Nov 20 2007
Tinkering with Sites that are Already Successful
Inspired by some great travel sites I’ve decided that I’d like to put my efforts into creating a travel magazine type site of my own that I can be proud of. I’ve got lots of ideas and I think that, because I’ll be travelling, I will be able to offer a lot of first hand tips and tales from the road that will hopefully set the site apart.
This has created a bit of a dilemma for me though. I have what I think is a good domain name with Travoholic.com, the site is about 7 years old, Google is in love with it, it has some great inbound links and I really think it’s the best spot for the new site I have in mind.
The problem is that, at the moment, the site is a pretty good earner for me with Adsense, Text Link Ads, Linkworth and direct link sales even though it’s sort of crappy. I’m not sure the type of site I have in mind would be that well suited for affiliate programs so I’d be monetising it with those same four things.
I guess my dilemma is an ‘if in ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ type thing. True, the site how it is now isn’t the best looking thing in the world and has been neglected, but it also earns me a decent amount each month. If I were to scrap it completely and start with a new site I’m worried that I’d be throwing that money away. Most of my traffic currently comes from Google and I wonder if the new site would rank as well, or at all, for the same keywords.
My other option would be to start a whole new site from scratch and leave Travoholic.com alone to rot away slowly. Finding a domain name will be a nightmare but I’m sure with a bit of creativity I’ll be able to come up with something. I don’t doubt that the new site will do well with time because I have a lot of other sites that can link to it and the quality will be high, but I really feel that Travoholic.com is the right place for it, especially because it has a lot of great inbound links that I’d have a hard time getting again.
I guess I just don’t like the idea of Travoholic.com becoming a neglected, link whoring site. I like to build sites I’m proud of and even though it will probably continue to earn a decent amount of money and bring in plenty of daily visitors I’ll still always think I can turn it into something better.
I think I’m leaning towards registering a whole new domain and starting the new site from scratch. I suppose I can always go back to Travoholic.com and tidy it up when I have the time. It’s not a total lost cause, just a bit unruly.
What do you think I should do?
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I've been travelling since January 2008 living off earnings from the web. Follow me as I bum around Asia and beyond, getting up to mischief and working online as I go.
thats what 301 redirects are for
Go with your gut feeling. Besides, you will have too many new things going when you travel next year. Maybe when you have the chance to see how your new site would do or not do…then you can later decide if 2 is better than one, or 2 can be better as one. Does it make sense? Good luck with whatever you choose to do!
You could always create a folder eg /magazine/ and put it in there - have it both ways
Or even a subdomain? http://magazine.travoholic.com/
:)
That assumes it wouldn’t ‘clash’ with the ‘budget travel’ motif…
I wouldn’t mess with an already successful site 301 redirects or not. Webproworld, webmasterworld and sitepoint have many horror stories about sites that disappeared from google serps after getting a makeover. I´m sure it can be done but it’s risky.
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I dissagree that the site is a link whore, all the links I could see are very relevant to the sites topic, its first when you start linking to viagra and online gambling sites that you can be considered a link madame.
I also say follow your gut feeling (what you are going to do anyway
yep - leave travoholic as it is, and either set up a subdomain for the magazine, or start a new site.
you can then use the traffic travoholic is currently getting, and push it towards the new site.
Hi Kirsty,
I would probably create a sub domain on travoholic. This way, you can pass the PR and traffic naturally… and it will be quicker to get see results.
I personally would leave it mostly alone and milk that cash cow until it dies. Have you thought about just tinkering with the layout to give it a facelift but leaving the content the same?
47
I think a magazine is a great idea, but I’d be reluctant to sacrafice a moneyspinner to create it. I agree with Lea - can you keep Travoholic as it is and put the blog/magazine (same thing in my eyes) in either a subfolder or subdomain?
You could have the best of both worlds then, and if in a subfolder you will get instant traffic from the already established site. It seems a win win!
Good luck with it,
nath
Leave it as it is. You can always tweak it once in a while and adding a whole new site to your collection will just bring in additional money whereas adding the magazine only to travoholic might not make too much difference. Make the new site and link them together, the best of both worlds and more “mula”!
Ya 301 redirects scare the bejesus out of me. I’ve decided to go with a whole new site. I love starting projects from scratch anyways because designing the look and navigation system is my favourite part. Now I just need to think of a kick ass domain name….
Thanks for your thoughts!