lots of niche sites or 1 big authority site?

So I feel like this is an age old question now that I've been kicking it around for a month...I want to start affiliate marketing, and my niche has lots of sub-niches. I'm torn between starting 4-5 sites or just 1 massive authority site.

Please if all that you have is an opinion keep it lite and simple, I want to hear from the people who have done it.

Which way did you do it (1 or 10), and do you still feel it was the right way?

 

Well, as someone who used to own 40 ACTIVE websites, I'd say go with less and stronger. I know have few sites (portfolio, a Romanian blog and a Personal Finance blog). They all get me revenue and/or web design clients. I'm able to earn more money, by working less hours. And, since there are few sites, it's easier to develop them, increase traffic and income.

 

3-4 sites isn't a lot. I thought your post would say 20-30 sites. Running 3-4 sites is a good thing as you get some kind of diversification. And if one of the sites takes off then you make an emphasis on that site while reasonably maintaining the other ones.

 

you need to maintain at least 10 sites

 

Thanks for the replies...I think from an SEO standpoint I would want to go with 1 site.

 

Start with one site and build it out...It will be hard to maintain 10 niche sites. You will have to keep on updating it with content and eventually some will die off..

 

100% agree with this. I have 2 sites currently getting 50-75K hits a month, and the passive revenue is leaps and bounds more than when I had 6 smaller sites.

 

So you've fallen for one of the get rich quick late night informercial type scams, do go on...

Regardless of the type of site niche's are important when establishing a new site or series of sites as it will let you find gaps other people aren't filling... this is MORE true when competing with dozens of others sleazing together off the shelf answers as your ONLY hope of it being viable is finding the handful of people who aren't just going to say "screw it" and drop into e-fence or Amazon.

After all if it was so easy and so profitable, everyone would be doing it... more people that do it, less viable "multi level marketing" and other such things become... It's why things like Amway, Mary Kay and Vector knives have all the business legitimacy of a ~2003ish 3AM TV commercial for "make money fast in real estate" did during the market bubble. (Actually not fair to Amway or Mary Kay, they can be very profitable if you sell nothing and just focus on duping others into being under you in the pyramid... Oh wait, did I say pyramid?)

The comparison to Vector Knives is apt; affiliate marketing is the same door to door salesman scam, just reworked for the Internet age... and when the current bubble bursts the people who've deluded themselves into thinking it's a legitimate business are going to be out on the street or flipping burgers for a living.

That said, BRANDING is equally important -- having a recognizable tie BETWEEN your niches gives you the two-pronged approach. See the classic business model of "greedy branding". You make all those separate little niches customized to the needs of each sub-group, but you tie them together either on a single site or off subdomains of a single master domain. That way you can be agile and adjust to customer needs specific to a niche maximizing it's profit, while maintaining that "well maybe if they're interested in this niche they'll look at the other stuff".

IF you're going to do it, why can't you do both? While I consider MLM / AM / etc to be a bunch of scam artist BS, IF you're going to try it don't look at questions like this for a black and white answer!

We are Grey, we stand between the candle and the dark...

 

well earning wise 4-5 sites can get you more but time investment will be more so will be the monitoring hence 1 big good site may get you less money at start but its worth since in long run it might pay you more.
Regards

 

It is diffuilt enough to run one site, much less 5 or 10...it is less difficult when all of them
are fully populated with content, even then, with multiple sites you have multiple updates, and
it is hard to focus when you are running from one site to the next, fix this, update that, this
routine can become tiresome really fast, and if you cant get one site to where you need it,
then what makes you think you can get 5-10 sites to where you need them, and it may take you
much longer because you are constantly diving up your effort, time, resources, money, etc...

I run across single affiliate sites all the time that are making $100k to $1m per month/year...
they are this successful because they branded themselves 10 years ago, and riding strong today,
and they do not need 5-10 sites promoting the things just at different angles. You can just as
easily have one site, and still diversify your monitization methods, and it is far easier to do
this when try to setup 5 or 10 sub-niche sites. Just make sure your niche will not be a dead end in the future.

and dont try to cheat your way to the top, it may take a few years
before you start making the money that you want to see, and it does not
matter if you setup one or five, and no matter what you setup, because if
it is worth setting up, then you can bet others have already setup too, and those
affiliate sites I mentioned took them years before they could quit their day
jobs, and today is another story, with more competition, may take you longer.

There is nothing wrong with setting up a 2nd site, however, I would not
even go through until your first site is somewhat established, and underway...

I know the greedy nature in people says, more is better. if I have 5 sites, then
I will make more, and that is simply a false sense of security, so unless you
are a master mind, and know everything about design, content, seo,
marketing, link building, etc...then just start off with one site. It is not a hard
process, but with steep competition, it is long and time consuming process...

By starting off with just one site....
you will be doing yourself a favor...

Authority or not, if it is meant to be then you
will be making money long before google considers
you any type of an authority in your field. People throw
authority around like it is something easily achieved...
it is not as easy as you think... WikiPedia is an authority...

I have seen affiliate sites that are authority, however, their
sites are many years old, and they publish deep, well researched
content as you would not believe, and they do it themselves, and
like i said, you should be making money long before then....

It does not matter if you go with 1 site or 5...none-the-less, no
matter which way you go, it will be time-consuming, and you have to
think long term (years) If you are setting up, and thinking you will
be profitable in 30 days, you may just as well, shut it all down, then
go look for a long term job, as this is how it ends for most, and most
do not think about the long term cash investment it will take, or did you
think those backlinks just fall from the heaven raining cash all over you...
I am not going to keep ranting, there are many factors you need to consider...
if you see this as a legit business, then there will be investment involved...
just setting up a site and thinking it will take care of itself will be total fail....