Big Site
So far I’ve just been making keyword domain niche sites for one type of product such as minifridge.co.uk which only features mini fridges and smaller micro niche sites which focus on just one product such as bmwM3.co.uk. These types of sites have done me ok so far and have allowed me to try out affiliate marketing and learn the basics but from what I’ve been told so far the way to make the big (or bigger) money is to build a big site.
What is a big site?
From what I understand a big site, in this sense, refers to a bigger more generic site so instead of minifridge.co.uk you would have kitchenappliances.co.uk with the site having lots of pages with lots of different types of products giving you more opportunity to more sell items. The downside to this is that the niche will be more competitive and as the site is less focused it will be harder to get the site ranked well. But the idea is once the site is ranking well you will be operating in lots of niches instead of just one.
I’ve always been put off the idea of a big site as frankly it sounds like a lot of work and quite a big risk. If you put all that time into one site and nothing comes of it its going to be a big downer. I prefer the smaller keyword domain niche sites as they are quick to setup and you can move onto the next one quickly. Unfortunately I am yet to make the kind of money I would like from that approach so it is time to approach affiliate marketing from another angle.
So today after nearly a year in affiliate marketing I registered two domains for which I am going to build big sites around (you didn’t think I’d start just one big site did you? 
). They are both around areas I have an interest in so hopefully that will keep me interested in the sites longer than I’ve been with my other sites.
I’m going to spend around three days per week on them and the other days updating my existing sites.
I’ll keep you all updated as to my progress which you can see by clicking on the tag ‘big site‘ to see all posts about the big sites.
I don’t expect a return on them for a long while and will be treating them as long-term projects. I will be building them with WordPress and Easy Content Units to begin with but will reevaluate should the sites get too big and unwieldy.
Has anyone else gone down the big site route? How did it pan out? Got any tips or advice?
I’ve gone down the big site route with Campr. Whilst it’s not a pure affiliate site it does have Skimlinks installed (automatically creates affiliate links for *any* link on the site, you don’t even need to sign up with the networks).
The hardest thing is keeping a stream of quality content, it’s so true you need a passion for your subject so picking an area your interested in is vital.
Also I’d say try and build an audience, don’t just try to sell but provide something on value so when you do make a salespitch people will respond. Try and become an authority in your niche, it might take longer to get results but when you do they’ll be much bigger.
That site looks good. I have a camping related niche. It did well in the summer but has now tailed off a lot. How is your one doing?
Was thinking of doing a big camping site but not so sure now I’ve realised they are so seasonal.
How is that site ranking for the various keywords you are targetting?
If I’m honest I’m not targeting any keywords right now.
The site is ranking well for things like ‘camping gadgets’ but at the moment I’m concentrating on audience building (twitter followers, email subscribers, facebook fans etc.)
My traffic has actually grown since the summer but that’s probably because the site only launched at the beginning of June, so hopefully it’ll really grow in the new year.
One off-shoot of having a dedicated site is the free products PRs are willing to send you for review!
Sounds like it is off to a good start!
Do the PRs get in touch with you or do you have to badger them? Never even thought about that.
I’ve just setup my first big site. Its not my main one but hopefully something should come of it.
The PRs have mainly got in touch or individual companies have contacted me via Twitter (one of my best sources of traffic, contacts etc.)
The site is also listed on a few journalism sites that PRs can search.
I have done niche sites and bigger sites.
Big sites are better, get more traffic, make more money, etc. BUT, i would focus all my energy for it on getting traffic NOT from google or search engines.
then you don’t worry about eggs in one basket when you own your own traffic,
don’t get me wrong search traffic is good, just focus your efforts on traffic without engines for big sites and let the search traffic follow
As you have mentioned that you recently got 2 domain names for the “big site” route. Are they general like comparestoreprices.com/pagerank10.co.uk/foundem.co.uk/ukoffers.com types or related to the niches like homefurniture.co.uk?
Dont you think that developing a “big site” in WordPress would NOT be the wise decision in the long run?
All the best.
Hi Affiliate Marketer, what other traffic is there? Do you mean traffic from forums, social media, offline sources things like that? Or something else?
@James
James, great looking site – it looks like a customisation of a WooTheme, is that right? Did you modify it yourself, because if you did, that’s pretty amazing.
Nice site too – useful!
Rich
@Richard Thanks! It is a customisation of WooTheme’s Fresh News. It’s worth the cost of their templates for the support/extra tools they provide.
My background is in web design and I spend far too long fiddling with the site’s design than writing content really.
Whoa!Gadgets looks great. Did you customise this yourself? Love the subtle movement on the subscribe buttons.
yes traffic from social media like you mentioned plus getting solid links from blogs.
get creative, like if you want to make commisions from neck ties, make a neck tie/shirt matcher and promote it to bloggers or a facebook app. just think outside the google box
@James
Ahh cool, you did a good job with FreshNews. I did sign up for a dev subscription a while ago, so I have that, but never really used it.. Oops! Would like to though!
Thanks for the good words about Whoa!Gadgets – it’s a bit of a work in progress at the moment – haven’t yet done too much customisation, but have plans to, hopefully! Getting content and links first, and will go from there