Umbrella website or make them separate?
This question is not related to the legal aspects or setting up an LLC. Basically I'm working on a side project that I anticipate could spawn related projects. I'm wondering if I should buy a domain and build a brand name as a whole that I can just start sticking these other side projects into as I build them, or if I should have a separate website for each as I go?
What things should I consider in deciding? It seems like it would be a pain trying to drive traffic to separate sites rather than leverage existing traffic to sell the new stuff as well.
What if they're so related that I could consider having a pricing plan that allows access to both? Would that make it more of a hassle if they're separated?
If you currently only have a single offering, make it on its own. As you spin up more projects it would be more applicable to consider trying to structure them under a single domain. With separate domains you can still leverage any of your offerings that are getting more traffic to drive users to your other related sites.
I've got a similar situation, except that I've already launched the first website. My recommendation would be to just launch your side project and focus on growing that. Once that is in a good place traffic-wise, start building out one related project. You can add a banner at the top of the first projects website to drive some cross-traffic to the other website. I wouldn't worry about an umbrella website until you have at least two websites.
I've currently got a high traffic site bringing in some ad revenue. I'm working on a second website that is related but I'm building it out on a separate domain and I'll be linking to it. I should be able to take advantage of some of the authority from the first site to boost search engine rankings on the second site