I would be happy to get some opinions on a question which has been bothering me for some time. It concerns the approach on setting up one or several websites for promoting Amazon and other affiliate products. My question is: Should I set up one website on which I focus all my efforts or should I create several websites to promote related products. Let me use gardening tools an example. Approach One would be to set up one WordPress blog containing firstly, general information on gardening tools and secondly, categories on specific tools like pruners, loppers, cultivators, watering equipment, etc. Each category consists of general articles on the specific tool as well as reviews on selected products. Approach Two would be to set up several websites each focusing on one of the mentioned type of tools. Again there would be general articles on the tool in question as well as reviews on selected products. There will be no inter-linking between these websites and all are on different IPs. From my point of view I see the following advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches assuming an equal input of aggregate time, articles, effort, and link building resources: Advantages of Approach One: Setting up only one website opens the possibility to create some kind of "authority" site which has a certain weight in the eyes of Google. All linkbuilding efforts can be focused on one website. Advantages of Approach Two: Having the main keyword(s) in the various domain URLs provides an advantage which cannot be gained when setting up only one, more general website. The websites are more strictly themed giving the authority for the topic they are focusing on. Disadvantages of Approach One: The main keyword(s) is not in the domain URL, therefore the SEO advantage gained from this is not used. Disadvantages of Approach Two: Assuming an identical volume of efforts on both approaches each website created according to Approach Two has a smaller weight in terms of content and authority. Linkbuilding efforts have to be split among several websites. I would be grateful to get some input on my points and especially which approach should be favored in your opinion.
Hi Senner, Straight to the point - I would go with approach one. Firstly it means less things for you to have to manage and also Google seems to be favouring larger sites in the rankings for the last couple of years. Having an exact match domain still carries a significant amount of weight, but (in my experience) less so than in the past. Long-tail rankings (which can account for a significant amount of traffic) in particularly require a high authority domain to be ranked well. Saying that however, both methods are valid, and you seem aware of the pros and cons of each. I would just add to the disadvantages of approach 2 by saying less long-tail traffic will be brought in, especially in the long-term.
For me, if you don't have any time to dedicate on your work, I'll stick to approach one. But if you have a workforce who is willing to do all the difficult jobs for you, then choose the latter. If you are just starting out, I prefer approach one then see how things will go. Good luck on your quest!
Approach one work best, especially when you peak a general keyword for overall niche. The long tail keyword is really work well and also if you provide same SEO effort for each page that you give for an exact match domain, it will become more effective.
From the first approach you will learn the most, and the profit potential is higher. If we where in 2003, I would say do both, but times are different now. One website with quality content/structure will do better in the short term and long term.
a couple years ago, approach 2 would be better. Now, approach 1 is better. It is easier to rank in the google serps with one authority site than many little ones at the moment.