One of the predictions that I made for 2009 was the increased focus on domain development and mini sites.

Developing a website for a domain name is always a good thing, as that is really what domains should be used for. But how does one know when to develop a mini site?

I treat my domaining efforts as strictly business activities, not as a hobby. I am not a teenager with too much time on my hands. Whatever I do in domaining must bring revenue. So If I am going to develop domain names, I must first develop a strategy by which the developed website will earn me the minimum of a Returns In Investments (ROI).

There are some domain parking companies out there that offer some very great landing pages. A lot of these landing pages look much better than a few of the mini sites that I have seen people brandishing. Parking pages will tend to earn money faster than mini sites, as almost every click could result in revenue, even if it is just $0.10.

This is where one has to ask, what are the objectives for developing a min site?

Some claim that you could “dress the domain for success”, as by building a mini site you would end up ranking higher in search engines and as such, a potential buyer would end-up finding your website, making it easier to sell a domain name.

Personally, I don’t buy into this theory. I have been an end-user many times searching for certain domains for development. If I am looking for a domain name, I visit domain marketplaces, type the actual domain name into my browser, or simply research the Whois database. From there, I can proceed with any possibilities of obtaining the domain name.

I personally would be put off if I see a mini site for the domain name. I am not easily impressed, and mostly likely will want to develop a different website for the domain name. The problem is, the existing pages are already indexed by search engines, and will subsequently become broken links.

I would also want to think that the seller would want to recover the cost of the mini site, which would be a wasted cost if I am not interested in the actual mini site as well. It brings me to repeat a point I made some time ago: If my am selling domain names, then am selling domain names; if am selling websites, then am selling websites. It is two different business models altogether.

Now lets look at a more sensible approach: developing mini sites from a business perspective. This is where the mini site is developed with a viable strategy to earn continuous streams of income that will outperform domain parking. Remember domain parking is absolutely free. To get any decent mini site at the moment costs $250 upwards.

You can make money with mini sites. I have seen some of the websites that some the top internet marketers use to make a ton of cash each month, and these websites are barely mini sites, but rather some ugly-looking pages.

The key is not what you develop, but how you promote what you develop. Reading a few posts on domain forums and blogs, it is quite clear that domainers are blighted by the culture of quick and easy money. They just want to slap some html and graphics together, and sit back and watch money roll in.

Whether you build a mini site on domain name with a Google Page Rank of 6, you will still need to focus on sales funnels and advertising and marketing. If you don’t have time for that, or don’t know how to do it, don’t waste time and money. Stick with domain parking.

If you intend to sell a mini site later, you should also design the site from the start in such a way that it is easily transferable. By this I mean that the new owner can easily change Google Adsense codes, affiliate links and advertisers without having to manually update each and every page.

You should also pay particular consideration to the type of web hosting that you use. How easy would it be to transfer the mini site to the new owner’s servers? Or, would it be possible to transfer the ownership and control of the hosting account to a new owner?

Could you isolate the revenue tracking for that mini site? Does the mini site target a particular niche? By building a mini site, have you saved the new potential owner any work, or have you made their life much harder? A mini site with a business strategy should provide a clear advantage to the new owner. It is like taking over an established business.

Time is like a river. It never stops running and the flow that has passed will never pass again. Don’t waste precious time on things that will cost you and earn you nothing in return. If you must develop a mini site, ensure that your development plan has a business strategy at the heart of it.

One of the biggest mistakes that I see a lot of people doing, is developing mini sites on rubbish domain names.

A rubbish domain name will ALWAYS be a rubbish domain name. Getting fancy logos and websites for a rubbish domain name is like putting a dirty and smelly homeless person in a brand new business suit. It just does not make sense.

If you must develop domain names and you have no quality domain names, simply buy one on the domain aftermarket. Unless you are good at finding idiots with a lot of money to spend, your best bet is to build mini sites with healthy business strategies on top quality domain names.