Build Brands Not Mini Sites

Years ago there was a trend to build domains into mini sites. Mini sites are basically small websites with 5 to 10 pages of content. The idea was to create these sites and put up ads and affiliate links to generate revenue. In most cases, the content was low quality and recycled or spinned articles. For some time it worked. However, eventually search engines caught up with the scheme. As more and more mini sites became live, the more the search indexes became filled with what essentially was spam content. Content quality and quantity became more important to reach top search word ranking. Here is why you should build brands, not mini sites.

According to the website, Marketing Bitz:

“Good branding can, in turn, improve your ability to catch the consumer’s eye on those search engine results pages (SERPS) and gain more clicks. Brand recognition also helps you climb higher in the search results because consumer recognition and trust help you rank higher with Google.”

What is involved in building a brand?

It is not as difficult as it sounds. Here are top ways to create a brand:

1. Catchy or memorable domain name. Preferably in the dot com extension. Dot com is the most globally recognized top level domain.

2. A good logo. It doesn’t have to be complex. Think Apple, Microsoft, eBay, Amazon, etc. Good logos are simple yet display creativity.

3. Matching social media accounts. The most important are Facebook and Twitter. But if you can acquire matching names in other social networks then it will increase the value of your brand.

4. Content development. Now it is time to create content for your brand. Think quality and quantity. Naturally it will take longer and more effort to build a brand as opposed to a simple mini site. But if it is not worth the effort then don’t even begin. We will delve into content development in other articles as this is a big topic.

5. Lead generation. Make a way for visitors to sign up to receive updates and special offers. You can have an umbrella email list that covers the visitors who visit your brands.

This is only an overview of creating brands. There are many factors that go into each of the above points that we will consider in future articles. Clearly, building brands is a more intensive project than building mini sites. But the long term benefits are far greater.