The age old question... Does size really matter?

I decided after nearly a decade away from this biz to get back into it and I have to say somethings have changed and some have stayed the same.

Unfortunately for me, it looks like we have a number of real web developers out there that have sites with hundreds, if not thousands of pages for one site. However looking at a few different key word results, I see the really nice sites in the top 5, along with sites that are not so nice to look at with only a hand full of pages on it.

So my question is, does size really matter? If you have one of those sites with a page for each and every casino, software, percentage bonus, banking option..., do you really get that much more traffic or ranking from them?

I'm trying to decide if it would be best to have one huge site or a number of small sites.

Big site:
Pro - google considers it more relevant and you have the higher potential of users signing up for your newsletter or book marking your site.
Con - If you do something wrong and google penalizes you for it, all your eggs were in that one basket...

Numerous smaller sites:
Pro - You can try many different things and for different key words to see what gets top ranking and what not.
Con - If you do achieve high ranking and people are aware you have multiple sites, they can report and get them all banned. Making you not want to jack with this stuff for a decade...

I would do a number of sites. If you're really that worried people could somehow get your sites banned for some reason you could always do private domains on different servers with no similar footprints.

Please excuse the ignorance but how can one person having multiple sites lead to them being traken down?

If you own multiple sites that are on the same subject, even if they are targeting different key words, somebody can submit a spam report to Google. A lot of times when this happens google will remove your site from it's indexes entirely, not just lower your ranking.

It does matter ofc, but it's not the only way that leads to a topposition. Although I think, Google will go more and more for quality sites with information and less and less for those 5 pages websites with crappy content. But for now... it's not impossible to rank with just a few pages.

It's good to have a few sites. 1 or 2 big sites, and a handful of small specialized sites. Of course, you'd need to have enough time to keep them all updated.

BUT if you have to choose between 1 big site, and multiple small sites, I would choose 1 big site. Then you can really focus all your attention on building and marketing one large, authoritative quality site that will encourage repeat visitors, and have a much better chance of ranking than some small mini-site. As far as worrying about someone harming your site, isn't that what the disavow tool is for?

I very rarely see small sites in top positions.. a few years ago 50-100 small websites would make you an income.. with today's algorithm I think it's tough.. Authority sites are the way to go IMO.. Those that usually disagree are smaller site owners.. but it all depends if you want to be a 5 figure type guy or the 6 figure type guy.. Think Big! it's easier to build one Auth site with 100,000 visitors per month than 100 small sites with 1000 visitors each.. The only people who worry about the eggs in one basket scenario are those that have never built a large site.. <i have been hit with a couple of penalties.. but always bounced back.. when you have that much at stake you find a solution

Thanks WP!

I guess I was a little vague on what I meant by a small site. I'm trying to decide between having multiple sites with 20-50 pages or one that has hundreds of pages.

The depends on your approach.

If the approach to this business is using questionable SEO and you think some of it will over-step the mark and be banned by SE's then yes it would probably be prudent to spread the attempts to game the index over multiple websites.

If the approach is producing good content and it naturally relates to one site - then I'd build a big site.
I don't know of any big sites that wish they were really 10-20 smaller ones.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheGooner

The depends on your approach.

If the approach to this business is using questionable SEO and you think some of it will over-step the mark and be banned by SE's then yes it would probably be prudent to spread the attempts to game the index over multiple websites.

If the approach is producing good content and it naturally relates to one site - then I'd build a big site.
I don't know of any big sites that wish they were really 10-20 smaller ones.

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To echo what Gooner said, if I look at the affiliates who make the most money, they all have larger "authority" type sites, not smaller ones with a handful of pages.

Good luck!