help and advice for newbies and people who need a kick up the backside in 2009

[Miracle]

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I gathered this bit of info for a PM I sent to someone but thought I'd post it here too as it is relevant.

These are the stats for this month for a site I built from using the info in this thread, it was the first one I built and is the only one still on page one in google (at the bottom) which explains why it is still getting traffic (the other sites I made have all gone right down to page 10+):

01 March: 20 visitors from Google - 6 clicked through to amazon - 0 items ordered
02 March: 12 visitors from Google - 5 clicked through to amazon - 1 items ordered
03 March: 10 visitors from Google - 7 clicked through to amazon - 3 items ordered
04 March: 13 visitors from Google - 6 clicked through to amazon - 1 items ordered
05 March: 12 visitors from Google - 4 clicked through to amazon - 1 items ordered

The search term got 18,100 exact matches in Feb 2009.

It is worth pointing out that the items are £8 to £15 so it hasnt even covered the cost of the domain yet. As the items are low cost it is going to be much easier to convert as users don't have to think too much about making the purchase. I am using other merchants on my sites but none of them have converted (apart from a couple from ebay). I use ECUs and direct links but the direct links to amazon are the only ones to make sales for me so far.

This shows you can make sales with one of these pages but there are a few inmportant factors to consider:

• Are your items are things people actually want to buy not just look at?
• Is the merchant you link to trusted, well known and do they have a nice site that is easy to use and looks legit?
• Low-cost items seem to convert better
• If you arent on page one of Google you might as well start crying

Well done! You should be forced out of the newbie club now Not a newbie anymore.

[sichiu]

By the way, should I be using a H1 tag for the site name or as the first title heading? Does it matter if H1 is used for the site name (ie header) as I've noticed some people have used it for that, both on here and big companies.

[Sandis]

There isn't one straight answer rather than a fact that it works for both ways and search engines know that people make incorectly coded sites and they have their means to cope with that.

Being online since 1997, I still believe H1, h2... where meant for using them as Headings in the content, not for the site name. You can use graphics, logo etc for this purpose.

[Seamaster]

Well done! You should be forced out of the newbie club now Not a newbie anymore.

I wish! Didnt make any direct sales yesterday, only three random books.

But the next day I made three sales - two from items I was promoting and one radom book.

For the month from Amazon so far:
Orders Summary
Ordered items
25
Clicks
248
Your Conversion
10.08%

Across about 10 sites.

[tom991]

Hi all,

Which is the best option for a domain name:
(assuming keywords are 'red' and 'widget' and these were the only available domain names)

(1) red-widget.org.uk ?
or
(2) redwidget.me.uk ?

Thanks.

[jsp_1983]

What happens when a search engine comes across a URL that is included in the content of a site, but isn't specifically a link?

I'm guessing it spiders it, but does it do anything to add to the SERP for that site (even if only a tiny bit)?

[gadget]

Hi all,

Which is the best option for a domain name:
(assuming keywords are 'red' and 'widget' and these were the only available domain names)

(1) red-widget.org.uk ?
or
(2) redwidget.me.uk ?

Thanks.

red-widget.org.uk IMO.

[Vialli]

Hi all,

Which is the best option for a domain name:
(assuming keywords are 'red' and 'widget' and these were the only available domain names)

(1) red-widget.org.uk ?
or
(2) redwidget.me.uk ?

Thanks.

For the UK Market I always go for the following order.

.co.uk
.co.uk with hyphen
.org.uk
.org.uk with hyphen
.me.uk (only if very strong keywords)
.me.uk with hyphen (as above)

I have also used .biz with hyphen with fairly decent rankings too.

Just my own preference, other opinions may differ.

[Sabcom]

Being online since 1997, I still believe H1, h2... where meant for using them as Headings in the content, not for the site name. You can use graphics, logo etc for this purpose.

Your right the H1 should be the title of the document or content, h2 the main sub sections h3 sub - sub sections and so on.

[jsp_1983]

Just a question about multiple categories for posts...

Would this idea work?

I have a blog post for each item I'm promoting. If I use associated keywords for multiple category names and use the canonical link tag to point to a single address for that post, will the use of the keywords in category names still help from an SEO point of view?

For example, say I have:

widgets.co.uk/metal/widget-1 < default post in default 'metal' category, with canonical link tag pointing to 'widgets.co.uk/metal/widget-1'

widgets.co.uk/metal/blue/widget-1 < post in additional category
widgets.co.uk/metal/round/widget-1
widgets.co.uk/small/widget-1

[nicheisthekey]

Sorry if im being blind, but did Smingle ever publish the linking guide? I have looked at the last 20 pages and can't see anything?

[Stuart]

I don't think he ever got around to writing it, due to being manic with other work

[Seamaster]

Anyone got any thing to report back to the group?

Have you all still got the motivation to carry on?

Anyone made any money?

[Miracle]

Anyone got any thing to report back to the group?

Have you all still got the motivation to carry on?

Anyone made any money?

I think you are probably the most successful newbie I know I have made nothing yet, and also have big doubts about my site and wondering if I should just give up on it and start in a different niche. I do not have time to work on AM during the week, so can't start many sites at the same time. Or maybe I should make more effort... Well, I am a bit disheartened right now as Google has not visited my site since 24 February although I have thrown in new content and redesigned it since then. Not sure what to do now, maybe just keep adding stuff.

[Seamaster]

I think you are probably the most successful newbie I know

Oh dear, thats not good to hear! I was hoping for some inspirational tales to keep me going.

I have been putting a lot of time in. I do some before work in the morning, a few hours during the day at work and then a good few hours most nights. Probably earnt about 1p per hour so far!

The only tip I can give is that all my sales bar a couple have come through Amazon. I have not been able to get a sale from anyone else. If you are not promoting amazon give it a try and see if your fortunes turn around. The comission rate isnt the best but getting a few sales in the early days can help you keep going.