Blogger Illustrated

As that prolific grunge-rock group Staind says “It’s Been Awhile.” …and ya know guys, it’s been a good while. It’s been good because over the last 3 months or so I have really taken time to pull my ego outta my ass and learn this business like never before. Things have changed and I am damned sure figuring out how to survive with those changes. We all need to drink a beer together for this post – in honor of the old days – so make sure ya’ll grab a cold one before reading this beat ok????

Change Up – It’s Cool

You see, to be an internet marketer, you have to “bob-and-weave” (gayish corp term I know) with the changes in the landscape at hand. What works today may not work the same or as well tomorrow – the internet is just too new (what, 15 years old?) and ever evolving/changing/growing.

And if you think about it, most of the internet marketing advice out there is being delivered to you (and me) by people who have been doing it for like 2 or 3 years at best and those “teachers” aren’t making anymore money than you are! Would you trust your life to a spleen surgeon who had been just “scrubbing in” for 2 years but never really done the actual cutting?

I Don’t Sell Stuff Here (much)

In that same vein, I have been internet marketing and blogging seriously for almost 4 years now. I’ve done well by most people’s standards. I have been taught by those who are the “grand-daddies” in the industry (like Vic), but I am still experimenting and learning on my own too. I own nearly 300 URLs with live sites on them… a few are monetized, others are used for “other” stuff and still others are used purely for testing shiz. I am good at niche discovery and targeting, link acquisition and can write killer content that gains trust and sells – I can be an expert in ANY niche (you can too BTW).

I have friends too; we work together — but I am still NOT a pro or guru or anything such. I am just a dude who works for corporate robots during the day and makes money online by night. And recently, I have made some needed changes to my online business – here is some insight into my thinking. (remember the word “authority” is analogous to humans and search engines, interchangeably)

(boring reading ahead)

First off, you have to realize that Google needs traffic to be successful just like you and I need traffic. If regular people stop using them as their chosen search engine, then they (Google) will quickly lose value and go the way of Yahoo. To that end, the people at Google are constantly striving to keep their search results relevant and straight forward and simple for the searcher (the traffic).

Know Google’s Start – Know Google Now

You realize what made Google originally appealing dontcha? It wasn’t their algorithm at first. Yes, their results were superior from the jump, but that is not what made them grow in the beginning. What made Google great was that VERY PLAIN search page that made it easy for people to go there and type their query. It was a one-step search and done. Everyday people loved that: especially because the likes of Yahoo and AOL were smattered, cluttered and scattered with all kinds of crap about celebrities and politics and world news and weather and shopping and “chat this and chat that” and blinking advertisements… and blah blah blah. Yahoo and AOL got so busy that searchers had to sift and swim through a bunch of crap just to get to the query box.

Look at AOL’s Homepage in 1999: (courtesy of Archive.org)

The folks at Google knew that getting searchers (real humans using the net) right to their destination (the search query box) would be appealing to the masses who wanted info and wanted it fast. Then, once they loved the simplicity Google offered on the home page, they could begin to love the results the patented algorithm delivered. (and begin clicking those un-assuming Adwords boxes at the top and down the sides)

Here is Google in 1999 – pretty similar to today really:

The Simple/Concise Google Homepage is a Success, what about the SERPs?

Over the years, however, people (those dirty internet marketers) learned how the algorithm worked and learned how to manipulate it so their sites would show up top in the SERPs. More people (real humans wanting simple search results) used Google, and more marketers desired to be a part of those results. Of course, the term “manipulate” is NOT always negative or shady or bad. It is what happens in ANY industry that marketers work in (which is like, every industry methinks)

But the folks at Google were/are staunch in their stand. They don’t want some marketer telling them or their algorithm who’s site is “the best.” The Google folks want the cream of the crop to rise naturally in the SERPs and they are constantly tweaking that algorithm in order to ensure this end.

Remember, Google is all about SIMPLE, not only in their appearance, but in their USER EXPERIENCE… so if your “thin affiliate site” ranks #1, but is nothing more than a jumping off point to the “real answer to the query” so you can get a commission, rest assured that you may be bounced out eventually when tweaks are made by Matt Cutts and his crew. Google wants its traffic to find the answer to their queries in the shortest amount of time possible (or with the least amount of clicks). If your crappy (or pretty with good content) site that was made to make you money is in the way, the algorithm will find you and knock you down to page 55 or worse ROFL

Fast Forward to May 2010 – the MayDay Update

This update got me in a few places, and missed me in others. I watched what happend, figured out why, and changed the way I do business online.

Here is Matt Cutts himself talking about the May Day update. Watch and listen very carefully because this is part of what made me change the way I do things.

There is quite a bit to digest there, but what clued me in (and what I have seen in my money sites and test sites) is this quote:

“it’s an algorithmic change that changes how we assess which sites are the best match for long tail queries.”

Something many of you never think about is that Google does NOT index websites… they index Web PAGES (re-read that)… but this quote from Cutts indicates the algorithm is looking at an entire site and factoring relevance in a “NEW” way now.

He goes on to say that if you as a webmaster have been impacted (hurt/damaged) by the change, then you need to go back and see if your site is most relevant to the query and maybe throw in some more content, etc etc. He also talks about domain authority (which if you are a reader/viewer here you understand) but then says (loosely quoted/translated) “make sure your site isn’t just a match for the query keywords” and “ensure your site is relevant and ‘useful’ for that query”

Guys, are you getting this? The term “thin affiliate site” is starting to mean more now than ever. No longer do I build a site that is:

URL: big-red-beachtowels-cheap.com

10 posts all about “big red beach towels cheap”

Bolded key words “big red beach towels cheap”

Meta tags on every page/post “big red beach towels cheap”

Anchored links to homepage and posts “big red beach towels cheap”

I *think* (I am kinda sure maybe) this is what the May Day update did — filtered these perfectly tight sites out — at least my own network shows this to be true. You have to realize that there are absolutely almost zero real corporate branded websites that target keywords in the way we do. Most are hulking pieces of crap that gain links due to brand recognition alone. Their links are all over the board when it comes to anchor text, do-follow/no-follow, relevance, etc. If you analyze the big boys in most niches, they are not so tight. That is one of the keys to my new way of thinking.

Big Sites – Authority Sites

I am a blogger first, and internet marketer second. That has served me well. The site I sold for $30K was a pure blog when I started it, but was also well marketed the way I was taught by Vic and others. The site targeted hundreds of keywords effectively. It had posts that were written for humans and search engines (if you can’t do that then you are dumb and Ken Evoy owns you). It had many many subscribers and comments came in by the dozens, and it gained natural links naturally as well. The site made/makes lots of money everyday. That site was NOT effected at all by the May Day update (yeah, my analytics code is still installed in the header LOL) It’s a great site, but still falls short of what I do these days…

Nowadays, I build big sites where I establish myself as an authority and dominate – completely. Now, some of you are thinking “well shit man, Rowse and Risley and Shoemoney etc have been saying that for years.”

And, yes they have, but much of what we (us internet marketers) know still holds true and gives us the competitive advantage. It’s one thing to write compelling content, but it’s another to write it, promote it, market it, acquire anchored authority links to it, and do it all day long all the time consistently. Read This and understand, Seriously, READ THIS

I can pretty much guarantee you that most bloggers out there who have BIG social-type sites don’t actively take time to gain links for their posts… but I do and it works very, very well. Put the site on a pre-owned domain and you are golden.

Twitter and FaceBook Too?

I also throw in the social angle and support my big sites with Twitter accounts and Facebook FanPages. Surprisingly, the Facebook following grows pretty fast when you put that “LIKE” button over in the sidebar, and the links you post on there don’t hurt either. Of course, the followers may be joining because of the George Clooney avatar on most of my sites, but I am not sure (ROFL, just kidding George).

It’s easy to get followers on Twitter too, and tweet out links from my Iphone, and believe it or not, the no-follow links from Twitter do make a difference when it comes to authority – but it is cool to interact with the humans too – Remember, my content is really good, so my Twitter followers happen to be real and engaged. (no, the @allynpaul account does not re-tweet for my niche-big-blogs … I keep things separate on purpose)

Time And Fun

I have found that building, updating and maintaining big sites is quite rewarding and fun. I like writing as an authority about a topic. (my opinions count and they are unique, making me an authority). I also enjoy marketing my posts – I am strange that way.

However, these big-ass sites take a lot of freeeeeking time ya’ll. I can only handle 4 at a time right now and that means the growth is much slower. It’s a trade off really, but worth it in my estimation. I used to make around $4K per month from a bunch of sites, but now I am shifting to making $4K or more a month from 4 or 5 sites. (I am also pruning down my network so it is easier to manage)

A couple years ago I could pick a niche, buy a URL, outsource some posts, throw it on my server, get some links and walk away… but no more. It’s all different now for me.. I am good with it… you?