A mini site is just that - a small site of at least 3 pages that is purpose built to be search engine friendly. Mini sites are a great workaround for dynamic or flash sites if you are not able to build a full static html version. A mini site should be built with the search engines in mind but focusing on your target audience.

Depending on the size of it and what you are trying to accomplish, you could have several mini sites targeting different products and services or you could bundle them together into a slightly larger mini site. The aim of the mini site is to present an information rich version of your non-indexable site to both the engines and users. If done correctly, the engines will give it high placements due to its keyword rich text and good link structure, users will love it, and other site owners will want to link to it due to its quality content.

The mini site does not have to be on a different domain although it can be. There are some who say that having different domains all linked together will help your link popularity but others say it won't if they are all hosted on the same IP number. And if you are getting links from other site owners you want them to be for your main domain in order to boost its link popularity otherwise you are spreading yourself thin. You also have to consider your brand awareness. Do you want people to have to remember 10 different domains in order to find you? Maybe you do if your products and services are diverse enough. There are pros and cons to both arguments and the final choice will have to be up to you taking both the engines and potential customers into consideration.

NEXT Step: Search Engine Optimisation Workarounds - Information Pages