If you are just beginning in Internet business, either as a new business or as an expansion of or supplement to your already existing business, the size and scope of the firts website you choose to build will be among your first decisions.  A large site might become what is known as an authority site; that is certainly advantageous.  However, a small site, often called a mini-site has its share of advantages, as well.

Here are a few potential reasons that you might contract for a mini-site, or even build it yourself:

1.  A mini-site can rank in the search engine results for keywords with fewer external links than a large site.

2.  It seems logical to start on a small scale and add other mini-sites as I am ready to grow.

3.  I won’t have to have as much written for a mini-site as I would need for a bigger website.

4.  Most of my competitors have small websites.

5.  It’s not as difficult, time consuming or expensive to build a smaller website.

6.  My husband or wife forbids me to build a large site!

Anyone could easily construct a list of advantages for larger sites, as well, but that is not the focus of this article.

All of those reasons are valid.  Actually, I have no idea what your spouse said or what the implied threat was for disobeying.  However some of the other reasons are valid only if you do the necessary research before you begin.  Number 3 is true, however, you may find that you will update the content on some of your pages periodically and perhaps even add specific landing pages if you do pay-per-click advertising campaigns.  Reason number 4 is niche specific, so I’ll take your word for your belief that it is true in the case of the market in which you are competing.  All other things being equal, reason 5 is self-evident.

In a different article I have addressed the vital nature of detailed keyword research for a small site.  If you have followed my advice in that earlier piece (settling on a very few, closely related semantically, long-tail keywords), the first rationale is correct.  I recommend that you read my earlier article prior to continuing with this one, if any of those terms are unclear to you.

Thus, I am left to address the second rationale–starting with one mini-site and building more in the same niche over a period of time.  Here’s how I recommend you go about that:

1.  Hang onto that original list of keywords that you constructed (or out-sourced to be constructed for you).

2.  You already implemented your original website addressing that small list of closely related, long-tail key phrases.  At this point, examine the master list for another small set of closely related key phrases; they, too, should have long tails.  Repeat the competition analysis, as described in the previous article.  If this small group of keywords meet the standards suggesting that they imply commercial intent on the part of the searcher, the implement your second mini-site.

3.  Promote this site through article marketing, directory listings and other external link building.

4.  Once that site is on its way toward improved search engine rankings and increased traffic, repeat the process for site number 3…and so on.

Sooner than you think but not as quickly as you wish, you will have mastered your entire niche.  At that point, pause in your empire building efforts, so that you can focus on testing and revising to increase your conversion rates as much as possible.  You may decide to take on a new, preferably related, niche, but not until you are sure you have maximized your traffic and conversion rate.

This won’t all happen in the first month; creating a solid business takes time.  Be patient and act wisely, and you will definitely succeed.