5 Ways To Dominate With Micro Sites
Micro-sites can be very useful and profitable. All though not always appropriate, however it is worth the discussion in any SEO campaign.
1. Develop a viral content blog
Viral content is truly amazing. One post on the front page of Digg can result in thousands of visitors and links. On average, 1,000 inbound links per top page digg. Well worth the effort.
However, it is difficult to get a commercial site on the front page of Digg, and it may even be a violation of Digg’s terms of service (and others sites as well). For example, you are not allowed to submit content from ecommerce sites to digg.
Post the content on a viral blog with a separate IP address. A couple of weeks after a blog posting goes viral, “sale” the content to your commercial site.
Use a conditional 301 redirect to point the link juice at your commercial site where the content is featured. The 301 should only redirect traffic NOT from digg or the other social bookmarking sites. Googlebot and search traffic all find their way to your money site.
2. Become your own affiliate
Having two sites in the top ten for a search can help you dominate the competition, especially if they both have indented listings. Setting up a separate blog with reviews, sometimes critical reviews, of items that you sale. If you can’t write a detailed review because you have not used a product, conduct research of other reviews done on amazon.com and other places on the net. Clearly state your research and what you found.
This can also work for lead based websites. If you build outdoor kitchens, why not create a photo blog containing the most beautiful designs you and others have created and casually link to your own site and other providers you are not in competing against. A photo blog that is optimized for Google images should attract very targeted traffic.
3. Become an Ebay powerseller
Ebay is a great way to make money. If you sale items on ebay, build a site and join their affiliate network. Build a funnel site to stream traffic to your items. This would be especially effective if you have an Ebay store with lots of products. Another advantage is that you can earn affiliate commissions off of items that you sale on Ebay.
The reason I really like this approach is that you can build value over time for a web property that you own. Who knows, maybe one day you will want to dump Ebay and just sale from your own ecommerce store.
Its a great way to get back some of those pesky Ebay fees as well 
4. Sniper Sites
Some of us have the attention span of a kitten. Seriously…a kitten with ADD. Don’t get me wrong, I am in some projects for the long haul…with thousands of hours invested, however sometimes I need short projects that are fun and pay quickly.
So, instead of a site with tons of content that is targeting 1,000’s of keywords and will need to make many thousands of dollars to even break even…I build 10 sites that only have 10 pages of content, and target 20 keywords. I expect these sites to make make anywhere from $500 – $5,000 per year.
It appeals to my creative side and I don’t get bored and abandon the project before there is any payoff.
5. Build inbound links for links
I am not a big fan of link farms. As a matter of fact, I think they are for the most part useless, Google is just to good at sniffing them out. However, I have found a useful way to use them:
- Build the farm. Automatic content is great. Notice, I did not say steal content. Do a search in Google and find blogs or sites related to whatever you want them to be related too. Link to them and and feature what is in their description tag. Most blog and site owners will find this useful…I know I do, heck its a free link. (Use seohosting.com for hosting your sites)
- Never interlink the websites…did I say never, I mean never.
- Get a link to your main money site somewhere
- Point several links to the website featuring your newly acquired inbound link to build its link juice. Some of the link juice gets passed along to your site.
Never build a site unless it is going to at least pay for itself through ads or affiliate commissions. I usually spread several different types of networks across my sites to decrease a pattern or footprint.
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Wow Jason!
This one jam packed post with SEO strategy. The whole 301 idea is fantastic.
By the way I love the kitty picture- so cute
All the best,
Eren
.-= Eren@ homemaking´s last blog ..How to cure anxiety through God Bible study =-.
Excellent information, I like especially like #1 and #5. Nice images as well.
@George,
Thanks George, glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks Eren, I like Rambo kitty…he is my favorite. Hope you can use some of the ideas.
Can’t wait to read your post…sounds really good
There’s a ton of SEO goodness here!
I’ll have to come back a few more times just to digest it all…
You clearly have a lot of experience driving traffic and influencing rankings.
Thanks!
.-= Darvin @ Ionic Air Purifiers´s last blog ..Ozone Air Purifier – Warning! =-.
Ha, that’s a great idea about setting up more than one site for a particular niche, I’d never thought of doing that before! I wonder what the limit would be – reckon you could dominate the entire top 10?
@Pete, as a matter of fact, you can.
In that case, do you think it’s worth the effort? Or would you be better off getting one, maybe two sites in the top 10, and then moving onto a different niche?
it’s a nice posting , good work
.-= rachti´s last blog ..Is It Risky to Build a Business on Sites for AdSense? =-.
That was a nice idea and it is very useful to new guys in the market.
But if you have some heavy funds then you can simply start pointing to your websites. It will have same juice like your one. But sales will be made sooner.
But it is still the best trick.
Give articles away via one of the many article distribution services, such as EzineArticles, iSnare or GoArticles. You can also pay to join a service like SubmitYourArticle, which will submit your article to dozens of distribution sites
.-= Ben´s last blog ..Firebug :: Add-ons for Firefox DOWNLOAD =-.
Some great SEO and money making tips. I will also have to come back and digest all of the info here!
Jason these are all some pretty handy tips on SEO. I sometimes think that this is an impossible science – just when you think you have it down, Google bowl you over. One service that I have also found useful (as part of a broader strategy) is Article Marketing Automation. There’s alot of writing involved, but content seems to be the name of the game in SEO.
This is good resource. I once saw an article on Wheel of links and wanted to know how it works. I think this is a more advanced and in depth on how to use it.
Thank you for sharing.
That was a nice idea and it is very useful to new guys like me.As a fresher it would help me a lot. I would like to thank you sharing the information.
I like the cat with a rifle. That said I totally appreciate your taking the time to write about how to dominate once niche.
Thanks for the great post.
If you have some heavy funds then you can simply start pointing to your websites. It will have same juice like your one. But sales will be made sooner.
Love the image of the kitten snipping! One other method I feel is worth mentioning is giving away free items. Whether this be an ebook, firefox extension, widget, ect, this will bring alot of traffic and links.
Definitely don’t go for link farms. Last thing you want to do is get slapped by Google.
.-= Kai@seo´s last blog ..Keywords That Sell =-.
I like the tip for “Develop a viral content blog”. It gives me some ideas for several sites to follow that strategy. Thanks for that tip.
Hmmm…and here I was thinking link farms are completely useless and may endanger your site. I’ve got to try this now
.-= Darren@New Honda CRV Philippines´s last blog ..Tweeters =-.
Thanks for the tips a couple of nice takeaways here. I particularly like the sniper site system. I even have a couple of ONE page sites setup last year that make around $200 per month each on autopilot. Time to build some more I think!
LOL – I realized when I got to #4 that ALL my projects are “sniper” projects. Oh well, at least I won’t get bored!
Thanks for the great list!
I like using the link farm idea in #5 but not directly to your site. That makes sense. You site will not get hurt by Google. Thanks for the idea.
We are a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our neighborhood. Your post provided us with valuable information to work on.You have done a marvelous job!