Another Journal - Suit Up

A

AceB7

New member
Jul 13, 2011
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Suit'd Up
Background
So I went through College, Uni, Post Grad and am in my first FT job (yaay). Aiming for that promotion and getting closer to my dream job.

I have been floating around WF and similar for a while now. Made a bit of pocket change here and there but have never committed to real campaign.

Though now with my student and professional loan amount greater than my salary 3 times over think its time to get myself in gear and supplement my income.

This journal's aim is to keep me motivated.

The Idea

I've had a look around sites surrounding my profession and have found them to be subpar. Though monitoring a sub-niche I have found the competition is bidding high and consistently on adwords. With the top 3 places in adwords controlled by one organisation.

This niche looks profitable...

Comp. Analysis

Having a quick look at the above mentioned adword sites. Their SEO work is minimal and designs are from the old ages. Though they seem to be converting well as they are pumping money in adwords.

Organic Results the competition is bit more difficult. The top 3 are government sites giving information and the next is a charity followed by a BBC page.

The next 5 seem to be simple blogs / sites. Of Average strength in my opinion.

The Monetisation Strategy

Due to the nature of the primary keyword it can lend itself two ways.

1) A remote business
2) Lead generation

As I don't have the funds to setup what the remote business would require I will go down the second route and sell leads on.

Combining the keyword totals from Google Keyword Tool for both my primary and longtail keywords. Throwing in some quick maths of 40% ctr at number one and 3% conversion it will give me about 70 leads a month. Not a lot but should be a nice amount to base expansion on once I reach number one.

The Site

After a bit of research I have narrowed down the keywords into 3 broad
categories:

1) 'buying'
2) Information seeking
3) Where the govt. site would be better suited

So I aim to write 3 articles:

1 - the 'Sales Page'
2 - the 'information page' (which I have penciled to have a 1% conversion rate)
3 - the 'scare' page - its aim being to capture some longtail queries funnel them to my sales page.

I aim to constantly update the Info and Scare pages instead of multiple posts to keep the content high quality instead of multiple medium quality posts so to avoid the panda hit.

To do list

My aim for today:

- Find a keyword related domain with a local .tld to target only local people.
- Buy the domain!
- Set up analytic/webmaster for the site.
- Install Wordpress and plugins to suit.
 


363-bruce-willis-cool-story-bro-image.jpg
 
haha good ol' Bruce !

Domain Name

All the MainKeyword.tld were taken (.co./.co.xx/.org/.org.xx/.net) the one available was .me.localtld. Think i'll avoid that for now.

Going for SuffixMainKeyword.co.localtld.

Due to the nature of the area I really dont want to use hyphens and as I will be relying on organic traffic, with referral later I think the suffix will lend nicely to the strategy.

So Domain found, to buy once momentarily.
 
Progress

Domain brought, WP up and plugins semi configured. However robot.txt it all uncrawlable as of yet for two reasons:

1) Want to add content first for a more 'beneficial' first crawl.
2) Debating whether to have the sales page as a standalone html/php page on domain and 'blog' in a directory OR have it as a sticky post on the front of the WP site OR have it as a separate page on the WP site and channel from my frontpage or page X to it.

Any idea what would be better suited?

Further Research

I put my main two keywords into SerpIQ (free trial) and found the average of the two primary keywords to be 47 and 53. the top ten Classified as 'moderate' and 'average'. However keyword '53' had a 'hard' as number one (72 score) and this is the bulk traffic maker. So it will cost more time and money to reach that spot.

So I grabbed Market Samurai and searched for more secondary and long-tail keywords giving me about 17-21 'useable' keywords.

Things to do: - plonk these into SerpIQ slowly to see which ones will be hard to rank so to avoid them.


Backend Strategy

Gathering leads is all fine and dandy but I need to sell these on also. There are few 'organisation' that span country wide so contacting them to see if there is interest will be useful.

Thing to do: Track down numbers and names of people who have 'decision making power' in the organisation.


Tracking leads will also be useful. As no affiliate company is running such an offer I will have to track the leads myself.

I was thinking using single optin to capture leads and getting Name, Email, Postcode, Phone. and plonking these in:

1) Excel to track where I 'sell' them to and
2) Making an email list to sell 'related' items to them and sell those leads on further.

Things to do: - Make a base spreadsheet


AuxDomain

As the 'main project' will need more time and money then first anticipated I have brought up an AuxDomain (about a month ago) that will help build my professional credentials in the field and feed into the Mainsite.

I have also setup a quick affiliate offer on their and grabbed Travis HomepageLinks with booster to help bump it in the SERPs.

My old partner used it for his campaign and it worked well for him. Though he has abandoned his project so I sneaked into his slot and set the links to this offer.

at 266 exact match and 40% ctr being 106 if 1% convert every day it should pay for it self and help fund the main campaign.

Competition wise SerpIQ puts it average CI as '65' so moderate. Though I feel the backlinks from travis will be of great help as it has appeared at #160 this morning. (twitter used for quick index).

Things to do: Complete Linkedin/Twitter and About page to create credibility and use this site as a basis to contact the potential 'Decision makers'. (i.e network!).

Purchases

MainDomain $10
AuxDomain $40
Market Samurai $149
Homepage Links $70 (per month)
 
Always a good idea to set up an EMD at the same time. They tend to rank much, much faster for me and that success can help you keep going.
 
@sixthcutuan Thank you for the suggestion. The only reason I didnt go for the available EMD was because there wasn't one available for .com/co.local. The demographic i'm targeting (and of which I will rely on referral traffic from) I felt it would make more sense if a .com/co.local would be used.

I have tried to keep the domain name as close to a EMD as possible and hope it weighs in as a factor.

Progress

My last update post from yesterday seems still to be held in moderation due to a link going out to the WF BST section. I just hope when it appears it shows up in the right order :p (hint hint mod!)

I have not done any further work on the Primary project as was hoping for some feedback form my last post.

I am debating setting up some 'Link Laundering Sites'. I would use Wordpress.com etc but I feel having control would be easier.

Was thinking MainKeywordVideos.com and setup an Automated Video Site (google no 1 post seems simple to setup). Then have a 'sitewide' advertisement on it funneling to my MainSite.

That way I can capture video searches, spam the site with Comments/Profile Links using Backlink Genie free edition (think its a month right??) to build up some link juice to filter through to my MainSite.

Actions for today wait for old post to come through here and see if I get any feedback. Otherwise get working on articles.
 
@Secretagentdad, hmm I might grab it now and use it for split testing SEO methods, though the tld was .ME.LOCAL.

Will that be beneficial still?
 
Progress

My update post still seems to be held in moderation. Though what ive done since yesterday.

Looked at the Longtail keywords for my primary keyword and made a list of them to sprinkle them into the articles.

I am going to add a third Q and A page, plan is to monitor longtails that do not fit into the 'information' or 'scare' pages and target them to this page.

I have drafted initial drafts of the information page, scare page and 'landing' page. going to do a once over and then put them on the site and tweak the site while the pages are live. So to get it indexed at the very least.

AuxSite

The Aux site as described in post that still in moderation is now tweaked and the side campaign is progressing well.

The LongTail keyword is 18 Broad and 17 Phrase much SERP wise at moment. Hoping I can hit no 1 on that within 30days. Will give me 1 or so conversion every few days I fell. (about 3 a month) which coupled with its net60 (its a subscription lead) should give me decent cashflow to target its main KW which sits 140 Broad and 262 Phrase.

So the high pr homepage link seem to be working.

Things to do

- finalise articles and plonk on site (let hope that post comes out of moderation soon).
- make a 'linking plan' to start executing next week.
 
Progress

AuxDomain
Haven't done much link building to Aux campaign page. The MainKW is hovering at 140ish now and the Longtail is still at 18. Will try and get in a few Comments in to boost the longtail a bit

MainDomain

2 main Articles are "complete" and i've decided to use a 'Sticky' Page as the front page to the blog while having the subsequent Articles as 'Pages' Also.

Have yet to publish the three as still working on the 'Sales' page.

Managed to get my foot in to the door for one of the aforementioned organisations. Let see if I can convince them to buy leads once i'm up and running.

Meeting scheduled in a month. Should give me time to complete and start ranking.
 
Issue

While finalising my copy I found out the form I was using to capture Opt-in's does not play nice (and centre!) within the copy.

Is there a plugin or option where I can add 'opt-in' forms into Wordpress within the body? I am currently not using sidebars on my homepage.

Any help appreciated.
 
Progress

Just incase someone is reading this!

AuxDomain: plan made for link building going to outsource it, just waiting on some money to rejig in the accounts before I give the go.

MainDomain: It is shaping nicely. Had to use tables to set the form where I wanted it but it worked.

All 2 main articles and Sales page is up as well as an 'About page' Drafting a Privacy Policy and that should be done soon as well.

Need to do

- Logo desgin for MainDomain
- Get sales copy checked by people with experience (any volunteers please PM me or post below :rainfro:)
- Start Unrelated Link Launder Site for AuxDomain

 
Nice read keep it up, you'll get there soon enough if you only keep updating the thread.

-M
 
@onkelmicha

Thanks for the support :p

Progress

LinkLaunderSite started, signed up to BLG to hit it or a month to see if I can boost incoming links to it so it passes nice juice to its outgoing friend.

Logo was acquired online for the MainDomain just need to make sure it works nice with the header now.

Linkbuilding outsourced, essentially is 25 articles (LSI Unique content) hit with 250+ SB, 1250 links from blogspot wordpress etc (50 domains in total) and 1k links from 1k unique domains (dripped over time).

Meaning 2500 links across 25 Articles which all point to TargetPage. I have high hopes for this!

Got 5 keywords at the cost of $1k (+paypal fees).

Will aim one of these structures at AuxDomain and two at MainDomain, leaving me with 2 if I need to re hit a KW. Hope to start start seeing results within 3 weeks and plateau within 6. I have high hoped for this service.

Income / Expenditure
Expenses: $1400
Income: $0
Remaining Budget: $100

I will use the last $100 to keep the homepage links going, hopefully have a payment within 60 to keep it going.

To Do

- Add posts to AuxDomain at least one a week. (industry is very lackluster in updates)
- Add to Existing article on MainDomain and try and improve 'Copy' and 'trust' factor. (read accreditation logos etc).
- Prep Business Plan for industry Leaders in MainDomain field
 
Persistence is the key. Stick with what you're doing and don't get distracted by some other method that you think is better. Speaking from experience here.
 
@BitWrier Thanks for the advice will keep that in mind.

Progress

On Sat I got the first report that 25 LSI articles have been completed for AuxDomain (easier KW to write for) and this morning I saw the KW jump from 163 to 44!! (broad match) lets hope the links to those 25 boost me on the front page soon!

The LinkLaunder site is a rocking and earning a small pittance in adsense, plan to hit it with a few stumbles and see if I can rank up some traffic for it. At the current rate i'll make about £6.00 ($10) at the end of the month :p (will cover its domain cost at least).

MainDomain - I managed to get a more experienced field eye to have a look at the three main articles as described earlier and they offered to do a rewrite of bits to make it better. A more 'field' correct solution can only mean better conversions!

I have jumped onto linkedin using my AuxDomain as a basis and once the rewrite is done for MainDomain I will use one of the groups for a feedback round and hopefully lead buyers as well.

MainDomain Rankings stand at:

KW1: 20 (broad) 17 (phrase)
KW2: N/A (broad) 44 (phrase)

So the projects for those 2 kw's seem to be working ... or maybe not...as the page ranking is the 'information' page. Not a real issue right now as the main page is listed (350ish for KW1 and N/A for KW2). Though perhaps I can go for a double (or triple) listing... How can I make sure those appear as sitelinks or appear as multiple links for the keyword?

Income / Expenditure
Expenses: $1400
Income: $0
Remaining Budget: $100

To do
- FinaliseBP
- Build 'authority' or atleast 'presence' on linkeedin to aid in peer review.
 
Progress

MainDomain: Kw's holding steady dancing one/two places up and down daily.
AuxDomain: Kw is holding steady at 45-47ish hoping the additional backlinks over the 25 seed articles start garnering an effect soon.

In regards to the Business Plan. Initial meeting on Friday went very well and if / when I start getting leads I have a buyer pending some more negotiation.

However I came across a small hiccup. A recent article over at SEOmoz Mission ImposSERPble: Establishing Click-through Rates | SEOmoz show that the CTR from a no1 pos is 20% and not the 40% I had initially written in my equations based on my experience (and data from Google WMT). This in effect slices by bottom line by half.

Though not to worried about it at the moment. Just means i'll have to ramp up conversion optimisation form 1% to to 2%. (yes I know easier said then done).

Saying that is there a "heatmap" plugin for WP?

Income / Expenditure
Expenses: $1400
Income: $0
Remaining Budget: $100

To do
- install Heatmap via WP or otherwise
- Check / Recheck articles again for accuracy and get a peer review on linkedin once it is at a "decent" standard
 
Didn't read all your shit because I'm drunk, but 3% sales from your sales page is probably optimistic and how the fuck did you spend $1400 on your site already?
 
STOP SPENDING MONEY.

I don't know your back-story but you seem impressed by the possibility of making $10/month, so I presume this is one of your first sites. Do it manually until you figure out what works and what doesn't.... saves you from wasting $1,400.

...

Good luck though, I hope it all works out.
 
@ Dream machine/ fawkes 3% may be optimistic though my sums initially work on the 1% site-wide conversion ( amended to 2% now) which should let me break even within 3 weeks of hitting that conversion number.

I have initially road-mapped SEO/Ranking for up to 6 weeks from live site (end of Aug) and conversions from October making a "total cost" for the MainDomain project to accumulate at $1550.

Though yes I will stop spending!

Spending Breakdown of the project (including AuxDomain and LinkLaunder Site)

- Domains : $80
- Hosting: $20
- Market Samurai: $150
- Homepage Links: $70 (monthly) *2 =$140
- SEO Outsourcing: $1k
- Aweber: $10

Ranking Progress:

MainDomain Rankings stand at:

KW1: 19 (broad) 16 (phrase)
KW2: N/A (broad) 364 (phrase)

SEO work should complete this week so should see a spike hopefully by end of next week.

Though it has started ranking for almost all selected longtails so im happy with my progress.

AuxDomain

KW1: 44 (broad) 37(phrase)
Longtail KW: 20 (broad) 16 (phrase)

Work Progress
Work wise I have tweaked the copies a bit and all inner pages are PR3 with homepage PR1 for MainDomain so a solid backing for on the onpage factors. (how do I check my url against top 10 in serpIQ?)

The copies are still being reviewed for accuracy and hope the "peer review" will be complete by end of next week.

AuxDomain: got a conversion!! (yaaay) the main "money" page has hit a PR4 and barring 2 articles the rest are all PR3 so again a solid metric even though it means very little.

Plan for AuxDomain build some manual links via blog commenting targeting the longtail and possibly make the "booster pack" for the update target that.

Income / Expenditure
Expenses: $1400
Income: $130 (paid) $20(pending)
Remaining Budget: $100
Income-Expense:-$1270

To do
- install Heatmap via WP or otherwise (tried a few plugins didnt work so will go manual install)
- Check / Recheck articles again for accuracy and get a peer review on linkedin once it is at a "decent" standard
- 5 Comments a day atleast for longtail on AuxDomain
 
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