Running A Seasonal Website Graywolf's SEO Blog |
Posted: 24 Mar 2011 07:24 AM PDT While running multiple websites isn’t a strategy I recommend for beginners, it is something experienced publishers and SEO’s can do to diversify their income sources. While some people choose to run websites in different niches, another option is to run seasonal websites. If you are going to run seasonal websites, you want to set up websites that have peak traffic and buying cycles that are at opposite times of the year–say, for example, Department 56 Christmas decorations and swimming pool supplies. Look at the search patterns for those two terms on Google insights. Seasonal websites have the advantage of being evergreen and only require updating once a year. You need to decide if you will use a living URL strategy (which I recommend) or add new URL’s. Even if you do use a living URL strategy, consider doing a content audit and removing or updating your weakest content every year BEFORE the prime buying cycle. I would also recommend adding some new content every year. Increasing your content by 10% every year is a solid number. Another variation of running seasonal websites is running one website with distinctly different search seasons. For example, you could have a family travel website with family ski vacations, winter family vacations, spring break family vacations, summer family vacations, and so on. If you can find a way to have enough different terms so something is converting throughout the whole year, you are golden. So what are the takeaways from this post:
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This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review. |
Traffic & Trust by Nick Reese Review Posted: 23 Mar 2011 08:06 AM PDT One of the questions that comes to my inbox fairly regularly is how do you actually build an affiliate website, one that will rank for competitive terms and make you enough money that you can live on? Talk about a big question that I really can’t answer in a single or even multiple emails! Well, if you’re one of those folks, I’ve finally got something to offer you: Nick Reese’s Traffic & Trust ebook. … there is a section called “blueprint” that helps you go from a blank piece of paper to an actionable list on building a successful, money-making website … Ok let’s get the hard question out of the way. Nick sent me a free copy of his book and asked whether, if had the time, I would review it. To be honest, I get these requests all the time and, if I don’t know you or know of you, I’m not going to do it. Secondly, if I start someone’s ebook and don’t like it or don’t think it has any value, rather than bash it, my schedule will suddenly become too busy, and I’ll never get to it. However, Traffic and Trust is a book that I think has value. If you apply the principles in it, you will make back the initial investment and more money over the long haul. The problem with a lot of ebooks is they give you overly generalized advice, sort of a 10,000-feet-up, CEO-style overview. Very few ebooks give you “in the trenches” actionable info that you can use. Now, this isn’t a step by step recipe for how to build a money making website. Quite honestly, I don’t think that’s even possible. But it takes the 10,000-feet-up good advice and helps you break it down into actionable items you can use to make a “to-do” list. In fact, there is a section called “blueprint” that helps you go from a blank piece of paper to an actionable list on building a successful, money-making website. The blueprint section is very specific. You will have to do the work, because there are no “get rich quick” steps, but it’s very do-able even if you have limited to no technical skills. One of the sections of the book that I think is particularly important is the promotion section. As you may know, over the past year Google has tried to give credit to trusted brand websites. They have even filed patents trying to algorithmically define and identify what is a brand . IMHO two of the most important parts of the algorithm are trust and authority. If you do a good job promoting your website, the links, trust, and authority will flow. In fact if your content is good, and you do a good job promoting it, you won’t have to worry about crazy linking schemes. There is also a section on tracking. To be honest, this is an area where a lot of people screw up. If you can build your website so you know which pages not only get the most traffic but drive the conversions, you have very powerful information. You want to put most of your effort into the parts of your website that make you money and less effort into the parts that don’t. The very last part of the book has a list of resources that you can use to help you get from wherever you are to money making website, even if you don’t even have a domain name . It lists everything from registrars and hosting companies to affiliate programs, plugins, and promotion tools. I don’t use everything on his list but I do use a lot of them. Personally, I’m a big fan of Tiger Tech Hosting because they rock. They even monitor my friends’ tweets and provide solutions on the spot. I also use quite a few more plugins than he does–heck, I use more than most people (see WordPress SEO plugins)–but these are personal preferences. I didn’t see anything in his list of recommendations that made me wince. Who is thus book for? If you’re an SEO veteran, there’s probably not a lot here for you. You might pick up one or two things but that’s it. If you’re a mid-level SEO and you can drive some traffic and sales but want to take it to the next level, there is definitely actionable information here for you. If you’re new and your website isn’t making any money, then you should absolutely get the book. If you put in the work described, there’s no doubt in my mind you will make more money. Check out Trust and Traffic by Nick Reese. Related posts:
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This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review. |
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