EzSEO Newsletter # 155
March 11, 2007 by Andy
This week:
1. SEO Web site Builder v2 Release
2. General Feedback
3. CSS Mini-series Part XII
Hi again.
It has been a very busy week, with so many things going on, that for the first time in a long time, I have just felt over-whelmed by the shear number of tasks I have listed as top priority.
I had so many hand written notes, all over my desk, and a long Word document detailing my plans for 2007, that information overload was setting in. To make things worse, I have a brainstorming session once a week where I’ll sit and relax, and think about new opportunities and strategies. These sessions usually result in several more A4 pages of notes. Things were just getting worse. I needed not only a way to centralise my notes, but also a way to easily organise tasks.
I think I found the answer, and it has certainly worked in the last week since I set it up. It sounds simple, and something I probably should have done a long time ago, but put it off, thinking it would be more work than it saved (I could never get use to putting stuff like this in my iPaq, as that seemed too much trouble).
The answer? A planner. More specifically, a software planner.
I looked online, and tried several different products. The one I finally settled on is called Achieve Planner Pro (Effexis software). It has been a joy to use, and I have been more productive this week than usual. I wake up in the morning, and have a list of tasks to do. I even get reminders when a new task should be started. Gone is the temptation of thinking, “I’ll do that tomorrow”. Somehow, using this planner has actually motivated me to work harder. Maybe its just that I can see how much is already planned for tomorrow, so I don’t want to add to that list.
If you are disorganised, or have lots of plans, this planner might be worth considering. There is a trial version at their site (do a Google search, and you’ll find it).
OK, let’s get on.
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1. SEO Web site Builder v2 Release
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On Wednesday 14th March, I’ll be re-releasing SEO Web site Builder. I removed it from sale a few weeks ago, as I was putting the finishing touches to the new version, which has a totally different emphasis on site building.
I have setup a notification list on the SEO WSB site, and those on that list will get the chance to buy SEO WSB from tomorrow (at a discount) until the official release on Wednesday.
Some of the great new features of v2 include the ability to use directories (hey, one of my beta testers creates “silo sites”, so that was a necessary addition).
Also, the new importing feature allows sites to be built, literally in minutes if you have pre-written content.
You can watch a couple of videos on the current homepage here:
http://seo-website-builder.com
And you can read the first draft of the new sales page to see a bigger picture of what SEO WSB is all about:
http://seo-website-builder.com/index3.html
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2. General Feedback & Site Building Strategies
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This week, I asked for feedback from those on my Niche Blueprint notification list. I wanted to know, if they had never bought a blueprint, why not, and what they were looking for. What would make them buy?
BTW, this is a good lesson in Internet marketing. Ask your users what they want, then provide it.
OK, back to the feedback. I thought I would share this with my newsletter, and not just the Blueprint notification list, as there is some interesting stuff here.
The number one reasons for not buying a blueprint was:
“I don’t have enough time to build a new site” or “I have too many other sites to look after right now”, or “I bought one a few months ago, but never built the site”.
This got me thinking.
I believe that the way many Internet marketers have been creating their businesses for the last few years, was by following the advice of what I call the “spam gurus”. Now I am not saying that everyone is creating spam sites, its just the advice that many people seem to have followed is to create as many sites as possible. Put as many pages out there as you can and hopefully some will stick.
To me, this is completely the wrong way to build a lasting Internet business. For any site to work, it has to provide quality, unique content.
If you are a one-person company, on a limited budget, it is impossible to build a new site every month (or 1 a week is a goal I have read many times) and give that site enough of your time to make it work.
For those who are wondering how a site a week is possible (or even a site a month), these webmasters use content from article directories, PLR membership sites, or get the content written for them. They will then do little if anything to build quality incoming links.
The secret to building a web site that will last, and be pr0fitable for years to come, is to create a quality site that gives the visitor a unique experience. You need to work on the marketing of the site by getting quality links from authority sites. You need to provide something different. That is the secret, and that is why a site a month is unrealistic.
I have read on one forum a goal similar to this: one 300 – 500 page site a week. Their expectations? $2 – $3 a day per site. Since they can build a site a week, they will have 52 sites in one year, earning them $100 – $150 a day, or $36,000 – $57,000 a year in income. They then multiply that up and say that after 2 years they’ll be on double that, 3 years, triple that, and so on.
While this sounds like a long-term strategy, I see is as very short-term. Sites built like this just don’t last any more. Even if they do get indexed, they don’t rank well because no time has been spent on building quality content, or getting quality incoming links.
I suspect that some of their 300-500 pages sites actually make nothing. As time goes by, and search engines become better at recognising quality (and they have come a long way in the last two years), these sites will just be dropped.
I have built large sites from dubious quality content, and I have built sites with a very high quality content.
If I had a choice to inherit 150 large, low quality sites, or as an alternative, one quality 500 page site with quality back links, and great content, I would take the single site any day.
One of the comments I had from a Niche Blueprint user was interesting. He bought a blueprint that was released about a year ago.
He said that he noticed other affiliate sites in the same niche. Because of the way these sites were organised, it was clear that they were webmasters who bought the blueprint. However, none of these competitors were ranking for their terms. These competitors had low page rank and few incoming links.
In contrast, this guy had spent time creating quality content, and giving his visitors what they were looking for. He worked on getting quality links to his site. His site was top 10 for a number of terms (he did share them with me, but for privacy reasons I cannot share them with you, or the niche). He told me that this site was making around $1000 in Adsense, plus a few hundred more in affiliate sales.
You know the great thing about having a site like that? You can add more great content, and get that to rank relatively easily, without having to put in much effort. You have already put the effort into building a quality site, and getting quality links, so the hard work is done. You just need to publish more great content, and your visitor stats will increase, as will your inc0me.
Imagine having 5 or 10 sites like that. They require very little work once they are established, and you can then just add more quality content to each when you want. New content will rank better with minimal effort, so you can concentrate on just those 5 or 10 sites, and increase your visitors and inc0me without all the hassles of creating a new site and getting it to rank.
That sounds a lot more manageable than 100 – 150 sites.
One of the trends I think we will see this year, is more and more internet marketing gurus teaching the benefits of building fewer quality sites, rather than building lots and lots of “throw-away” sites.
To finish this article, I just wanted to say one more thing. Congratulations to Ian for his first affiliate commission. He started this a few months back, and his site generated its first commission this week. $60. I remember my first commission was $2.49 for a coin sorter. The first dollar is always the hardest ;0)
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3. CSS Mini-series Part XII
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This part of the course is now available as part of the CSS Tutorial PDF eBook.
Well, that’s it for another issue. If you want to read the recent issues of this newsletter, you can read them online at my blog:
http://ezseonews.com/blog/index.php
For older newsletters, you will need to visit the old archives at:
http://ezseonews.com/archives
Have a great week!
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