EzSEO Newsletter # 275

In this issue:

1. Competition is not what it seems…

2. FOUR Recommended Strategies for Starting your business

3. Blogging to the Bank 2010

Hi Again

Hope you had a great week.? Today I’d like to discuss a topic that many people panic about – competition.? e.g. if I search Google for contact lenses, Google tells me there on the first page of results that there are 11.3 million competing pages.? But are there?? In actual fact, Google rates only about 600 of those pages.? Find out why, and how you can improve your chances of being one of those 600.

Also today I want to help out those people who are just starting out and don’t yet have a website, or at least not a profitable one.? I want to outline 4 different strategies that I personally use to in my own business.? The fact that I use these myself mean that they have worked for me.

Let’s get on..

1. Competition is not what it seems…

When you use a keyword research tool like Wordtracker, Nichebot, Market Samurai, etc, you will be shown the competition for a particular phrase.

What these tools will often show you is how many competing pages there are in the search engine of your choice.

Let’s take an example.

If you search for the word Astigmatism at Google, Google tells me that there are 1,520,000 competing pages.? Keep with me because I want to show you that the actual competition is closer to 500 – 600.

If I look at Market Samurai, it tells me there are a total of 1,910,000 pages globally that mention the word astigmatism (the SEOC column).? But notice also the SEOTC column in Market Samurai.? This shows the total number of web pages that include the word in the title of the document, in this case 173,000.

You can find this figure manually by typing in this into Google:

allintitle:keyword phrase

Now, if you were going to optimize a page for the word astigmatism, you would put it in the title, correct?? That means, out true competition is not 1.9 million at all, but is 173,000 a true reflection of competition (ie optimized pages)?

When looking for true competition, other webmasters prefer to use a modifier in their search that will only display web pages that have an inbound link with their search term.? You can do this by typing in:

allinanchor:search term.

If I do this for astigmatism, I get a little over 1 million competing pages:

So what is the true competition for this search term?? Well, watch the video, because I would suggest that the true competition is much much lower for ANY keyword than any of these methods would suggest.

2. FOUR Recommended Strategies for Starting your business

A lot of people ask me what I would recommend for someone just starting out in Internet Marketing.? Its quite a difficult thing to answer without knowing the person so I wanted to write an article that I can point those people to when they ask in the future.

I have sat down and thought about all of the different courses and eBooks out there, and narrowed my list down to four that I would recommend.? I’ll provide a brief over-view of each one so you can decide which of these will best suite your personal requirements.? These are in no particular order.

1. John’s Niche Adsense Course

This is a favourite of mine.? The site I setup using John’s method paid for itself in the first week after indexing and continues to make money.? I do have a couple of issues with the course, but I can tell you what those are here.

Firstly, the sites that he sets up are clearly setup for Adsense which is something that Google doesn’t like.? When I set mine up, I made sure that the content could stand on its own even if I removed all advertising.? This means the site provides good quality information.? Funnily enough I have been talking to John, and he has been working on an update that will emphasize the need for quality content.

Secondly, the templates that John uses in his course have been widely copied by his students.? This is something that could end up biting you because it makes it very easy to find other sites built with this system.? In actual fact, I am using WordPress for my own Adsense site.

This is an excellent course for anyone wanting to get into Google Adsense.? The sites can be setup quickly, and require fairly low maintenance.? Read more about John’s Adsense course.

2. Goobert

Michael Campbell has just released version 2 of Goobert, and this is a strategy I have incorporated into most of my sites to keep the information up to date and fresh.? Used together with Michael’s Jiggling the Web Strategy is a potent combination.

In a recent newsletter I mentioned a competing product called Nanobloggers.? I like Nanobloggers as a concept but I think it was based on Michael’s Goobert technique plus Jiggling the Web.

The one thing I did not like about Nano Bloggers is the fact that it relies heavily on the use of personas to help convert product sales.? While I know why Peter uses personas in his course, it does make me uncomfortable pretending to be someone I am not simply to encourage people to buy from me.

I know that a lot of writers use pen names, and maybe this is no different, however, I would suggest you be careful if you go this route.

If you want to play it safe, Goobert is probably the way to go.

3. I.M. Prodigy Course

In late 2008 I started an ambitious project.? I wanted to create a site from scratch, and in real-time, videoing every step so that I could show others how to do the same.? On 4th July I registered my domain – bloodsugardiabetic.com

On the 13th August, I opened the course, and accepted in the first students of the course.

Those first students were able to see almost in real time how the site was built.? In fact, to keep the pressure off myself, I was recording the videos and producing the modules for the course about 2 – 3 weeks before the students gained access to those modules.? I was therefore actually a few weeks ahead of what they were watching.

Over a period of 5 months, those students saw everything, from researching the niche, to building the site.? Along the way, they gained valuable experience in WordPress, even editing templates and setting up WordPress in a way that very few people know how – my WordPress for Affiliate Sites method.

For those who covered the material in the course, I bet many have gone on to consider themselves something of experts in WordPress.? All who finished the course (about 90% of those who started) certainly went away with huge confidence in their ability to make WordPress do what they want.

For anyone wanting to build affiliate sites with WordPress, this is the most comprehensive course I know about, but then I would say that because I created it.

You can read more about that course over at I.M. Prodigy.? When you get there, just click the link through to the WordPress for Affiliate Sites course.

4. Niche Blueprints

Niche Blueprints are something that I created several years ago, and they are still selling today.? They are currently in version 3, which means each blueprint comes in a KRA Pro wrapper – giving you the power of KRA Pro pre-populated with the keyword research data, information on relevant affiliate programs, even WordPress templates and a complete guide to get you up to speed with WordPress and creating the affiliate site.? The idea behind Niche Blueprints is simple – provide you with the research into a niche – you just add the content.

If you would like to see what a Niche Blueprint looks like, you can download the Niche Blueprint software and look at the demo blueprints that are included.? If you want to buy a Blueprint, you simply plug it into the software and away you go.

This week I released a new Blueprint.? Here is the information I have provided on the Niche Blueprint site about this new Niche Blueprint:

“This Blueprint is a little different to previous blueprints, with the niche being much narrower, and the recommended affiliate programs being mainly Clickbank and Amazon. Clickbank offers a fantastic range of products in this niche.

As well as actual affiliate products, this niche is perfect for Adsense (and this is what I would do if I was building this site) with around 10 phrases having estimated CPCs of $10+, and 33 more phrases in the $5 – $10 range. 242 phrases in the database have estimated CPCs between $1 – $5.

The entire niche is built around a little over 700 phrases, meaning you can narrow in and really focus on this topic.

In addition to the phrases for the niche, the blueprint comes with 100 phrases that are question style phrases typed in by real searchers (this data is from Wordtracker). These make excellent ideas for articles on the site, providing real answers to real questions and therefore adding “value” to your site.”

I can also tell you that the blueprint will be of interest to those interested in photography.

If you want to try the demo blueprints (PC Only), go over to the Niche Blueprint site and download the software from there.

You can see the available Blueprints at the bottom of the main page.

3. Blogging to the Bank 2010

This is a course written by Rob Benwell and it has gone through a few updates.? I originally reviewed Blogging to the Bank version 2, but Rob recently released Blogging to the Bank 2010, so let’s look at that.

Before we look at the main book, let me just mention the bonuses you get when you order his course.? These are:

Ready Made Blogs – this is a set of five different niche blogs, with content, banners and affiliate program links etc so you can setup a blog quickly.? I would suggest that this is actually limited value since so many other people will have the same content.

Powerpoint Slides – This is a Powerpoint presentation of the processes involved in setting up a blog.? Again, I would put limited value on the presentation itself.

Twitter Domination System – This is actually a good bonus.? Its a course in using Twitter.? There are 10 modules in the course, consisting of video.? There is also a Twitter Domination System eBook and 30 day action plan.

Niche Annihilation Method – This is an eBook I think he originally wrote in 2008, but it still has some valuable information in it.? To quote from this eBook, “Over the next 49 pages you’ll discover the exact methods I’m using, and will be using throughout 2008, to crush the competition in the markets my sites are in, plus any other markets I choose to enter.”

OK, Onto the Blogging To The Bank eBook itself.

Blogging to the Bank 2010 edition is 67 pages long, so its not a long read.? It starts off with some good advice in the “5 Blogging Commandments for 2010″ before moving onto the first step – Market Research and keywords (using free keyword tools).? He then goes onto domains and hosting in Step 2.

Step 3 is where things start to get interested, with information on short and long term blogging and the characteristics of each type before showing you how to setup a blog.

In Step 4 you’ll learn Rob’s optimization strategies but he also covers some monetisation stuff in this section.

Step 5 is all about Content.? Rob discusses the various ways to get content for your blog.

Step 6 is all about promoting your blog and getting the all important backlinks.? There is actually a good range of link sources discussed in this section.

Step 7 discusses a topic close to my own heart – themes.

Step 8 is all about Web 2.0 strategies, covering 5 different methods of using Web 2.0 in detail.

Step 9 is about outsourcing which many will want to do once the money start rolling in. He doesn’t go into much detail here other than to point you in the right direction for different outsourcing sites.

Step 10 is about selling your blog.? Creating blogs to sell can be a good way to make money online, so its nice to have Rob’s take on this.? Personally, if a site is making me money, I prefer to keep it, but I know others like the quick cash option.

Who is this book good for?

Blogging to the bank remains one of the best introductions to blogging available.? If you want to get blogging, this is a great guide to help you achieve your goal.

What about Established Bloggers?

If you are a seasoned blogger, this guide really isn’t something you need and I don?t think you will learn much.? I think something like the superb 31 days to Build A Better Blog is a better idea.? You can read my original review in an earlier newsletter in the section entitled “Better Blogging Guide“.

Well, that’s it for this issue.? If you want to ask a question or have a comment about anything in this newsletter, please leave a comment at the end of this newsletter.

Have a great week!

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