Why not try to make ONE big online store?

I see all these IM'ers trying to make 100's of smaller websites that link affiliates to get paid. Then try to keyword for those 100's of websites.


why not just pick a larger exact search keyword and try and open your OWN online website selling your OWN products you bought from a wholesaler. Then you take that small business and watch it grow as you move up the SEO ladder to the 1st page rankings.


What am I missing?

Wouldnt it be much less time consuming and overall more profitable to make ONE big online website than 100's of smaller ones?

Please correct my thinking here because everyone seems to do the opposite of what I am thinking.

Thanks!

You could certainly do that if you want. Building larger "authority" type websites has its advantages and disadvantages. One major advantage is that as you become an authority within your niche, it requires less and less work to get higher SERP rankings for newly published pages.

However, it is often easier to start and rank a new niche website that has an exact match domain, which is why so many guys are now going the micro niche route.

I have both types of websites and they both work very well, it really depends on which suits you the best. I would however, recommend that if you are going with larger websites, that you have more than one earning money.

When you create an income from a single website you are at the mercy of Google and advertisers/sponsors etc. If Google updates their algorithm or makes a change in some way it can a loss in rankings which results in a loss of earnings. Try to stay away from becoming dependent on a single site and diversify into several large authority websites that cover several different niches/industries, to protect your earnings and assets.

Another option is to combine both strategies into one. ie. create a large "hub" site and then a bunch of smaller micro sites that target specific terms related to your hub site. Once you get those micro sites ranking use them to direct that traffic to specific affiliate/product pages on the hub site.

Win32 said:

Because you won't sell anything.
Wal-Mart already took that niche and own its ass.

Click to expand...

huh?...lol

so NONE of he online stores that actually sell their own products are making any money?

A couple other points that were missed. With an online business you're also at the mercy of the suppliers. Best sellers that you worked your ass off getting in the SERPS can be discontinued or you need a new supplier because your old one quit carrying the item. They can raise the prices on items after you've already worked your ass off building a website around their product line, cleaning up their data and pictures and suddenly you're not competitive against similar products. They can build their own retail websites and pretend they're owned by others and sell items at cost plus 3-5% to cover processing fees. Then you're competing for the same retail customer with your supplier kicking your ass (happens all the time on eBay and in dropshipping). With a website selling products you have to qualify and maintain a merchant account. This means you must have good credit and deal with chargebacks. Figure losing 2% a year to fraudulent chargebacks even if you run a tight ship. You have to support all items you sell, working with carriers and customers when claims arise. You have to answer all emails and man a live telephone if you want to keep complaints at bay. You have to pay taxes, file business licenses, resale tax certificates, comply with Federal, State and Local business laws. You get to deal with the State Attorney General's Office and the BBB when customers go ape shit and file complaints to anyone that has a free online form (happens even when you answer your phone 12 hours a day and answer all emails). You have to deal with sales men that realize you have real websites and think your telephone number is only listed so they can call you 5 times a day offering their SEO and Security BS packages.

Why do real website owners selling their own products get into IM and work so damn hard at it? There are a few of my reasons and I make damn good money selling my own products but dream of the day when I don't have to deal with that BS anymore and just market other people's shit and let them deal with the headaches.

Best regards

Testing has shown that a "single action" page is the best way to go - at least for the average marketer. A single action page is a page that focuses on one product only. Often, if a marketer has a page with 4 or 5 or 20 products for instance, the prospective customer will be distracted and end up not buying anything.

Cheers! - "Wiz"

Getting suppliers and building a big store is a much better long term play, but like most long term plays it takes lots of time and money. My most recent big store (6 figs in sales, SEO traffic only) took 9 months and 20K until i was out of the red...

***edit*** lol. last post here was in 2010... oops.