Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #9

It has been a while since we last checked in with the Build A Niche Store student as we were waiting on a few things to get done before proceeding. first the student was one of the many that was terminated from the EPN affiliate program, but has since been reinstated after sending an email asking for a review of his account. The student has since joined Pepperjam as well and is currently waiting for approval as to have a fall back option if something like that were to happen again.

The student purchased a few articles from Need An Article and submitted one to Ezinearticles. Here is his Ham Radio article. Notice the great keyword rich title and the effective use of the links in the bio section. It did take a little longer for approval as most first time users usually get scrutinized quite a bit depending on which editor they get.

Organic traffic continues to grow from the search engines and with the addition of more content on site, this store has real long time earning possibilities.

Next the student will submit the article off to other article directories and will change up the links and text in the bio section along the way.

Below are the current front page keyword rankings in the SERPs:

Keyword Phrase / Search Engine	Google	Yahoo	MSN
Ham Radio Supplies	22	10	X
Ham Radio Sales	123	4	X
Used Ham Radio Equipment	X	6	X

MSN has really been bouncing around as of late and I suspect the site will settle back into its previous high rankings after this shuffle that is going on. It seems MSN is testing a few new algorithms at the moment.

I am winding down training now with this student and in the next post we will summarize his earnings, rankings and what needs to be done going forward.

If you have missed any of this series, you can get caught up here.

Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #8

I wanted to use this post to update where the student is at this point regarding earnings, traffic and another update on rankings. Since the revamping of the website, the used ham radio equipment store as earned in the neighborhood of $50.00. Not bad at all considering up to this point all that has been done is onsite SEO and some traditional link directory submissions and social bookmarking. Traffic is still low as expected, but is producing high quality organic searches. Sometimes one gets so caught up in volume, when in reality, one should worry more about quality of traffic. Give me 10 actual shoppers over 1000 tire kickers every day. The student is submitting his first article written by NAA this afternoon. I will go over that process in an upcoming post, after it is accepted and cached by Google. One thing that is interesting is the geographical traffic the store is receiving. People all over the world use ham radios so it is not a shock. Hopefully in the upcoming BANS version there will be some geo targeting features that can better convert foreign traffic. Below is the updated rankings for the front page keywords we are targeting. As of right now the store is on page 1 of Yahoo for all 3 terms and in the top 20 results for all 3 terms in MSN. The Google rankings should slowly improve over time.

Make sure to check out all the post in the Niche Store Student Series if you have just started reading this blog.

Keyword Phrase / Search Engine	Google	Yahoo	MSN
Ham Radio Supplies	26	9	6
Ham Radio Sales	189	4	20
Used Ham Radio Equipment	X	5	3

Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #7

While we are still getting the articles and article marketing together, I wanted to give you an update on the rankings thus far for the Niche Student Ham Radio store. The table below shows the 3 search phrases we are targeting, along with the rank in the 3 major search engines for that term. I use the Rank Checker Firefox plugin in stay on top of the rankings. It is very easy to install and use. As you can see below the site has a great beginning, especially in MSN. As I have stated in the past, MSN is very manipulative right now from an optimization standpoint, but I do expect this to change soon. All that has really been done thus far is to better optimize the site, link directory submissions and social bookmarking. The article marketing we are working on right now, will only fortify the rankings and hopefully improve them. Organic traffic continues to climb although still on the low side which is to be expected this early in the process. More unique content, along with more backlinking should allow for this store to seed nicely. I will give the next update on this series in a few more days.

Keyword Phrase / Search Engine	Google	Yahoo	MSN
Ham Radio Supplies	27	81	6
Ham Radio Sales	190	30	25
Used Ham Radio Equipment	X	50	3

Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #6

Since we left off last with the Niche Store student, we have gotten some backlink building done via directory submissions. This time around we used Jon who goes by the screen name skolvikings on the Build A Niche Store forums. Jon's service included 250 link directory submissions to various free directories with the ability to choose various anchor text for the links. We of course chose the 3 targeted keyword phrases we have been using for the home page which were, Han Radio Supplies, Ham Radio Sales and Used Ham Radio Equipment. Jon is currently offering a special discount package for the next couple weeks only. You can order 250 directory submissions for only 19.95! This is over $10 off his normal rate. You can order in two ways, multiple 250 packages for the same site (max of 1,000 per site), or you can order the 250 package for multiple sites. It's completely up to you! His turnaround time is very very fast and you get a detailed report of submissions upon completion. Jon personally submits your site to the directories by hand as his service does not rely on automatic submission software. The order form is here and I highly suggest using his service as time is money. You can also visit his affiliate marketing blog here.

We have started to see a few more organic hits to the site, but still have a ways to go. Next up will be the task of article creation and submissions and we will likely use Need An Article for the article creation and submit by hand to the major article directories. We will also rotate out the bio section and link to as many pages of the site as we can via good anchor text. Also we still need to get a link/resources page up pointing to other trusted ham radio sites. About 10 links to manufactures or ham radio info sites will do just fine. This task will take a few days and we will probably have an update in a few more days. If you are just joining the action you can follow us from beginning to end in this Niche Student On Board series right here.

Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #5

Checking back in on our Niche Store Student On Board Series, we have submitted and received 100 social bookmarking links from digitalcrew, a member on the Build A Niche Store forums. He runs a great service and provides fast and friendly service. He also sends a very detailed excel report of all submissions along with some screen shots. This service allows you to use 3 different title anchor tags and we submitted our 3 target keyword phrases for the front page. I highly suggest you check out his BANS Social Bookmarking service in this link. It will be money well spent and the turn around time is fantastic.

Upon receiving this service most of the pages were re-indexed by Google very quickly. Also a trickle of organic traffic has started to arrive as well. The front page now has been re-indexed as well.

The next step will be directory submissions and they should be completed in the next coming days and I will update that status as well in the next post.

We have already seen a climb in Google on some targeted keywords. Ham Radio Supplies now ranks #24. Still a ton to be done backlink wise, but you can see some quick results are starting to come in.

Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #4

Since we left off last with the Niche Store student, I knew this stage would take the most time. He also has a job to contend with and I do know it makes it tough. This is the stage where most Build A Niche Store builders drop the ball. The power of original content can not be ignored as it is the blood of the body. As you can see with the students Used Ham Radio Equipment site is still changing little by little. Flip through the store pages and you will see most are getting some content on them. Also the main page content has been revised and is original and keyword driven.

Stats wise, there is a trickle of organic traffic coming in now. Yahoo has re-indexed the front page while Google has not. Google has re-indexed several interior pages though.

Here are few things waiting to be tackled.

1. Finish each pages content.

2. Create a links/resource page linking to authoritative ham radio sites.

3. Start the backlinking process.

Like I mentioned he has a full time job and is under time constraints. Hopefully the backlink process can start this weekend and I will detail it thoroughly in the next post. You are starting to see how a BANS store should look like when it nears completion. Once the backlink process is through, we will concentrate a little more on a few more original content pages. If you are playing along at home, go back through your store page by page and see if it matching up to the students store.

If I were to be asked how long this store is away from a decent income, I would say 90 days for the shear fact that no backlinking process has started and Google has yet to reindex the whole site fully. Once the backlinks are placed the Googlebot will come back around more regularly. One positive note is he is up to #35 in Yahoo for the search term Ham Radio Sales, which is one of his target keyword phrases for the main page.

The next update I give will be after we do the backlink process and that is depending on how much time he has to dedicate to the site. Please read back through the earlier entries and as always PM or email me your questions on things you do not understand.

Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #3

Ah, the sweet sound of light bulbs coming on in a head. You can not beat it. This is the third post in the Niche Store Student On Board Series. The student is learning that there is more to Build A Niche Store building than meets the eye and is eating the elephant one bite at a time. What he has learned, will help in the initial building of future BANS stores and will help shorten his launch time. As you can see with the students Ham Radio Supplier site, quit a bit has changed, while maybe not so much to a visible eye so we will recap what he has been doing.

What he has accomplished!

1. Every store page has been researched for the keyword phrases he aims to target for that particular page. This is no easy task and will eat up some time if done correctly. You can page through his store pages and see the title tags. Eventually each page will have a paragraph or two backing up these keywords on page.

2. Nice well written description meta tags now. At first he had the urge to cookie cut them, but I reminded him how the search engines like uniqueness. Your description tag is also your selling tag in the SERPS as the surfer is likely to see this if searching for your keywords or targeted phrase. This too takes a little time to do right.

3. You can see his store navigation text has changed as well. Initially these were left to default, but now the anchor text/store page link better reflects what the user will find on that page and also helps in internal backlinking process as well.

4. Changed the product layout to #4 to better give a real store appearance. Also he has cut down on the main page listings to 9 and internal store page item listings to 18. This gives great balance to the pages and looks very clean now.

5. He is almost finished with better targeting each store page with items the surfer will be looking for on that page. I recently made blog post on how to do this and he has followed it very well.

6. By default of all the other work the Google adsense ads have become a ton more relevant as well to each page and the ads showing will surely be better paying per click. Google adsense really takes into account what is on page and can target it nicely if you paint a clear picture.

In conclusion he is learning a ton of little things that go into building a store before it even hits the viewer or SERPS eyes. Keyword research and an overall plan for your store must be well thought out. He will be able to streamline his time frame in future stores with knowing exactly how each and every store page should like. He has done very well in this latest boring process of niche store building.

What he is working on now!

1. With the front and back yards now cleaned up and the house having a fresh coat of paint, he really needs to work on content, in particular the front page content which wasn't even his to begin with. We are looking for about 500 plus words wrapped around the three targeted keywords of the page while mixing in other on site keywords, brand names, types and etc. The front page content is very very important and mixed in with the 9 store item listings text, should provide good organic search results as he tries to climb for his page keywords in the SERPS. This must be original and unique.

2. He will start the backlink process using free directory submissions, social bookmarking submissions and a unique article submitted to the free article ezines.

3. Each page then needs about 100 words or so wrapped around the keywords phrases targeted on that store page in a non cookie cutter fashion. This can be knocked out one page a night over the coming weeks as we really want that front page a priority and pulling in organic traffic.

4. Build a link/resources page linking to some ham radio manufacturer and other trusted ham radio sites and try to accomplish a few link trades with a few of them. The link trades can come over time, but linking out to relevant useful websites is encouraged if not overdone.

This part of the task will take a few days with the front page content being the priority at this stage. Hopefully it will be up before the Google bot passes by again, so it gets cached quickly. If not the site will be at the mercy of the next time the bot passes through, which we hope to speed up in the backlink process. The student is doing very well and starting to follow advise flawlessly. I hope to give you the next update on this student by Saturday or Sunday. Make sure to check out the students blog here. If you want to see all of post related to this series, click here!

Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #2

OK, this is the second post in the Niche Store Student On Board Series. As you can see, my student is still not ready to turn in his two weeks notice to his boss. He is a baby step closer. LOL. You can see his Ham Radio Supplies store by following the link. As you can see, he has buggered up the heading while making some changes. I know what he did and will go over it in the next post after he fixes it. I want him to learn how to correct his own mistakes if possible. It is a easy fix, he just left out some tags when he was editing some navigation tags. The student is starting to follow directions a bit better after a rough start of not following directions. I think I have taken a good chunk of enthusiasm out of him as well and he is starting to get a couple of "Oh" and "Ah" moments. Which is good. I joke about the enthusiasm part, he is just starting to understand though that he has a lot to learn.

What he has accomplished!

1. The new template is up and just needs to be fixed from his edit mistake. Overall looks great going forward. Blue builds trust.

2. He added 2 chunks of Google adsense and is tracking them on a separate channel as well. That way he knows that clicks are coming from that site. Also he has taylored the ads to draw atention to the right side of the screen. the blue pops out at you. I highly suggest if you use adsense to set up a separate channel for each site. Several of you might want to debate Adsense. I am not going to debate it, I use it and love it and earn great with it. If you have fears of it or do not trust it, use something else. I stand behind Adsense as a great earner on stores built the right way.

3. The site was missing a robots.txt , an updated sitemap.xml file and a privacy policy. He used the fix sonjay posted and I referenced in this post. His robots.txt is here. He also added a solid privacy policy as well.

4. He added a traffic stats counter from sitemeter at the bottom in the footer. This is mostly for my benefit as I can start to see referrers and check a few things at a glance instead of logging into his server stats. If you are playing along with this series it is up to you whether you want to add it or not in the footer. This is merely for me and will be removed once I am done with the training.

5. He settled on the keyword phrases below to target for the front page. These are used in the front page title tag. He has made a mistake and added them store wide, which he will need to change. These keyword phrases will be used for the front page.

Ham Radio Supplies | Ham Radio Sales | Used Ham Radio Equipment

These are keyword phrases we will attempt to target in our upcoming rewrite of content on the front page as well. Also we will use these key words in anchor text when acquiring backlinks to our site. See below.

Ham Radio Supplies
Ham Radio Sales
Used Ham Radio Equipment

6. Wrote a description meta tag and keyword meta tag for the homepage. He then used the free tool here to score is page for three phrases. He ran his keywords one at a time through the tool and scored very well.

In conclusion you can see that he has been cleaning up his own back yard right now. If this were a brand new store, he would still be ways away from releasing it to the public. This site still has a long ways to go.

What he is working on now!

1. Fixing the mistake he made in his header.

2. Going through each store page and keyword searching for 3 phrases to target for each and every store page. Each page should be targeting two to three keyword phrases that best fits that store page and what you are trying to sell. These will be used in each page title tag as well.

3. Writing good description meta tags for each page and filling in the seldom used keyword meta tags. Each page needs to be unique and targeted separately.

3. Fixing the anchor text in the store navigation to use target keyword phrases. Example of a change would be instead of Antennas, it would be Ham Radio Antennas in the store navigation. This helps your internal linking structure SEO wise as well.

In conclusion, the work he has ahead of him is where we separate the serious people. Going page by page getting keywords targeted and tested is boring work, but if done right will pay dividends later. Take the time and do it right. Filling in the meta tags properly is time consuming as well. I have a feeling this will keep him busy a while.

He has a blog going here and you can follow along with his post. He is improving daily on his blogging skills, but needs to lose that black background. i wonder if he will see this and change it. Hint Hint! We will update his progress on Monday or Tuesday so stay tuned.

Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #1

I have taken on a new student for a period of about 4 weeks. Now let me start in saying I am no BANS guru or self proclaimed expert. I know what works for me and have just happened to make more mistakes than most of you. I have some free time as right now I am going through some of my slower neglected stores and giving them some attention and it is not as time consuming as when I attack a new store build. My student has agreed to let everyone follow along in the process of taking one of his non productive stores and hopefully making it a producer. Let me add that this is not an over night transformation. What the student does today can take 90-180 days to start seeing results. We hope to streamline and shorten the time line, but he understands that it could take that long. You should too. I hope to try to make 2-3 post a week concerning his store makeover. The student does not know this yet, but he will be blogging about his own journey as well on his own blog, so you should be able to follow along there as well.

EDITED to add his blog:

http://nichestorestudent.blogspot.com/

I highly suggest if you have a new store or are thinking about making a non producing store come alive, you follow along with every update and make every move according to what the student does. I am not doing it for the student, I am teaching the student what to do and how to do it. I will let him make many mistakes along the way, but hope to teach him to fish instead of just handing him the fish. I will entitle every post dedicated to the training as "Niche Store Student On Board Series Post #1" etc., so it will be easy to keep up with. I highly suggest you subsrcibe to my blogs RSS feed as well, so you never miss a post.

So lets get started.

The site is http://www.hamradiosupplier.com and I have provided the original screen shot and you can click on it to see a larger version of it.

What is wrong with it?
Let's tear it apart first with everything that is wrong with it before we start going forward.

1. The current template he has looks to be not installed correctly or unfinished, giving the site an unprofessional look. Also let's face it, it looks like a BANS store.

2. There is no clear path of the keywords or keyword phrases he is targeting on the store other than ham radio, which is very broad and very competitive. If I can't see the target keywords, how can Google see them?

3. All of the store menu and individual store pages seem to be left to default BANS/eBay settings and wrapped around a top ham radio category. I have posted many times on my blog that for a store to be successful, nothing should be default.

4. What content he has on the site, seems to be lifted from elsewhere. This is not unique or original and will get no love in the search engines.

5. Very few inbound links to the site, just a couple from Quassia mostly.

What is right about it?

1. Great domain name as it has ham radio in it.
2. The store seems to be mostly indexed.


First assignment for the student!

1. Get these templates and install correctly. We want to put a fresh coat of paint on the store and give it a more professional look without it looking so much like a Build A Niche Store.

2. Keyword research 3 main keywords for the front page. They need to be associated with the overall direction of the site and also not too competitive. We want some middle of the road keywords that are reachable in the search engines. We will not be targeting "ham radio" as it is just too short and too competitive plus by default that keyword will be used a ton in content and in links anyway. We want some longer keyword phrases that include ham radio in them. We will be be using the links below for research. If you are playing along at home, see if you can pick out the 3 keyword phrases we will decide on for the front page.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/
http://www.goodkeywords.com/products/kwexplorer/appnotes.php

3. Make a blog post about what he has learned and what he has done thus far per my instructions.

We will check back in a few days to discuss the progress and go forward with the next step.