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If you are just beginning in Internet business, either as a new business or as an expansion of or supplement to your already existing business, the size and scope of the firts website you choose to build will be among your first decisions.  A large site has its advantages, among them that it has the potential of becoming an “authority” site.  At the other end of the spectrum, a highly focused mini-site has its own share of benefits.

Here are a few potential reasons that you might contract for a mini-site, or even build it yourself:

1.  A mini-site can rank in the search engine results for keywords with fewer external links than a large site.

2.  It seems logical to start on a small scale and add other mini-sites as I am ready to grow.

3.  I won’t have to have as much written for a mini-site as I would need for a bigger website.

4.  Most of my competitors have small websites.

5.  It is easier and cheaper to build a mini-site.

6.  My spouse told me that I’m not allowed to build a large site.

One could easily put together counter-arguments in favor of a larger site, but that’s not what we’re discussing here, is it?

The rationale of all of those six is valid.  Actually, I have no idea what your spouse said or what the implied threat was for disobeying.  The other reasons make sense only if you conduct the all important preliminary research.  The third rationale is accurate, however, you must recognize that you will need to do some periodic updates on your pages.  The fourth reason is niche specific, and I don’t know what niche you are in; you’re the expert on your niche, so I’ll take your word for it.  All other things being equal, reason 5 is self-evident.

I have written elsewhere about the extreme importance of careful keyword research for a small site.  If you go through that process properly, the first reason is true because you will be optimizing for just a few, closely related semantically, long-tail keywords.  I recommend that you read my earlier article prior to continuing with this one, if any of those terms are unclear to you.

Thus, I am left to address the second rationale–starting with one mini-site and building more in the same niche over a period of time.  Here’s how I recommend you go about that:

1.  Keep that original list of keywords on your desktop–the list that you hired expert keyword researches to build or that you carefully built yourself.

2.  You already implemented your original website addressing that small list of closely related, long-tail key phrases.  At this point, examine the master list for another small set of closely related key phrases; they, too, should have long tails.  Do the same competition analysis for these keywords that you conducted on the first set (as recommended in that previous article).  If this set of keywords meet the same standards applied to those you used in the first site, then it’s time to begin mini-site number two.

3.  Promote this site through article marketing, directory listings and other external link building.

4.  Once that site is on its way toward improved search engine rankings and increased traffic, repeat the process for site number 3…and so on.

Sooner than you think but not as quickly as you wish, you will have mastered your entire niche.  At that point, pause in your empire building efforts, so that you can focus on testing and revising to increase your conversion rates as much as possible.  You may decide to take on a new, preferably related, niche, but not until you are sure you have maximized your traffic and conversion rate.

A solid online business takes time.  Be patient and act wisely, and you will definitely succeed.

Related posts:

1. Large or Small Website for Your Online Business?
2. Large Website or Small Website for Your Company’s New Business?
3. Large Website or Smaller Website for Your Online Business?
4. Large or Smaller Website for Your Online Business?
5. 7 Amazing Reasons Why You Must Start Using Mini Sites