However, the sites linking may be annoyed to find they are sending their visitors to a page other than the one they promised.

And, of course, the anchor text may no longer apply, which may reduce the value of the link to the SEs.

And the SEs may re-evaluate the page, now that it has new content.

So there are issues to consider, but none that I'd describe as 'running into trouble' :)

thanks for the reply.

I'd of course try to find a way to make sure those visitors find the page by putting a link in a spot they see immediately.

And I'll only do this, if I do not get enough visitors in the first place. Thus I can't really lose many visitors, because if I do get many I'm not going to try to broaden the theme of the site hehe ;).

Thus I think not having the right anchor text poitning to the actual pages wouldnt be that much of a problem either (at least not for me), because I'll only do it if there wasnt much traffic coming in anyway.

By the webmasters reevaluating the site, do you mean..'human review'? or algorithmic reevaluation?

P.S.:

As for webmasters being annoyed - I've thought of sending all webmasters an e-mail asking them to point their links to the new location, BUT I've read (on a.wall's blog so I assume it could be true) that about 90% of webmasters don't bother changing links if you tell them about something like that. Actually, I've thought about 'site safety' before and thought 'hey you could simply do a search for links pointing to your site (if you lost your site b/c of registrar issues or w/e) and e-mail every webmaster asking them to change it' - but I guess most of them won't bother doing that lol. Right? Wrong?

[edited by: Makaveli2007 at 4:16 pm (utc) on Aug. 11, 2008]

I don't think what you propose would merit a human review, just an automatic update in the next round of spidering ... just a routine part of the days work.

I think the key point is making your site future proff so far as you can; for example, if your site was called 'fruits of the world', you could start by featuring the orange, and place the files in a folder called /oranges/ that way, if you later added /apples/, you'd need to revise the home page - but the orange files would be the same as ever.

Links you obtain now would still go to your home page, and even if you 'tweak' your content, few will be 'wrong' and be removed by irate webmasters.

Don't get too hung up about domain names; it's content that counts. A UK site called the 'carphone warehouse' had its name from the days of brick-sized mobile phones (pre-www!), but they happily sell all manner of modern mobile stuff with no pain.

Personally, I go for abstract domain names, hopefully building brands for the future, or at least a brand that someone may buy from me!

Say if I wanted to make a site about oranges (but with the possibility to turn it a site about all kinds of fruits later) and I went with a domain name such as fruits of the world.

In that case I should make sure I can place as much of the content into folders (that I won't have to change) and not too much on the homepage (because that's the one I would have to change)?

Obviously, I have to have some content on the homepage if I want to create a site with good user experience, but your point is that I should use folders that I will not have to change later on, even if the theme (and thus the homepage) of my site will have to be changed, right? Is that what you meant?

This wouldn't really be necessary because of the search engines, but because of the work I would have to do myself when changing the theme (and thus design) of the site?

With you so far ..

Put the content on whatever pages you feel ok with now; while you want to be as future proof as possible, live in the now. But place the pages - except the index, of course! - in the oranges folder. The home page may have to change, but that's showbiz!

Both.

Saves you work later, saves links (and bookmarks) being out of date, and avoids starting over with the SEs if you reorganize your site later:

Cool URIs Don't Change! [w3.org]

Is that a bit clearer? ;)

If the site gains traction and you are satisfied with the results, then move the index page to the site root and 301 redirect to the new location.

If you find traffic to be insufficient for your model then leave all of your content in the subdirectory and start on your new concept at the site root or, perhaps, in yet another subdirectory.

Quadrille's Oft-Quoted 19th Law

www domain com/ is the single most important URL on your site.

Using it enables people to find your site quickly and easily, and will get much better search engine placement, if used wisely, than any other URL.

[edited by: Quadrille at 3:15 am (utc) on Aug. 12, 2008]

You can however see examples of my concept utilized all over the web. I can't name names in this forum but Makaveli if you PM me I can send you links. You can also look around the web at major sites - many are using this approach.

[edited by: Excellira at 2:58 pm (utc) on Aug. 12, 2008]

I really do want to make a site for this niche and chances are I'll follow through with this project without broadening the site's theme, however I have a hard time estimating the search volumes for this niche (I posted about this in another thread yesterday) and would like to use the links I will have build to this site for a broader site if the niche turns out to be too small.

Anyways, thanks for the input hehe. I probably should just focus on this project now and think about the rest in a few months from now. Oh and thanks for the offer to send me links in a PM, but I think that would only distract me further, now. Hope this doesnt come off as offensive or something, I really do appreciate your input and your offer, Excellira, but you guys made me realize I should just 'do it' :-).