide value to the average visitor and are doing everything humanly possible to discourage minisite builders (search engine penalties/AdSense bans).
Regarding my content writing business, there’s a 125×125 banner on the DomainingTips.com sidebar and as far as the alternatives to minisites are concerned, I’ll try to post a series of articles this month.
July 5th, 2010 at 6:29 am
What about the concept of using
mini sites to “marinate” domain
names but not really as a revenue
model?
By that I simply mean you can put
up a decent mini site with some
“non flller content” and actually
add to it a little and get a few
links now and then to get the domain
“aged” and up the search engines
a little for the end user. And maybe
pay a few reg fees along the way..
Mini ehows.com really
Thus creating more value than a parked page.
When the end user sees his “very needed”
domain on the 3rd or 4th page of Google
the sale is always easier. Believe me.
PLUS as we all know the jump from that
site to full blown one (and the 1st page of Google)
when the end user gets (or YOU decide to build it out)
it is easier. And you can explain that.
July 5th, 2010 at 7:26 am
@Mike: by doing that, you would be making less money than by parking the domain. Content costs money or (even worse) time and since you’ve mentioned that you want the minisite to be decent, you will need a custom design as well and that also costs money.
In the end, you’ll end up building the very same minisites (5 to 10 pages or even less in your case) that I’ve been criticizing through this article 🙂
July 5th, 2010 at 8:44 am
What if a search for a specific keyword niche brings up only commercial providers of its product or service, but no basic explanatory information portal site(s) which offer general a overview of the topic? Should we just give up and let Wikipedia and/or About.com monopolize the field – all the fields?
July 5th, 2010 at 9:19 am
Dear Andrei
i feel that nobody knows and that is why there is a debate here it is very difficult to try and tell people that have domain portfolio`s
that building out is not correct with 5-10 page mini sites
the problem is that people with large portfolios are looking to develop at a low low prices and more often than not in some sort of automated way and this (please dont shout at me ) is a american misconception because guys and gals that have been involved in domaining have earnt very high incomes through parking previously
with not to much hard work so why invest $200 + per site why there are companies out there that will do it for $49 + but these are auto generated sites that google is going to dislike .
authority mini sites do work in conjunction with a keyword heavy domain dependant on the density of competition so you have to use your commonsense . Development of domains is very similar to development of property and domain developing is very similar to the game “MONOPOLY)” easy to get rankings on the property on the 1st section in uk like old kent road and more difficult for park lane
and the income potential reflects this . you would never expect a $100 site to make it in “debt consolidation loans ” but like the last writer said if you had it on page 3-4 or 5 and has been indexed and trusted for 2 years then it becomes a heck of a lot more valuable than the domain name only sale potential . thats a no brainer .this is what business is creating value for potential purchases .while trying to earn a income along the way , and to just through another thought in most websites that are developed i think you will find that they are between 5-10 pages anyway
its all about meeting expectations and you can only do this if you can deploy the correct amount of resources dependent on what you are trying to achieve. and that what we do at http://www.DomainManagement.net
we advice you and help with you portfolio developing depending on what you want to achieve
July 5th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I’ll write a post about the various other types of minisites out there shortly (later today or tomorrow)
because
I think
the “are minisites worth it?” debate deserves its own series
of articles on DomainingTips
__________________
expecting
esp whether or not google will treat the epik-powerred sites as “minisites”
many deep-pockets would b very interested
thanks
looking forward
July 5th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I believe that there are many factors that play into the success and failures of mini sites…..
I have dozens of mini sites that all rank in the top 5 of google and receive tens of thousands of unique visitors and thousands of dollars in revenue (90% from adsense)
I agree that the content must be useful and the site cannot be MFA (made for adsense) – I have actually tutored people on this very concept and they are on their way to success.
The bait and switch model will undoubtedly get you in trouble but good useful content can do the trick! Mini sites can also be used for CPA deals, email acquisition and affiliate offers….you can use them to ‘marinate’ other domains you want to boost…..
July 5th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Mini sites, MFA (Made for Adsense) might (most likely) will get knocked. However “portal” sites that have direct inquiry forms or linking to you, your partners websites and or direct advertisers will never get knocked off the engines. While having some affiliate links, or other ways to monetize (other then adsense), you will be fine.
I believe Google is only kicking those useless MFA sites to the back burner in terms of ranking because why should they send you traffic and then money for advertisements? However if you have a good keyword domain, 5-10 page site optimized surrounding that topic, then you’re set for top ranking for a LONG TIME.
Just be sure to update at least once or twice a month to show Google you’re an active site.
Don’t let anyone persuade you about mini sites. Its only the MFA sites getting burned, everything else is doing wonders.
July 5th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
But they need good original well written content
July 6th, 2010 at 12:11 am
Great information, thank you very much. The break down of the sections was simple and to the point. Helped me a lot.
July 6th, 2010 at 3:12 am
With all due respect Andrei you are talking
about “long term business models”. The idea of
building the mini sites for cash flow is one
model. Those are advanced parking pages nothing
more.
Now I understand that Google doesn’t like sites
that don’t produce value for the searcher and
the web, frankly neither do I. Yes my sites
require a little more effort and investment.
And what I’m doing takes a much more of an investment
type mentality and approach then building the
sites strictly for cash flow.
I call it SERPequity or SEOequity. Where you, as the
current owner, build in value for the next owner
because you know how. Not because you can explain
how to later when he’s staring at a parked page that
is not indexed.
When he is looking at the 1st, 2nd 3rd or 4th page of Google
and he needs that for his business, it makes a little more sense to him. Thus the “long term business model” becomes selling the domain/”mini-site” for much, much more, delivering more value and making the web just a little better.
The content may not be CNN but Demand Media ain’t
doin to bad. All these sites are generic enough to morph into my
customers business in just a few days.
Years ago I used to carpet rental houses dam near every time
a a tenant moved out. About ten years ago I started putting tile in
them all. Guess which one works out cheaper in the long
run — in the REAL world?
It’s been my experience that SERPequity is real. Building it up
is smart.
We know how to create it, our customers do not.
It is our job to do just that.
It’s simply good business.
July 6th, 2010 at 8:14 am
@Mike: building minisites with the intention of getting them to rank so that you can sell them at a later point is unfortunately not a viable long-term business model either. As mentioned in this article, Google hates you and it’s only a matter of time until your sites get penalized.
Being penalized by Google is something which unfortunately lowers the value of a domain considerably. Most end users will not be technically savvy enough to figure out that a domain has been penalized but by hiding the truth, you’d be doing something that’s just plain wrong.
If you’re monetizing the websites, Google will consider them either MFA sites or thin affiliate sites, depending on the monetization method you are using and that will get them penalized faster.
If you’re not monetizing them at all, you can delay the inevitable but you’d have to invest money in order to build the sites, get them to rank and maintain those rankings. If you own hundreds/thousands of domains, it adds up and that brings us right back to the very point I have made through my two articles: yes, money can be made but no, it’s not a viable long-term business model and there are far better options out there.
July 6th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
check out the other thread explained if the best way to do this
July 9th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
I have been telling domainers not to develop minisites in the first place and instead develop every domain fully in its own niche like a games site for domain like games.co.uk but domainers think that they are more intelligent than webmasters of established websites, so let them learn this the hard way after they spoil some big $$$ on minisites, because they won’t learn the lesson without doing some costly mistakes by themselves.
Post’s like yours might be eye-openers for some but some others might still be paying those minisite developers thinking that they would be successful with adsense and post a new topic claiming your topic to be wrong 😉
Well, im waiting to meet domainers who are successful with their minisites for 5+ yrs, but till date i have seen none of them alive 😉
July 10th, 2010 at 4:02 am
Post’s like yours might be eye-openers for some but some others might still be paying those minisite developers thinking that they would be successful with adsense and post a new topic claiming your topic to be wrong 😉
July 12th, 2010 at 9:02 am
What need to I do to have my website for the top of google do I need to hire an seo organization or can I do it myself thanks for the help
July 14th, 2010 at 3:40 am
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July 25th, 2010 at 6:16 am
Thanks for this 😉
July 25th, 2010 at 6:20 am
They don’t hate minisites because they have nothing better to do or because a domainer who builds minisites for a living pissed off the CEO 😉
July 28th, 2010 at 12:59 am
“My twins are in 2nd grade now so it took until now for me to really put the materials to good use, but I intend to use them more and more over the next several years periodically since there is great materials here for older ages too!”
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August 1st, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I wonder how this will change twitter’s search – for twitter to sell ad space on search shows that obviously there’s a lot of value behind the twitter search market.
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:31 am
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August 28th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
these expectations are unreasonable. The top google rankers are sites which have spent millions getting there.
September 25th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Good day could I use some of the perception found on this blog if I offer a hyperlink back again to your site?
September 29th, 2010 at 1:12 am
I dont agree. If the minisite has good quality content and users found the site via search and meets their keyword needs then what is then what is the problem?
This makes for good user experience and that is what Google is interested in. People found what they were looking for and they will use the search engine again. If not, Google go out of business.
October 23rd, 2010 at 10:08 am
its not that Google does not like mini sites, Its website with low quality content, sometimes unreadable – a mini site which provides great content whether it be 5-10 pages will not get punished, They are a number of examples out there.
April 1st, 2011 at 2:13 am
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December 3rd, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Well i thought i would love to enlighten people more about this topic
since it 1st took off i was laughed at kindo off but who has sold and got xx,xxx Gbp for a number of sites sold this year
i am really glad i dont listen to these so called experts that tell you not to do thins like mini sites etc
i do make mini sites and i do make good money from the internet in this line of developing keyword heavy domains fact simple ,
i use what a call the “short shirt method” get them on page one and then people will contact you and ask if its for sale , no more no less , this is basic and then make a relationship and inform if another comes your way like the last one you will mail them
sometimes i offer interest free credit 6 month- 10 months
and realease the domain when the amount is paid in full
and if are dilinquent by more than 21 days over the entire period
they loose any money paid and the domain , after all your doing them
a interest free deal right , so they should not take the piss
i have been able to move over xxx,xxx gbp in sales by allowing payments , and these clients come back for more , and most of them are seo guys , that now do there own projects , rather then work for clients
Best of luck all , i am sure i will get a slagging off by my romanian
friend but i am not bothered as the truth always stands tall
DomainManagement.net
December 3rd, 2011 at 2:29 pm
@Steve: on the Internet, saying things like “over xxx,xxx gbp in sales” is not enough, you as a service provider need to prove each and every statement. Since you’re the one who is selling something, the burden of proof is on you and not anyone else 🙂
February 1st, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Well best thing is if you know of Acorndomains.co.uk in uk
I deal there a lot and have a great reputation there.also many connections i have can vouch for me , but hey does it really matter
as at least i am not spam 🙂 and i am consistent,
have moved office now from Romania to India
yes where we are making lots of mini sites because they so good
Domains ARE nice but – Websites sell for more fact 🙂
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