Mini Site Creation

[DNBro]

Could anyone give brief information about mini site development? Really I’m not good in this matter.

Please provide the name of some mini site builders, those are offering good layout, unique content and maximum number of pages plus optimization in a NOMINAL charge.


Thanks
BS

 

[Varon]

You could contact Hark on this board. He is an expert on minisites. He also has a post here on minisites.

http://www.namepros.com/parking-and-traffic-monetization/297059-mini-site-experiment.html

 

[ablaye]

You could hire a relatively cheap web designer from India who can design the pages for you.
I would stay away from automatic site builder.

 

[harkster]

Tough question because there is no 1 solution to building mini-sites. I have names with 1plus but have not tried Why Park. I try to refrain from commenting on them except to say they have a place in the overall scheme of things.

I do develop a number of minis with some successful and some not. If you want to develop yourself some knowledge of HTML and PHP is almost a requirement but there are other options.

One can purchase template(s) which I think are not to hard to use.

I build some sites from scratch -- actually my own template(s) where I just change colors and the general layout of text, ads and affiliate stuff.

I have recently started using Content Management Software packages (CMS) for some of my projects. I can sometimes have very basic sites up and running in 2-3 hours time. Drupal (www.drupal.org) has been my favorate as it has a shallow learning curve. Its SE friendly URL names seems first rate. I have 1 site which has been up for less than 3 months and recently was granted a PR4 by Google. The biggest flaw I see is a very limited number of themes/templates and honestly not as powerful as Joomla type packages but often all that whiz-bang stuff is just overhead and makes things much harder to learn.

I am giving serious thought to using Post Nuke (www.postnuke.org) for a project just to give me another option.

You must also consider hosting. I have a reseller plan with (shameless plug) www.httpme.com. Not cheapest but first rate and they don't oversell their servers. A hosting package with C-panel and Fantastico is a real plus as both Drupal and Post Nuke along with many other Open Source applications can be easily installed.

I have recently started working with a content writer from India. The company has a service where they will create a, I think 5 page site for quite a bit under a hundred bucks. I think they also guarantee content to be original -- a very, very, very BIG plus. I would have to go back and look but as I remember they also mentioned a 'secret' SEO program. The content they have provided to this point is very good but does need some style tweaking -- well worth the cost --. BTW did I mention that original content is IMPORTANT.

Is a NP member. Don't everyone jump on this but PM me if you would like to talk to them. I have NO relationship with them other than writing content for me.

Are ya'll suffering from 'hark ramblings' overload yet? My typin stick just broke so gota shut the hell up.

 

[Mike]

Tough question because there is no 1 solution to building mini-sites. I have names with 1plus but have not tried Why Park. I try to refrain from commenting on them except to say they have a place in the overall scheme of things.

I do develop a number of minis with some successful and some not. If you want to develop yourself some knowledge of HTML and PHP is almost a requirement but there are other options.

One can purchase template(s) which I think are not to hard to use.

I build some sites from scratch -- actually my own template(s) where I just change colors and the general layout of text, ads and affiliate stuff.

I have recently started using Content Management Software packages (CMS) for some of my projects. I can sometimes have very basic sites up and running in 2-3 hours time. Drupal (www.drupal.org) has been my favorate as it has a shallow learning curve. Its SE friendly URL names seems first rate. I have 1 site which has been up for less than 3 months and recently was granted a PR4 by Google. The biggest flaw I see is a very limited number of themes/templates and honestly not as powerful as Joomla type packages but often all that whiz-bang stuff is just overhead and makes things much harder to learn.

I am giving serious thought to using Post Nuke (www.postnuke.org) for a project just to give me another option.

You must also consider hosting. I have a reseller plan with (shameless plug) www.httpme.com. Not cheapest but first rate and they don't oversell their servers. A hosting package with C-panel and Fantastico is a real plus as both Drupal and Post Nuke along with many other Open Source applications can be easily installed.

I have recently started working with a content writer from India. The company has a service where they will create a, I think 5 page site for quite a bit under a hundred bucks. I think they also guarantee content to be original -- a very, very, very BIG plus. I would have to go back and look but as I remember they also mentioned a 'secret' SEO program. The content they have provided to this point is very good but does need some style tweaking -- well worth the cost --. BTW did I mention that original content is IMPORTANT.

Is a NP member. Don't everyone jump on this but PM me if you would like to talk to them. I have NO relationship with them other than writing content for me.

Are ya'll suffering from 'hark ramblings' overload yet? My typin stick just broke so gota shut the hell up.

As always a pleasure to read! Can't rep you since i'm apparently too fond of you...or your threads :hehe: ! :tu:

 

[harkster]

As always a pleasure to read! Can't rep you since i'm apparently too fond of you...or your threads :hehe: ! :tu:

Ahhhhh shucks :red: :red:
Actually,thanks. I don't consider myself an authority on this stuff. It feels that 3 quarters of my time is spent 'flying by the seat of my pants'. Be assured that I have a very long list of failed projects but try to learn something from each and every failure.

If sharing my thoughts/experiences (as I see it) helps anyone then the time spent composing these thoughts is well spent.

I have been asked about doing a tutorial but that wouldn't be as simple as it sounds. Maybe a 'mini' blog(ette). That might be dangerous.

P.S. It does appear that eBay rss feeds can work. Put them on a couple pottery minis and starting to see some small results after a couple weeks.

 

[cobo]

Hey Hark,
You are one very cool dude!
Rep added for overall coolness and helpful assistance!

 

[Varon]

Are ya'll suffering from 'hark ramblings' overload yet? My typin stick just broke so gota shut the hell up.

Not at all. I kinda like your ideas and experiments. Your experiments with minisites could be the future alternative to successful domain monetizing. I have been keeping track of your minisite developments. It is indeed interesting. Good going Hark.

 

[DNBro]

I’m really fond of Hark’s work and his threads.

Exactly I come to know more about affiliate programs through one of his thread, found one interesting site in his sig for Microsoft ZUNE with adsense and amazon/ebay affiliate links.
But I don’t have kind of skill to add those things into mini sites, other than to depend on those who build mini sites on a bulk basis.

 

[harkster]

I’m really fond of Hark’s work and his threads.

Exactly I come to know more about affiliate programs through one of his thread, found one interesting site in his sig for Microsoft ZUNE with adsense and amazon/ebay affiliate links.
But I don’t have kind of skill to add those things into mini sites, other than to depend on those who build mini sites on a bulk basis.

First, please forgive me for monopolizing the thread but...

To bad that Dreamweaver is so expensive as it takes away a lot of the pain.

The bolded above can be a real problem and a reason why something like Drupal or any other similar package can be a great help. This example is Drupal cause it is what I am using.

This example is being developed on the fly so I hope it makes sense.

First install the software on a server and just play with it. No worry about messing something up cause it can always be undone. Being admin is an awesome power trip. :D At this point don't worry about themes and such but modules are very important and you should always enable the path and menu modules. Play with it and get a feel for how it works.
When it comes to themes I rely on the Bluemarine as it seems easiest co customize.

Ok, now you have a look you like and an idea for a project. The content for lets say 5 pages has been written (this is in my case most often pages and not stories) and you want to add Adsense in the right column. You have already done the hard part and believe it or not this is so simple.

Clicking Administer will take you to the Administer By task screen.
Under By site click Blocks which takes you to the Blocks screen where you click the Add Block tab.
Provide a block description -- this is for internal use; not seen by users.

Now we need to take a detour to create a 160 x 600 skyscraper Adsense ad. Once that is done copy the provided HTML.

Now paste the Adsense code in the block body.
A most important item click Input format right below the block body area -- scroll down if necessary and click the Full HTML button.
Now click Save Block which returns you to the Blocks list page -- almost done but not quite.

Scroll down to find the block you just created listed under Disabled.
In the first 'drop down list' click right sidebar.
In the second 'drop down list' click a number or leave as zero -- whatever.
Click Save blocks.

Scroll up and click Home (or one of your pages) and if all is right your ad will be displayed on the right.

Sound complicated? Maybe but after a few times can be done in a minute or so depending on your connection/typing speed.

This is just a small part of what can be done without writing a bit of HTML and you don't have to be a graphics designer but that would be a giant plus.

Adding banners, Adsense, RSS feeds, affiliate links most anywhere including in your content is really not much more complicated. HINT; the div is a most important little 3 characters followed closely by css. Actually they may be equal and closely linked.

Added thought:
Whatever CMS you decide to use spend time on their site, forum, reading module/plugin descriptions and looking at example sites. It is just another tool which you must learn to use.

I never said there was no 'work' involved. If you look around at the successful people in this (or any business) and think they got there without hard work (mental work is ofter harder than manual labor) think again. Also, a large portion of the successful people have been through multiple failures before finding success.

Ok hark, off the soap box and get to work.