Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2003 4:10 pm Post subject: Timescale for success (or MOTIVATION II)
Hi all,
I'd just like to say thanks to niz85 for starting the recent MOTIVATION thread. I find myself in a very similar situation, with a couple of sites just starting to make a handful of dollars from about 30 visitors each per day. Both sites are what I'd call 'fledgling' - about 1-2 months old.
I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything right, as I've followed my mentor of choice's handbook to the letter. But my demons try to sneak up on me and make me paranoid from time to time - like today, when it's grey and raining outside.
The main question on my mind is, how long does it take to start seeing a promising return from a themed content-rich website? I've heard I should be making reasonable returns within about six months.
Does this estimate fit with what some of you established affiliates have experienced?
If you are only getting 30 visitors a day and already making money, you are on your way
Most everything I have seen regarding sales/conversions/profit seem to use 1,000 ad impressions as the measure of choice.
Six months is the recommended patience factor because it can take that long for SE's to index and include multiple pages of your site in their results. Some pages take less, some take more ... there is just no way to tell for sure.
In the meantime, don't sit on your bum Build more content, exchange links with sites that complement your theme, seek out those little directories and seach engines that noone every talks about and submit your site Also, get your newsletter going if you haven't already ... it's a great way to add continuous content to your site which the SE's love, and it helps build credibility as well as a connection with your viewers.
Hope this helps,
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
Everything you've said has just reaffirmed that I'm doing everything right, and am 100% - well, 99% - on the right track with my efforts. I'm building content, building links, looking for little directories to get included in, etc.
Googlebot came by my first site the other day and crawled the remaining 75% it hadn't spidered, so I'm looking forward to that lot being indexed. Add all that extra content (70+ pages) to the 10 new link partners I've secured, and I should get a bit of a boost in the SERPS, fingers crossed!
By the way, when you told me to leave my site alone when I panicked about Google moving me down (in the SEO forum) - you were right. My site's position was up and down like a merecat for about a week or so, but it seems to have settled back on page 1 (in the UK) where it originally was.
Now all I need to do is make first page in the US!
I am happy things are looking up for you and best wishes in your quest for first in the US ... with hard work and the right motivation anything is possible!
Glad to help,
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 5839 Location: by the beach, Australia
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 6:31 am Post subject: Re: Timescale for success (or MOTIVATION II)
Bri wrote:
The main question on my mind is, how long does it take to start seeing a promising return from a themed content-rich website? I've heard I should be making reasonable returns within about six months.
Six months seems about right, in our experience. However, if you can form some strategic alliances (otherwise known as friendships ) with popular sites in your industry, you should be able to achieve good results faster.
With his cheap computers site, there was a dramatic increase in earnings when he added AdSense.
It sounds as though you're on the right track. Keep on doing all those things Debs suggested, such as adding new keyword-rich pages and finding new places to get sites to link to you. When the bigger checks roll in you'll be glad you did. _________________ Allan Gardyne
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I checked out those articles. Very impressive stuff. I'm amazed how Rupert managed to get to the top with such a competitive phrase as 'cheap computers'. Does he have 800+ link partners or something?!
I must confess I'm not a fan of SBI. I liked it at first, but as a professional web developer, I quickly started to get frustrated with it. I like using my own tools and don't mind getting my hands dirty with HTML, ftp, etc. That's why SBI just wasn't for me. Having said that, I can well understand why a lot of people swear by it.
Rupert's sites are proof that it delivers results, so fair play to him.
Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 5839 Location: by the beach, Australia
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 8:14 am Post subject:
Bri wrote:
I checked out those articles. Very impressive stuff. I'm amazed how Rupert managed to get to the top with such a competitive phrase as 'cheap computers'. Does he have 800+ link partners or something?!
Yes, they are impressive, aren't they! We're delighted with the results he's achieved. He's retained that No.1 spot in Google all the time since we published his case study. I keep thinking some expert will inevitably come along and knock him off his perch, but it hasn't happened yet.
That No.1 spot is a great testament to SBI.
No, he doesn't have a huge number of links. And he had only a very few links (including ones in Yahoo and DMOZ) when he began achieving very good results.
He does have a good site linking structure, and he's used the SBI tools well, for brainstorming and to study such things as which keywords people type into search engines to find the sites, and then added pages on those topics.
There are no hidden tricks. No smoke and mirrors.
All Rupert did was follow the Site Build It! Action Guide.
My role was mainly to convince him to keep the sites very simple, and also to keep telling him over and over to go back and READ the instruction manual. In my experience, judging by emails we receive and by posts in this forum, most affiliates who don't get good results with SBI haven't read and followed the instructions.
People who get frustrated with SBI often don't like the idea of building very simple sites. However, Google loves very simple sites, built the SBI way, so I love them, too
I don't know how to do those embedded quote things, so...
Allan wrote:
"People who get frustrated with SBI often don't like the idea of building very simple sites. However, Google loves very simple sites, built the SBI way, so I love them, too".
Fortunately, I too recognised that simple is best, and I stopped trying to build ever more complex websites a few years ago, because I knew that the cliche "content is king" really was true.
Now, I always have a laugh to myself when I see fancy sites that employ JavaScript, Flash, and other SE-impenetrable wizardry, because I know how much effort goes into them.
I still like my development tools because they let me work very quickly - but I only ever use about 10% of their features now that I stick to plain text websites (with just a few little graphics here and there for aesthetics).
I like you like to use my own tools... I've been building sites for years.
I built my first site the SBI way with their templates. Since SBI now allows you to build with HTML those frustrations have greatly faded away.
My results are nothing less than amazing... in what I have achieved in a few short months, so much so that I've bought 3 more SBI sites. I finally decided to get out of my way and not only use my tools but the tools of SBI.
Too many times as a web builder I've got hung up on the tools... once I backed away and "built the page" what tools was I then applying? Could I or DID I track the page rank as quickly as SBI let's me. Just this morning I was able to review some rankings on a few pages and do a few minor tweaks.
This morning I have an Alexa rating around 93,000... not bad of a 5 month site!!!
Step back and look at all the tools in the tool box... yours and others. I'm just starting to look at the Value exchange and we'll see how it works.
SBI has, is and will continue to work for me.... even when I don't pay attention to it... now that's some tools.
Gary
www.internet-speed-guide.com _________________ Gary
- ONE is to small of a number to be a success!
Learn HOW TO create targeted, focused Content for your website!--> http://webcontenttips.com - Join Our Weekly Newsletter
Fortunately, I too recognised that simple is best, and I stopped trying to build ever more complex websites a few years ago, because I knew that the cliche "content is king" really was true.
You don't need SBI! to build a simple site though. Sometimes, SBI! actually even complicates things with the most simple sites.
Bri wrote:
Now, I always have a laugh to myself when I see fancy sites that employ JavaScript, Flash, and other SE-impenetrable wizardry...
I know what you mean, but I think Javascript has a place in the grand scheme of things.
Just my opinion,
Charlie. _________________ "Before I speak, I have something important to say."
- Groucho Marx
I agree that javascript has it's place, but so does flash and other SE unfriendly formats. The problem I think is that people can be dazzled by the effect and use it because of that, and not because it is the best method to present what they have to offer.
My 2 cents,
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
Too many times as a web builder I've got hung up on the tools... once I backed away and "built the page" what tools was I then applying? Could I or DID I track the page rank as quickly as SBI let's me. Just this morning I was able to review some rankings on a few pages and do a few minor tweaks.
Am I the only "webmaster" who does most things by hand?
speedguide wrote:
This morning I have an Alexa rating around 93,000... not bad of a 5 month site!!!
Fine results, indeed, Gary.
All the best,
Charlie. _________________ "Before I speak, I have something important to say."
- Groucho Marx
Charlie, I do most things by hand ... I supplement SBI with my own html, graphics (I am leaning toward templates cause I sux at creating professional designs and graphics) ... I supplement the SBI manager research with Overture, Adwords and Wordtracker ... I check Alexa, pagerank, backward links, and SE placements by hand. I do my own tweaking with javascript, can do my own cgi tweaking and installation (glad I don't have to though), can code php (but I hate it) and write my own content and newsletters.
Anything else? LOL
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
You're right about not needing SBI to build a simple site. I built my first ever website using Windows Notepad many years ago. You can't get a much more basic site building tool than that!
You're not the only webmaster who does things by hand either - have you tried using grep to pick out spider visits in your W3C log files yet?
You and Debs are both right about JavaScript too - it does have a place. My sites use a little JavaScript in the background for disabling scumware, for instance. I've also used it before on other sites for basic client-side validation of forms, etc.
I'm personally not into Flash at all. It can look great, but I nearly always skip intro movies, and tend to choose the HTML version of a site when I'm given a choice. Many times I've been emailed links to look at, then been asked later what I thought of the Flash movie. My response is always "what movie?". Personal preference, I suppose.
But hey, let's not get into a holy war about tools here! Everyone has their favourite, and that's the way it should be. It's only the end result that matters.
Now, will someone tell me how to do those neat little embedded quote things like the two in Charlie's post!
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