Diversify and Let It Grow
People sometimes ask me why I have so many different web sites instead of focussing my effort on just one. The answer is simple. Diversity. It is far easier to make 10 sites that make $100/month than it is to make 1 that makes $1000/month. By creating more sites you can also move on to work on other things while search engines “catch up” to work you just did on a site.
I regularly make major changes to one of my money making sites, then move to the next site on my list that needs updating. This also helps negate the effects of the Google sandbox (if it truely exists). I often buy a new domain, build a site fairly quickly, then let it sit and build links for a few months. Then I go back to it later and make any changes I’ve thought of while working on other things. This usually includes content to add, SEO that needs to be done such as title, meta, and other content modification, tweaks, etc.
By diversifying your portfolio of sites in this way you can also avoid major fluxuations in revenue due to changes in search engines. People often cry that their big site fell off the first page of Google and suddenly they’re making no money. Personally I try to keep it so that no one site of mine is making more than 2/3 of my total revenue. This is similar to how you wouldn’t want to have all your money invested in a single stock. Of course if a single site suddenly goes above 2/3 of my revenue I won’t try to slow it down, I just focus some extra effort on other things and let the successful site ride. By doing work on a site that is doing very well it is entirely possible to make a change the search engines don’t like and end up worse off (falling down in the SERPS due to keyword density changes for example).
If you focus too much time on a single site you may find that you get “stuck” waiting for work you did to get a reaction. It can take search engine spiders weeks or longer to index all of your new content if you add a lot during an update. Google also takes a very long time to update the backlinks pointing to your site, which means you can do a ton of link building but may not see any results from it for weeks or even months.
If you’re waiting for pagerank to update you’re going to be sitting there for a long time. Google only updates the toolbar pagerank a few times per year. Many people argue that PageRank isn’t very important these days in determining search results. The unfortunate truth is that people use it as a currency to judge the value of paid links on their site, who to exchange links with, etc. You can have a great site but if that green PR bar says 1 or 2 you’re going to have a hard time getting someone whose site is PR5 to exchange links with you. Working on multiple sites at once can also help you benefit from the “few times a year” Google update. I’ve built 5 or 6 sites at least since the last Google update (I’ve lost count honestly). They all show up as a pagerank 0 since they are new, but when Google updates I’ll gain a nice stash of PR4-5 sites all at once, and with that a lot of additional link negotiation power.
Changes in law and other factors can also play a large role in a site’s success. If Google decided that it wanted to penalize or ban certain types of sites (tobacco, gambling, travel, etc) your entire business could be wiped out in one fell swoop if it is your only site. My sites cover a wide variety of topics so something of this nature is never going to put me under.