In my last post about Blog Networks and what you thought/think about them - would you sign up… my brain went out on a tangent and I started thinking about the sites that I currently have up and running.
Should I try my hand at creating a little network of my own sites - giving advertisers an opportunity to see all that beautiful ad space across my little network of sites. Or should I just hold off… and see where my little venture in the health/fitness world takes me and go from there. I find it a lot more fun being able to bounce ideas off other people.
My idea for a network wouldn’t be me and a bunch of other bloggers… it would just be me showcasing the sites that I have. I’m repeating here, but it’s mostly for advertisers to see what’s available and advertise - and give me an opportunity to be more pro-active in my advertising (and probably make more money than what I’m doing now with mostly PPC and CPAs).
I’m in a bit of position too - because I’ve been “hiding” (if there is such a thing on the ‘Net) my sites… and I’m a little hesitant in showcasing them… putting them out there. But the other side of me is like “Hello, this is the Internet… you WANT people to see your sites - get traffic - word of mouth - sell, sell, sell!!!!”. So I think I’m just going to take a deep breath and do it. Put my sites up in my “network” and see what happens.
…. and to be totally honest - it’s a site - that will list my websites - give you an opportunity to advertise… or view. That’s about it. I currently have ZERO interest in trying to get anyone else on my network… because I just wouldn’t know where to start.
That’s why I’ve joined a new network - for health/fitness related blogs - to learn… you never know where this will go… I might even have a chance to encorporate some of my other sites into this new idea.
… enough thinking…. LOL… back to the ol’ grind 
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December 8th, 2005 at 10:28 am
I’ve often thought about doing this myself, however I’ve stopped before because of:
a. Isn’t it a potential penalty for linking domains together too much? I’ve read this multiple times, but in the wild I see many of the biggies doing it very often (the seopen firefox extension makes it a breeze to see what IP a site is on)
b. If you have a strategy for picking a niche or put much energy into it. Once a visitor realizes you’re really researching a niche, they don’t have to. Just start sites on the same topic you do. More competition.
Now b I’m not worried about much, but a keeps me wondering. I definitely agree with the point of the whole building sites thing is to get your sites seen.
Recently looking into the subject (want to have all my sites listed on my company domain) I ran across this site that may be helpful:
Hub and Spoke Linking
December 8th, 2005 at 11:10 am
I agree with you on (a.) because my sites share the same IP - also I don’t really see a point in linking lets say Dance Music with Gift Baskets… I don’t think I’d get many clicks - and it isn’t in the same area of interest for the visitors… so I agree with you. I also don’t want to be penalized.
I took a look at the article you sent about the hub and spoke approach. I think that would be the way to link… if I decide to do it. Good article by the way!
*gah* this is a hard decision.
December 9th, 2005 at 2:28 am
In my opinion I believe you should not link all of your sites together as a network.
If you want to attract advertisers you could alwats include a list of your sites and traffic when conversing with potential advertisers.
There does not seem to be many benefits to having a network of just your own sites.
For networks to work I believe they need to be made up of a diversity of site webmasters under the same topic, such as the health an fitness network.
The benefits of this is you can be part of many networks and benefit from a wider range of traffic, and targeted at that.
December 9th, 2005 at 9:12 am
You know Allan, you’ve got a good point there.
The benefits of this is you can be part of many networks and benefit from a wider range of traffic, and targeted at that.
That’s not a bad idea - include sites in different networks - and reap more benefits as in more traffic/targeted traffic. Which I think a lot of networks are lacking in this big blogosphere of ours.
… and with that I think I’m just going to hold off on listing all the sites.
Thanks Mark and Allan