Following on from my post about my son doing some mini-sites for me, I wanted to mention some of the sites I have had done by professionals (and members of this forum).

Firstly, I have to say that I have many hundreds of domains, and I just want to do something other than park them.

I have used the services of three members - Jonathan, Paz and Djuqa. What they have done for me has been fantastic. I'm not into saying one is better than the other, because they all have their own styles, and I think that's great.

And because I have a lot of domains to develop, I'm going to keep using all three designers. It will be interesting for me to compare rankings and ROI at the end of 6 months.

One of the sites Jonathan did for me was www.BankruptcyInformation.com.au. This is now ranked Page 1 on Google, and I'm very happy.

One of the sites Paz did for me was www.HotModels.com.au - already this is on Page 1, and has the potential to earn a lot of income.

And a new one that Djuqa did for me will no doubt be right up there very soon. Have a look at www.StradbrokeIsland.com.au - this was a different project to a standard mini-site, and I love it.

I recommend them all! Just remember one of the first laws of ROI - you have to spend money to make money!

Cheers, Ned

Neddy
Thanks for the Great RAP
Some regular style minisites I have done for Ned

• Tax Adviser
• Local Accountant

As for great ranking on Google
Minisite.com.au is
#1 for minisite on Google.com.au
#1 for minisite on WebWombat.com.au
#2 for minisite on Yahoo7.com.au & minisite.info is #9
#9 for minisite on Bing.com

Remember this, a Minisite is not my hobby or pastime, they are MY Business.

__________________
Managing Million Dollar Sites since 2004

Thanks Ned, it was great working with you!

I'm happy to keep working for members of dnTrade for a reduced price to help boost the .AU domain industry.

I just had one question in general re minisites, and here seems as good a spot as any.

I notice most "made for adsence" sites and sites that would be classified as mini-sites seem to not have logos, or to put it another way their logos are basically always just the site name in a single colour in a very basic font - normally white Arial on an image background, as well as looking a bit the same in some respects.

The question I am curious about is (as someone with far more experience in "normal" website than adsence mini sites): Is this intentional, or just a cost thing / different skill area thing?

By this I mean, are they done like this because the developer is trying to keep costs low and graphic design isn't a major part of their skill base, OR is there some proven formula that says "if you look a certain way people would rather leave by clicking an advertisment"?

BTW I am NOT a graphic designer and end up either outsourcing that part or just doing my best depending on the project budget, perhaps this is what others are doing also?

Thanks
Matt
www.marketingweb.com.au

Graphic logo design is one of those areas that cost money, but have no direct earning power.
Minisites rarely need a logo for brand recognition



BTW MFA (made for adsense sites) are a NoNo, real minisites have More content than ads.

__________________
Managing Million Dollar Sites since 2004

I only use graphic logo's when I'm building a brand. Minisites have no real brand and don't need to build a graphical representation of the site for people to recognise and identify around the web.

Graphic elements on a site can be the difference between making $1 a month or making $100 a month.

I believe all the above sites listed are "made for adsense" sites.
The sites are not really adding much value to the internet.

Ned's goal out of this is to get as much ROI as he can, and putting up these mini sites will result in more income then if they are parked.

I would like to the see the return on these sites.

djuqa, pax, and Jonathan, from previous sites, how long on average will it take to earn back the $XXX ($169 from djuqa) price for a minisite?

__________________
I'm Jamison Banham - Freelance Web Designer - Find me on Twitter!

149$ actually is my price to dnTRADE members (less for Qty).
One metric you missed in your calculations is that the minisite does not have to pay for itself. It adds value and can be resold with the domain.




Plus with over 600 minisites of my own and clients completed. They are not MFA sites. I use more content than ads, the content can be edited & replaced and the sites can stand alone without the adsense.
Indeed some of my highest earning sites use aff. links only, just like your Pretty HTML Boilerplated Affiliate sites which @ 84$ an hour will cost more than my $149 (less for qty).
I have tried various combinations and adding graphic elements like a logo adds very little added value & almost no extra income.
But if needed can be added simply and quickly by my graphic Designer.

__________________
Managing Million Dollar Sites since 2004

A follow up question

If one had the time/efficiency and ability to make a site with a proper logo that looked a bit more like a "regular" site rather than a mini-site/MFA whatever you want to call it, would revenue be better, worse or the same, on average?

Or another way of saying it, ignoring cost/development efficiency, which would get more click throughs? (would like to see a couple opinions here if possible).

Thanks,
Matt
http://www.marketingweb.com.au

As a graphic designer I can understand you feel that way. I don't believe it is as important as most people think it is most of the time.

Although I wouldn't call them made for adsense seeing as there are better ways to monetise them, they can be seen as in the spirit of MFA sites. These sites were designed to get clicks - but I think there is one key difference between how and why they get these clicks.

They are not made to TRICK people into clicking.

The content I write is broad and filled with nice keywords, but it leaves the viewer needing more information and asking questions. A good place to find answers to these questions is by clicking the conveniently (but not deceptively) placed ads.

I'd rather come across a minisite than a parked site!

For these particular sites? Would be interesting. I'd say Jonathan's site might earn the most because of the average CPC of the niche. There may be more traffic to hotmodels though - I haven't checked the searche volumes for them all.