How to Create a Successful Mini-site: Discover Insider Tips From
A Marketing Expert
Nathan Lynch of (www.SuperAffiliateCash.com) interviews Harvey
Segal, owner of "The Ad Tracking Guide" (www.ad-tracking.com)
One of the hottest ways to market on the net right now is to
create what is called a mini site. Usually one or more pages
focused on one theme. Harvey Segal of Ad-tracking.com reveals
some of his hard hitting secrets to affiliate success.
[Nathan] Harvey, I think the name gives it away but can you tell
us about your mini site ad-tracking.com
[Harvey] Well Nathan, I think you've stumbled on tip number one.
You need a domain name which is descriptive, so that people know
immediately what the site is about, is memorable so they can
recall it later, and contains keywords which will improve the
rankings in the search engines.
The site describes how ad tracking programs work, how they
differ, what to look for and provides product reviews.
[Nathan] What made you build this site?
[Harvey] A combination of two factors. When the first ad tracker
appeared about two years ago I found it absolutely indispensable
but later discovered by chance that better and cheaper versions
were available. So I searched around to see if there was a guide
to these products but could not find one.
At the same time the marketing experts were advising us that
niche sites (i.e sites with a narrow focus) were the way forward
and that search engines would favor sites with a common theme
running throughout.
Suddenly it struck me: if I wanted a guide I'd have to write it
myself. And so the site started up - around March 2001.
[Nathan] How does the site earn you profit? Is it through banner
advertising, getting subscribers, or any other methods?
[Harvey] Nathan I've never clicked on a banner in my life, so
there's no way I would use them. There's no advertising at the
site and I don't even have links to the newsletter at my main
marketing site. I don't want to distract the visitor from the
goal of the site which is to purchase an ad tracker, whereby I
receive affiliate commission.
[Nathan] Well I did think that was the plan but I could not see
the usual affiliate links even when I placed the mouse on the
links. Where are they?
[Harvey] I expected that the author of the Affiliate Success
Blueprint would ask that! The links are there all right, but
with a few simple HTML tags, onmouseover and onmouseout, you can
conceal them. You can check out the source code to see how this
is done. It's just that some people are put off by affiliate
links or remove the agent code at the end which unfairly undoes
the hard work of the affiliate in bringing them to the site.
[Nathan] I found the site very easy to navigate and uncluttered.
I'm fascinated by the way you lead the reader through the site.
Did you base this style on any other site?
[Harvey} I'm always on the lookout for good ideas and I file
them away for future use. I continually modify the site to
improve its readability which is so important. It's often a
matter of balance whether to have a very long page or a few
shorter pages. There's no right or wrong way.
As you can see I just have five pages, starting with a short
introduction of why you need a tracker then moving on to a brief
explanation of how it works.
I don't want to deter the reader with anything complex at this
point. By now he may be interested so on the third page I can
let rip with my "23 ways to use an ad tracker".
There's another reason for this page. I can use the Url in a
signature or an ad, such as: Discover 23 unique ways to use an
ad tracker.
By now I should have an enthusiastic prospect but before moving
to the final product review page I have a page of advice on how
to choose a tracker and here's that appropriate place where I
can include a little technical information.
[Nathan] Let's talk about getting traffic to the site. How do
you go about promoting it?
[Harvey] First I'll explain that there's two types of minisites.
You have the one page mini site which is essentially a sales
pitch culminating in an order. I'll talk about these later.
The other type is a site, like this, filled with useful
information, resources and tips and which is not overtly a sales
site. With such a site you can submit to the two main paid
submission engines Yahoo and Looksmart also to the Open
Directory which is free, and be sure that it will be approved.
In contrast a one page is unlikely to get approval.
Also I use the pay per click search engines: again there is the
advantage that other listings will show individual products
whereby a title such as "The Complete Guide to Ad Tracking
Programs" has more chance of apturing the reader's attention.
[Nathan] So do you find the search engines bringing you plenty
traffic ?
[Harvey] They bring a steady flow but not excessive. The problem
is that the keywords "ad tracking" or "ad trackers" are not
highly searched terms: possibly because these tools are not yet
widely known. However with the directory entries it helps to
create a well constructed description using other terms. For
example the Yahoo entry says
Ad Tracking Guide: reviews advertising tracker programs and
their usage in campaign management affiliate marketing and
classified advertising
So I also get hits from searches on "classified advertising" for
example.
[Nathan] So what are your other sources of traffic?
[Harvey] Well here's the real surprise Nathan. I found that
other sites are linking to mine even though I have not requested
them !
[Nathan] What is the reason for this - and how did you find out?
[Harvey] They do this in order to give their own readers a
useful resource. I find these out by examining my site logs,
which tell me from where visitors have come, and by using the
backward linking feature in the search engines.
Many of these links are from directory sites of resources.
But I have found links from personal sites listing it as one of
their favorites, and even a site in another language.
Another example: Allan Gardyne writing in his famous Associate
Programs Newsletter advised.
"If you decide to stick with Internet marketing, I strongly urge
you to NARROW your focus. An example of a marketing site with a
narrow niche is Harvey Segal's www.ad-tracking.com (Type "ad
tracking" into Google and you'll see he has No.1 spot.)
And also of course, just to show how word gets around, you have
kindly offered to interview me Nathan for your newsletter.
I'll also mention what is the quickest way to get word out about
your product. By contributing to the online discussion forums
and providing useful answers to other readers' problems and
putting your Url in your signature. And when the questions are
about any aspect of ad tracking it's easy for me to retain a
neutral stance and simply point readers to the "Ad Tracking
Guide" as opposed to a particular tracker with a blatant
affiliate link.
[Nathan] Now with all this traffic coming I expect sales have
been booming.
[Harvey] Well there's two parts to a successful web site.
Getting targeted traffic and then converting this to sales. You
need both. Lots of traffic does not necessarily mean lots of
sales. And at the start sales were few.
[Nathan] Why was this ?
[Harvey] Well I built my site on the principle that it would be
unbiased and without hype. And I think that has definitely been
a positive factor in getting link popularity and good tributes.
But it was clear that I needed some form of incitement to get my
visitor to the point of sale.
So I tested out little changes, spicing up my sales web copy,
for example with an opening statement "You are about to discover
one of the most powerful marketing tools to be found on the Net"
[Nathan] And did that do the trick ?
[Harvey] It made little difference, so next I decided to abandon
neutrality and pick a particular product, the one I personally
use, as a recommended purchase.
[Nathan] Well a recommendation from the man who created the Ad
Tracking Guide must surely have turned the balance.
[Harvey] Wrong again !
[Nathan] That must have been very frustrating for you because I
know from our conversations that you an ad tracker enthusiast,
using them all over your sites, ebooks, forum postings and the
like.
[Harvey] That's it Nathan. You've hit the nail on the head. I
needed to explain exactly why I was so enthusiastic about that
product and how and where I used it.
So I added "Click HERE to read a special review on why this is
our number one choice" which led to a new page with a detailed
explanation so that readers could see real proof of how it works
for me.
And bingo. Sales soared from that day.
[Nathan] That's a great tip for all site owners. I find a
personal recommendation more convincing than any other factor.
I see you have multiple sites with entirely different content
and yet you link to them from this one. Why would you want to do
that ?
[Harvey] These are the one page minisites I mentioned before.
Actually they are not strictly one page. You need a few more
pages to get a decent ranking so it's an idea to fill them with
useful content but to ensure that there are no distractions
(such as external links) to deflect from your primary goal of
getting the sale.
The reason that I link to them is that Google - which is now the
most important engine - won't index your site if it is not
linked from another site. In fact I have all my sites pointing
to each other to build up link popularity, an important factor
in the Google ranking algorithm.
[Nathan] How successful are these other sites?
[Harvey] They vary. If I find one is not performing I'll "throw"
it away and try another.
[Nathan] Throw it away ? After all that expense?
[Harvey] Minisites are unbelievably cheap these days. The main
requirement I have is reliability (uptime) - I don't need all
the extra trimmings. You can purchase such sites for $20 a year
- that includes the domain name as well !
[Nathan] Can you tell us where to find such resources?
[Harvey] Yes, it's quite ironic. If I started again and most web
site owners agree with this I would not have a big general
Internet marketing site as I have with www.supertips.com. So I
have converted the home page to a discussion about. . .
minisites !
[Nathan] Harvey it's been great hearing about your site and
especially those tips you keep giving us.