Benefits of multiple small sites pointing to your main site

Everything to do with using your own website to advertise your rental property. Design, usability, hosting, getting listed on the search engines, optimising your site, pay-per-click, etc, etc.
craigkillick
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:16 am
Location: Cyprus
Contact:

Post by craigkillick »

Following my previous advice, I thought I should actually take some of it.
I have an off-plan being built in Cyprus in Pervolia in the Larnaca Region. It's quite quiet but I've gone long-term for golfers and families, etc.
I have bought the following domains based on my thoughts for searches:

cyprusgolfvilla.co.uk
larnacavilla.com
larnacavilla.co.uk
pervliovilla.co.uk
pervliovilla.com
pervoila.co.uk

I actually intend to build small 1-2 page web sites for each of these domains that link into a main site (I might even centralise the data and feed it into each of the sites using reference pages so when I change it on one, it changes all of them). These pages can be very specific and qualify that you fit the criteria that someone may search with, for instance, the golf version will be all about golf, the district about the district, etc.

These have cost about £70 for two years all in and to host them will cost about £40 each (will only do one for co.uk or .com not both - I will set the otehrs to forward)) so that is approx £195 per year. The return in value of owning those domain names far exceeds what I would have to pay using google ads, etc.

I am not suggesting this is the defacto way of choosing domains, but when I consider all I need is an extra weeks rental and it pays for the lot, it seems like a good investment.

I am sure, if you refine your markets you can also find a relevant domain name.

It's not my intention to preach (I've just reread my post before I press Submit) but I hope it may give you some ideas!
User avatar
paolo
Posts: 3885
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:18 pm
Location: Provence, France
Contact:

Post by paolo »

That is an interesting approach and raises some questions:

Is this splitting a website into little bits and giving each bit its own website, with a view to spreading the net and gaining from the inbound links to the main domain?

Are you going to write at least the villa page a different way for each site? If you are centralising some of the content, won't that mean that only one page with that content will get indexed as it is duplicated content?

Is it a concern that people may see your property several times on the different sites and be put off because it seems like something fishy is going on?
Paolo
Lay My Hat
craigkillick
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:16 am
Location: Cyprus
Contact:

Post by craigkillick »

Not really because each page is specific and it only leads in one direction.

If you are a golfer you will come in through that site, etc. See below.

Image

The golfer will not see the Larnaca site and vice versa. It's not spam because each page is specific with different content. I am selling the same thing just in different ways. The message is set up to be more specific for each customer.

I will have to make sure the content of the specific pages is very good though (which I will work hard on).

This technique has the potential to attract the traffic. The sell will then need to be made with the web site. I will not be tricking the search engines because I will deliver good content.

The other advantages of this approach is that I could create affiliations with relevant local organisations (golf clubs/shops, etc.) This will add even more SPECIFIC value to the sales proposition.
User avatar
paolo
Posts: 3885
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:18 pm
Location: Provence, France
Contact:

Post by paolo »

This is a good idea for people who want off-season bookings too (almost all of us). You could have a site which only tells you about the property and area in the autumn/winter and what a great time of year that is to visit.

Also for specific target groups - e.g. walkers, birdwatchers, sailors, wine buffs, chateau-fanciers.

Your main site you want to aim at your core market, which is typically families round the pool in summer. But this way you could get all your messages out without 'interference' between them.
Paolo
Lay My Hat
craigkillick
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:16 am
Location: Cyprus
Contact:

Post by craigkillick »

Exactly it Paulo. The more specific you can be the better, birdwatchersinfrance, etc. (perfect).
Highams Park Harry
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:33 pm
Location: Payzac 24720, Dordogne, France
Contact:

Post by Highams Park Harry »

treading a fine line I fear, google is suposedly always looking for ways to be conned and at heart this is isn't it

suspect you'd get rumbled possibly by the dreaded duplicated content, especially if the sites are clearly linked to each other
Dordogne Holiday Cottage, sleeps eight
http://www.ruedelagare.co.uk
craigkillick
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:16 am
Location: Cyprus
Contact:

Post by craigkillick »

Sorry, I disagree.

There is SPAM and there is delivery of relevant content - Two completely different things.

The fact that I will give different messages to different groups of people with specific information, but which shares SOME content is not spamming.

You only have to look at the syndication (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_syndication) of RSS and XML feeds. It's exactly the same concept.
Highams Park Harry
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:33 pm
Location: Payzac 24720, Dordogne, France
Contact:

Post by Highams Park Harry »

only my slightly educated opinion based on your 'generic content' bit

if you're not duplicating content then you're spreading your content out across multiple sites surely

you'll know best but from your own admission this is an attempt to get better ratings in Google searches isn't it and that's always something that needs care, today's great idea is often next years penalised acivity as google gets better and better

just a casual observation, I never ever ever accused you of spamming
Dordogne Holiday Cottage, sleeps eight
http://www.ruedelagare.co.uk
craigkillick
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:16 am
Location: Cyprus
Contact:

Post by craigkillick »

Harry

Sorry for my somewhat defensive reply (just re read it)

You are right of course about Google - it is a fine line. But one that this technique doesn't cross. If anything, it embraces the technologies and web 2.0 principals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2). W ... or us all.
Highams Park Harry
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:33 pm
Location: Payzac 24720, Dordogne, France
Contact:

Post by Highams Park Harry »

good man

I do appreciate the angles part of it although that should be doable from within a single site shouldn't it with correct keyword optimisation and so on?

it just strikes me as a way to get inward links at bottom which is the great bete noire of google surely?

never heard of web2, off to see now

why not you do it first and see what happens? report back in a year or so, I ain't even finished the bread and butter angle one for my single place yet!
Dordogne Holiday Cottage, sleeps eight
http://www.ruedelagare.co.uk
Highams Park Harry
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:33 pm
Location: Payzac 24720, Dordogne, France
Contact:

Post by Highams Park Harry »

'A consensus on its exact meaning has not yet been reached.'

just skimmed through that web2 thing and I have read all that before

don't think it really defends or recomends your idea, if it's al about promoting your properties then it should be on one site to my way of thinking

unless you're 'genuinely' running sites about aspects of holidays in the area with a link on to suitable recomended properties
Dordogne Holiday Cottage, sleeps eight
http://www.ruedelagare.co.uk
mvus
Posts: 118
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 8:56 am
Location: Andalucia, Spain

Post by mvus »

I once worked for a firm who registered over 150 domains for different locations in Spain but they had another with similar info on one large site plus a database of property

The large one always ranked far higher on search results than the small ones for location info

When all the mini sites were linked together they dropped off the rankings completely so they had to be removed and linked just to the one main site. At the end of the day it wasn't worth the time or cost
craigkillick
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:16 am
Location: Cyprus
Contact:

Post by craigkillick »

I feel that this is a different scenario to the one I have mentioned.

That is web spam - this is web aggregation
craigkillick
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:16 am
Location: Cyprus
Contact:

Post by craigkillick »

mvus
Posts: 118
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 8:56 am
Location: Andalucia, Spain

Post by mvus »

craigkillick wrote:That is web spam - this is web aggregation
These were at least 10 page sites with lots of info as opposed to 2 page sites that you are proposing and the content was different on each (different areas)

I don't see how one can be called spam and the other aggregation if both are trying to get results on search engines by splitting content on different sites and not duplicating it
Post Reply