I'm addicted to SEO

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

Hi everybody.

I currently use SEO to get all of my traffic, and at the moment, it is going well. But I have seen many of my competitors drop out of the SERPS through the latest Google update.

I am not arrogant enough to think that my rankings are immune from these updates. Depending on Google, or any search engine for that matter, is making me really paranoid.

What else should I consider to get traffic? Sure, everybody says to write great content, and I do. But I don't think this will ensure me a steady flow of traffic.

Do any of you use PPC for your promotions? I've read that a lot of super affiliates do. But in my niche (health), there aren't many products that I think I could make a profit off of through PPC.

The only one that offers high commissions is Market Health. But they offer products that are kind of sketchy...colon cleansing...weight loss..."enlargement."

And in Adwords, the price for these health related terms are high. And the suppliers pay well. I think part of the reason for this is that they know that they will get repeat business from their orders. They can send out promotions to the email addresses they collect. As an affiliate, we don't have that option. We get one commission for one sale, unless a recurring commission is involved.

Should I consider drop shipping?

If anybody could offer up some tips on how to approach these things, I would really appreciate it.

As it stands right now, I could lose everything by someone at Google just clicking a mouse.

 

[secretguitardiagram]

My best advice is for you to NOT get "caught up in the what ifs" because that will only distract you from accomplishing what you have been doing this whole time. One click of the mouse at Google is most likely out of your hands anywhoo, so don't stress it. As far as drop shipping is concerned, I say no but that's just my opinion. Some will disagree.

 

[Caleb]

We all suckle at the Google teat. At some point it might all come crashing down!

I'd recommend getting a newsletter sign up on your site and start creating a list. That's something Google can't take away and you're left with people who are interested in your product.

Even if social media doesn't create a lot of traffic for you, I'd definitely recommend getting up pages for your site on the major players(FB, G+, Twitter, ect). Keep working on engaging users and you'll eventually learn how to use social to serve your customers.

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

My best advice is for you to NOT get "caught up in the what ifs" because that will only distract you from accomplishing what you have been doing this whole time. One click of the mouse at Google is most likely out of your hands anywhoo, so don't stress it. As far as drop shipping is concerned, I say no but that's just my opinion. Some will disagree.

I understand what you're saying. And I try not to stress too much about it. The thing is, it's happened to me before. I took a hit from the Oct. 14th Panda update. It wasn't catastrophic, but it did wipe out 50% of my income. It took me 2 months to recover.

On top of this, I don't have a day job.

And despite what Google says, the recent Panda updates have been about more than just on page factors.

We all suckle at the Google teat. At some point it might all come crashing down!

I'd recommend getting a newsletter sign up on your site and start creating a list. That's something Google can't take away and you're left with people who are interested in your product.

Even if social media doesn't create a lot of traffic for you, I'd definitely recommend getting up pages for your site on the major players(FB, G+, Twitter, ect). Keep working on engaging users and you'll eventually learn how to use social to serve your customers.

Ahh...list building! Yeah, that's something that's been on my to do list. I just linked my pages and my G+ account together to establish authorship. Hopefully, my mug will start showing in SERPS next to my pages soon.

I think these social signals will play a role in SEO in the near future. Just think about how Google is letting us establish authorship for our pages. Maybe G will start ranking authors as well as pages.

My current sites are niche sites. But I am launching a broader authority site very soon. This will be more geared toward long term readership, and making a name for myself. I've been publishing a lot of content on HubPages for practice. But I do not expect quick results from a site like this.

Until I have an alternative up and running, I'll be on edge.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[jcorkern]

I probably should not mention all of this stuff, but yes, you absolutely need to look in other places anyway, even if you do not fall from the graces of Google in the future.

This is also advice for anyone as soon as they can afford it. Go find a copywriting course, take it and take it seriously. Study, practice. It is really a very simple process, but worth...ummm...more than I could possibly explain.

Get some landing page software. A good one is Premise landing pages for wordpress. It is very simple and will teach you proper formatting.

Next is an A/B or multi-variant testing software or a service, services are really easy for beginners.

Learn to use PPC and other ad networks like adbrite, send the traffic to your sales pages that have good copy.

Split test your copy because you can get to 20% conversions or higher if you are using good keywords for PPC.

Ad networks are a bit tougher because you really need to know your customers demographics to target the right people with the right copy.

The ad networks are a lot cheaper than PPC if you have done your homework and matched the landing page to a very specific demographic.

I make a lot of money with what I have just told you.

Have opt in landing pages for social with some ethical bribe, that's like money in the bank, and you can buy social traffic cheap, but they are much harder to convert on a product or service. You have to capture emails in social and build the relationships.

Yes, there are other way besides google.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

Hope this helps.

This helps more than I can possibly say.

I really appreciate it.

I hope you don't mind if I ask a couple follow up questions.

Best regards,

Michael

 

[jcorkern]

Ask away!

 

[dmdream]

Health is very competitive niche, why do not you try something easier for the beginning?
When I worked for dating, we would use dream marriage and other huge competitors to make sure we are not far behind them.So, always look on your competition, but note copy them, just observe them

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

Health is very competitive niche, why do not you try something easier for the beginning?

The health niche isn't really that tough SEO-wise; as long as you're not trying to rank for "weight loss" or "menopause". The purpose of me starting this thread was to become less dependent on Google. And ppc/list building sounds like a great way.

The way it sits right now, my house payment and my son's college fund are 70% dependent on Google; with the other 30% going to Yahoo/Bing. That makes me very uneasy.

And I really appreciate the help I've been given, I just want to do some more research before I start blasting away with questions. I've also had to take some time to revamp my seo strategy because of the recent Google changes. No more blog networks

 

[lets4410]

Hi SweetTooth, this is something that worry's me also, potentially I could work hard on a site for 6 months, get it making cash then wack! Google frog/rabit/ostritch comes along and sinks me, the way I'm combating this is to learn as much about SEO as I can

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

Hi SweetTooth, this is something that worry's me also, potentially I could work hard on a site for 6 months, get it making cash then wack! Google frog/rabit/ostritch comes along and sinks me, the way I'm combating this is to learn as much about SEO as I can

And if you use Adsense, It can be a double whammy. Click bombers, unruly bots...:sigh:

Never rely on Google in any shape, form, or fashion.

 

[FitGal]

The health niche isn't really that tough SEO-wise; as long as you're not trying to rank for "weight loss" or "menopause". The purpose of me starting this thread was to become less dependent on Google. And ppc/list building sounds like a great way.

The way it sits right now, my house payment and my son's college fund are 70% dependent on Google; with the other 30% going to Yahoo/Bing. That makes me very uneasy.

And I really appreciate the help I've been given, I just want to do some more research before I start blasting away with questions. I've also had to take some time to revamp my seo strategy because of the recent Google changes. No more blog networks

And even if you did rank for "weight loss" or "menopause" it is not likely you would make a lot of sales because these are not buying keywords.

---------- Post added at 12:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:12 PM ----------

Hi SweetTooth, this is something that worry's me also, potentially I could work hard on a site for 6 months, get it making cash then wack! Google frog/rabit/ostritch comes along and sinks me, the way I'm combating this is to learn as much about SEO as I can

That's right which is why it is a good idea to diversify income streams and to use traffic methods that are not all Google dependent such as including syndication, social traffic etc.

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

And even if you did rank for "weight loss" or "menopause" it is not likely you would make a lot of sales because these are not buying keywords.

Well, I wouldn't mind ranking in the top 3 for those 2 keywords. I could make a lot of money off that for sure, with just Adsense. Easy money...

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

That's the one redeeming quality about Adsense, you don't need sales; just clicks. I have a menopause site and it get's clicked away like crazy. Before all this clickbombing stuff started, I would get many clicks in excess of $2 and even $3. Now I'm lucky if I see anything over 50 cents.

But it's totally on me, I got lazy. And now I'm procrastinating. Time for me to get busy on some of the great tips I've received. Research time is over.