A Web Builder’s Dilemma

A Web Builder’s Dilemma, Is The Mini Site On Its Way Out?

With the advent of “The Google Slap” where thousands of Internet Marketers with sites that were nothing more than Google Adsense and very little or no content, lost their engine indexing overnight. Business went down the electronic drain, and any kind of page rank was a dim and distant memory. Although a hardship for many, keep in mind that Google’s goal has been to trim out the spammers, and bring back real content in the search pages. It appears to be working.

A lot of information has been made available recently, along with specific content tools being created, that are in the “white hat” variety, and will help you in your search for ways to develop the right kind of content, and bring traffic to your sites. A lot of people have been questioning if this has also been the death knell for “mini sites.” This article is intended to provide you with an overview of what is evolving, in the arena of content site versus mini site.

First of all, here is one of the beauties of building a mini site. It allows you to focus on specific information that will be meaningful to a very targeted population. You can follow your heart and build mini sites around topics you really love. Do you love art? Better yet, do you love ceramic art pieces? Find a pottery how-to book that is selling well, or some needed tools such as a potter’s wheel or ceramic hand-building tools that are good sellers, and assemble your mini site around these products. Mini sites are designed to SELL, and your mini site could quickly harvest immediate and profitable results.

Many Internet marketers expect to get these kinds of immediate results from their content sites, which are based on organic search engine placement. This is a much longer process, and these marketers don’t understand that the task of a content site is not to SELL, but to “pre-sell.” Given what search engines want, which is lots and LOTS of real content, then large content sites are much better for attracting search engine traffic. The secret for their unbeaten high ranking on the search engines, is that every page is built with a highly profitable keyword as its core, and this creates an incredibly content-focused page. Done correctly, it’s almost impossible for the engines to ignore such a page.

By offering informational knowledge products such as helpful articles, reviews, white papers, and resources, you will educate your buyers. Over time, based on the trust and connection you’ve established, as well as the quality information that teaches and informs, your visitors will enthusiastically buy your recommended products because they’ve come to trust you. Also, you are putting together a rock-solid credibility history, which is imperative on the Internet.

A theme-based Web site such as this will consistently over-deliver great content while at the same time, leverage fair and secure interaction with the search engines. This type of site will lead the engine spiders unfailingly through your site, creating highly visible links in their pages that will remain effective as long as you keep that high level of content on your own pages.

You are creating real content, and the engines love you! But, returning to the theme of this discussion — what does this mean for the Mini Site and its rather impressive history? Are mini sites destined to die?

We can easily see that there are many benefits for both the content site as well as the mini site. The question, then, might be: Is there a “hybrid” type of site that might embrace traits from both types of Web site?

What took you so long to ask? Enter stage right {drum roll!} — the Mini Theme Site!

A mini theme site is a dead ringer for (but smaller than) a huge content site, but with a crucial difference: It is firmly focused on just one portion of a theme. Build around a topic you really enjoy and one that addresses your readers’ needs, optimize it for the search engines, and be ready to hang tight for superior upcoming results, because you are now ready to achieve success.

We even think this concept deserves a title with more impact… Let’s call this new breed of Web site a “Mega Mini Site.” which will have both the characteristics of a mini site and those of a content site, but its primary purpose is still to make the sale.

Of course, you might lose some visitors with clicks to your other pages and perhaps some external links. But if you consider the other rewards like repeat visitors and increased search engine traffic, the trade-off seems obvious.

You might even consider linking several of your mini sites together within this overall concept, which also will achieve better search engine rankings.

To tell the truth, at this point in the Internet Game, the best strategy really is to combine the two types of sites in the manner we’ve just explored. You will have a large content site to rank highly in the search engines, and this in turn will feed traffic to your mini sites.

No matter which way you go, you must specifically design your site for your potential customers. Provide them with the information they desire and solutions for their needs, and be sure to consistently mention the benefits of your products. You will reap the rewards!