I agree that a combination of the two is a sensible way to go. The problem with the niche sites is getting the search engines to list them quickly, any tips on how to do this? I tend to list them in free directories and submit articles, but it still takes time to get listed.
I vote for both. I currently have a "flagship" site that accounts for a good portion of my revenue - I am, as pointed out, concerned about getting potentially dropped from the engines (for whatever reason might occur) and loosing my income, hence "both". Another point I would bring up is to diversify the types of site. One that is monetized through adsense, one that sells and ebook, one that sells a physical product and so on. That way you can ride out the seasonalities and oddities of the net and business.
I do all 3 on the same site, selling ebooks, products and also adsense, and I do this for every site.
Their are plenty of ways to get de-indexed in Google. I'm just saying has a 'back-up'. I've just worked with several companies with large sites that were completely dependant on search traffic. If that traffic ever left, they'd go outta business.
Really, the answer depends on how competitive the keyword you're targeting is. You can easily spread out a small niche site into related keywords once it gets P.R. - in essence, becoming the mega site. If a keyword isn't competitive and you can rank for it on a subpage, go for that. If it's a big, thousand searches a day term that you want to rank for on the main page, then sometimes it's better to start a new site so the links can all refer to that term.
Backup sources and ideas are always good. You pick up a lot of great info on this forum so its worthwhile to do some reading and experimentation.
I too think that a blend of both types of sites is good. If I had to choose one or the other, I'd go with a lot of "niche" sites - kind of the same principle as diversifying a portfolio. Both risks and rewards are spread out over a wide variety of sites, which should add up to a fairly stable and reliable income. Sam
Wow! What wonderful suggestions and ideas! I get the feeling that most here (and I am in agreement) feel that a mix of both is best. So what do you think is better to start with? My goal is small $2.00 - $3.00 a day from each site. With 15 to 25 sites. With just adsence. Then I want to expand into other online business areas to make income more stable. But I would like to reach that with the 25 sites over the next 6 months or sooner. So what direction to start that is most likely to get to $2-$3 a day fastest? Thanks for the great info and input you all have given! Jill
Somehow, my definition of niche websites is contrary to this thread. Seems to me, that only sites that have adsense on them are worth pursuing to everyone here. Niche website to me is one that is very targeted, sells one (or few) products, and does not have adsense since such a site is so targetted that it is ridiculous to have adsense. Niche as in selling a particular ebook, software, script that can be of use to someone. I am always amazed coming to this forum to see the sheer numbers of people who want adsense first (at all costs, it seems at times), then a website. Small, large, huge, lot of content, little content, market, etc etc..but always with adsense...odd.
Hi Jill, Based on your goals, I'd suggest that you start with smaller sites - there's no way to really know how a site will perform (both from a traffic and revenue perspective) until you build it, and this strategy will put the "odds" in your favor. Once you've reached your goal, you can take your best-performing sites and develop them into larger sites, and you can repeat this process as you build your business. HTH, Sam