PDA

View Full Version : Introduction and Question



jbiggs77
10-25-2004, 05:58 PM
I have been lurking around for about a month now and thought I should introduce myself to everyone. I am a 22 year old computer consultant in Central Ohio. I have been consulting for about the last two years now and while I really enjoyed it for the first year or so, I have become quite tired of dealing with many of my clients and the associated headaches. I have also come to the realization that my income has pretty much hit a ceiling and is only going to increase linearly with the amount of hours I work.

So, about two months ago I happened to stumble upon Sitepoint and after reading this post (http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?p=934126#post934126) and reading several others by Mr. Beasley, I decided I should give website publishing a try. I have had a business website (http://www.consultbiggs.com) for about a year. I have also just recently created I Help Computers (http://www.ihelpcomputers.com). As you can see, it is still lacking any significant content, but it has been live for less than a week.

I created I Help Computers because it is something I know very well and is something that I enjoy, however, I also realize that there is a lot of competition for this sort of site out there and it's probably not going to make a big profit.

That is why I have come here. I am looking to expand my business opportunities on the web but frankly I am not sure any of the ideas I have are real money makers. I have searched Overture for different keywords and have yet to come up with anything with bids over $10 except for things I can think of people suing over (i.e. Mesothelioma, Asbestos, Car Accident, etc.). I've heard Chris say that travel and health are good topics but all the travel related topics I searched for are fairly low bids. How does everyone go about finding keywords that are relatively low competition and yet pay reasonably well?

If anyone would like to review my websites as well, please do, I am trying to get a handle on all this and any help would be much appreciated.

-Justin

Billyray
10-25-2004, 07:22 PM
J there are a number of programs on the web where you can check these things out.

See wordtracker.com (trial version) or webceo.com (trial version) or webposition.com (trial version) or adwordanalyser.com.

The trial versions usually limit the analysis to a second tier search engine though you can still extrapolate from there.

These programs usually show you how many searches are made for your keyword and the amount of competition and hence potential for your efforts.
Hope this helps.

ozgression
10-25-2004, 07:35 PM
Choose topics you enjoy, not ones that appear to have high CPC bids.

There are revenue streams other than Adsense to take into consideration, anyway. What about CPM/CPA?
________
girlfriend pictures (http://girlfriendpics.org)

jbiggs77
10-25-2004, 08:01 PM
billyray - I'll check those out, I have been using Overture to check search numbers on different keywords.

ozgression - I guess my real point was that I need to get myself into more of a money making mindset instead of a how much do I know about this subject mindset. Good point though, what programs would you recommend?

Billyray
10-25-2004, 08:46 PM
Justin another resource you might want to take a look at is associateprograms.com. Particularly the case study on putting together a website http://www.associateprograms.com/search/affiliate-programs.shtml.

There is a heap of useful things to learn on that site ... it's almost as useful as this one ;)

Chris
10-26-2004, 07:05 AM
$10 a bid is alot, that shouldn't be your floor.

I consider 50 cents a click to be alot. That can deliver significant CPM if the ads are clicked on enough. With my literature site I run a small essay text link towards the bottom of the page. It gets clicked on 500-900 times a day. If I were making 50 cents per click..... well that'd be nice.

moonshield
10-26-2004, 07:53 AM
when I had adsense for like 3 days on an old site... I would get 1.00 off one click then .20 off another... i made $20 off of 2,000 total people.

Then I learned I wasnt old enough to be using Adsense and I violated the Terms of Service, so I stopped.

James
10-26-2004, 07:57 AM
Welcome to the forums, Justin. I recognize you, I think. :)

I agree that you shouldn't go as high as $10.00 and about 50-80 cents is about as high as you should go.

jbiggs77
10-26-2004, 12:09 PM
OK, so I will lower the CPC rate I am looking for. What methods do you use to find a relatively low-competition keyword? Do you just google it and check the sites that come up or is this even the sort of process you go through to figure out a good site topic?

Blue Cat Buxton
10-26-2004, 12:16 PM
Check out this article.....

http://www.websitepublisher.net/article/researching_competition/

jbiggs77
10-26-2004, 12:45 PM
Blue Cat - Thanks for the article, I had read it before but it was good to look over it again. I guess my question is, if you find a $0.50/click keyword you like and are then looking for competitors, how much competition is too much? 10 PR5 sites, 2 PR7 sites, etc?

Blue Cat Buxton
10-26-2004, 01:41 PM
Blue Cat - Thanks for the article, I had read it before but it was good to look over it again. I guess my question is, if you find a $0.50/click keyword you like and are then looking for competitors, how much competition is too much? 10 PR5 sites, 2 PR7 sites, etc?

Really that depends on how much PR you can get to your pages.
If the top 10 or 20 sites all have PR 6 / 5 then you will only get traffic if you can also get a PR 5 / 6 to be up there with them (generally speaking that is).

You have to assess the no searches vs the competiton vs your ability to compete with the competiton.

If there are few searches but you can compete and get good rankings you may have found a keyword to go after.

Otherwise you need to work on increasing your seach engine position until you start to get more traffic.

The secret to making money is being able to generate traffic (and then convert it). (my opinion)

If you dont have the time or patience to wait for the search engines then the only other answer is to purchase cheap traffic and convert it for more than you are paying for it.

pas
10-26-2004, 03:24 PM
I never bid more than $0.10 (I use software - Adwords Analyzer - to find lesser bid on keyword combinations). Even then, it's difficult to break into the black. With affiliate programs anyway.