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.