You are a new online business owner, and the last thing that you need is another decision. I’m sorry, but I have one more thing for you to consider: What should be the size of your first website?
There are two competing views on this quandry and both have studies to support them. Of course, if we automatically knew which was the preferred way to proceed, there wouldn’t be a decision that would have to be made at all.
Before I get into the pros and cons of each side of this dilemma, I should let you know what this decision does not impact. The question is not related to how big your business will ultimately become. Businesses that operate a number of tiny sites can grow as well as those that concentrate on one major “money site.” It also is not necessarily impacted your target niche. The planned size of a website in the beginning can lead to ultimate growth and financial success of the business as a whole.
In other words, the answer to the question is not automatic, and I’ll warn you right now that I’m not going to recommend the “one magical size fits all” approach.
Small websites should be concentrated on a narrow sub-niche built around a cohesive, limited set of relatively long-tail keywords. Sites that are designed to become quite large eventually will develop most of their content in the same focused way, but they will also begin search engine optimization on the shorter, very high competition keywords at the same time.
The growth models of the two are very different after each has satisfactorily mastered the beginning, narrow sub-niche. Businesses that begin with a large site as the eventual goal, with fully develop one small sub-niche, then gradually add new sections dedicated to other sub-niches onto their original site. Those who initially built a small site, with intention of always leaving it small, will take a “duplication of success” approach, as they gradually add more an more individual sites to their virtual empire of tiny websites. Thus with each new department in the mega-site model, there is a new set of search phrases upon which to focus. These sites are built upon what is often called the “silo” structure. As the large site grows to twenty departments or categories, the business with small sites might grow to twenty or more individual websites.
As a general rule, the mini-sites can establish positive cash flow more quickly. This is partly due to such a business not investing resources into those most competitive, high level keywords. Conversely, the silo sites will take longer to mature, but they can eventually become competitive for the top level keywords as they simultaneously enter the fray for the more tightly targeted words and phrases. Eventually, the silo site might become recognized as an authority in the broader niche.
Let me move now to some of the important practical matters that are impacted by your decision on this important matter.
The first has to do with start up cost. Although you’re still beginning relatively small with the site that you plan to become large, the foundation for a larger site must be laid. That means that the site’s eventual architecture must be created and the systems put in place that will eventuall become necessary for operation. Consequently, although the mini-site and the eventual mega-site may be the same size at launch, the model for the larger site costs more at start-up. Mini-sites are much less expensive to build than it is to build the foundation for a larger business site.
The ways in which you think about your keywords is another important difference. Your keyword research for a smaller site will be undertaken to locate a limited number of closely related long term keywords. Special attention will be given to those keywords that are likely to convert immediately (keywords that are sometimes said to have “commercial intent”) If you opt for the silo site, you will be splitting the focus of your keyword research. In one way, you will be imitating the search of your small site competitors by looking for those longer tails that are higher converting, but you must also identify all of the high traffic keywords so that you can begin to attract visitors who are gathering information rather than ready to make a decision to buy or sign a contract.
The last practical ramification has to do with page rank. The number of pages in a site is one of the variables that is part of the page rank algorithm, assuming the internal linking structure of the site is well optimized. Consequently, it is easier for a large site to achieve a high page rank than for a small site, although you must remember that other variables are even more important in maximizing the total page rank.
I trust that I have given you some things to think about and apply to your unique business situation, despite the fact that I have not given you any clear cut decision with respect to which alternative is the best option for you.
Tags: business plan, Internet Marketing, management, start-up, Website Design