Using The Ask.com Q&A Feature For Ideas

I have been playing around with Ask.com the last few days to see what is new with it. I have not actively surfed the site for a long while. I do like the new Q&A feature though to spark some ideas of article topics and related questions surfers ask in regards to a niche. I used it more for an idea launcher more than anything, but did unearth a great keyword phrase and niche today, by just playing around on the site. I plan on building a site around the niche using the Commission Ritual method and am very confident it will do reasonable well in no time flat. By reasonably well I mean at least $100.00 a month site according to my projections and research. Play around with Ask and see if you get some ideas from it's newer features. Pretty cool.

Things That Make You Go Hmm - Duplicate Navigation Links

I get some great questions from time to time via email from readers. One really made me go hmm this morning. The email asked if duplicate navigation links took away from page rank flow. Let me show you want he meant. There are sites that will have a logo in the header linked to the home page, a navigation text link that might say "Home" that links to the home page and perhaps even the site name in the footer linked to the home page. In essence this is three links on one page linking to the same page. The question was, say there are 7 links to other internal pages on a page and in essence 10 total links on the page, would this mean that each link gets 1/10th of the juice or 1/8th being as 3 of the links are duplicate. The closest I can really find to an answer is here from SEO Moz.

Quoted from link:

p.s. Two good questions were asked in the comments that deserve addressing in the post. First, this would appear to apply to the position in the code, not on the actual visual representation of the page, as Google isn't currently running 30+ billion documents through visual page analysis. Second, as far as PR "leaks" go, ideally you'd only want one link from any page to any other, but the original PR formula appears to do this for you, as they don't consider multiple votes for a URL by a single page to provide benefit (each page can only vote for another once).

Also if you search Google website itself, you will come across pages that have more than one link to the same page. So if they do it, you should be fine without leaking juice passed. Now let me say, I am not so concerned about page rank as I am just link juice. Page rank is just a number in my eyes. I want the most juice passed from page to page.

Now another interesting thing I did come across in my research is that by trying to use the site name in the footer as anchor text linking to your home page, COULD cause a Google penalty. Read more here from Rand.

Ok, now for my own recommendations. If your logo is linked to your homepage, I would at the very least make sure you have the ALT text value of the image filled out as you should do with EVERY image regardless. In my opinion by looking at my own stats on various sites, I see very very few people actually click the image anyway. So in my opinion I would un-link it. Secondly if you have a few links to the home page with the anchor text "Home", I do not see it as a problem. Thirdly though if you are using the site name text in the footer linked to the home page in addition to an anchor driven "home" link, I would un-link as well. Let me say though that if it is a brandable name, I do not see a problem, but if it is targeted spammy keyword phrase, I would un-link it. Normally this is just a copyright notice of the site and to avoid trouble I would un-link it. The same goes for a site that may have the site name in the header as an h1 header tag. I am going to even un-link it on this very blog to see if it hurts anything.

If you make ANY of these changes, I would notate them in your journal of the changes you made and when you changed them. Watch your rankings on some of your highest ranking keywords and see if it makes ANY difference good or bad. You can always go back and undo the changes, but I really think my suggestions hold water based on the research.

Keep up the great questions as well. I lost an hours worth of production, but did enjoy it. If something else makes you go hmm, let me know.

A Little More On HubPages

I received a few emails on my Hubpages post I made a few days ago and wanted to clarify a few things for those who are thinking of using it. First, yes it is free to use. Just make sure you follow the rules. Second question I received was asking if you can really make money with Hubpages? I certainly do and only been at it for a month or so, since re-acquainting myself with it. The key is writing good pages targeted around a keyword phrase and exploit it. These pages rank real well because of their authority, so within minutes of publishing a page, you could be on page 1 of Google. The key is the keyword phrase targeting. Another question I got was for me to explain the scoring of the Hubpages and the author rating. If you just do a little digging, it is not hard to find the answers to these questions.

I am not going to dwell much more on them, but if it interest you, you should read everything starting here and you will get a much clearer picture of what they are and how to create great hubs. If you rush right in and start without reading, you will likely get frustrated and quite. As my dad always said, read the dam directions, son.

Information Overload And Where To Start

I received an email from a new BANS user saying that they are suffering from information overload. She is new to online marketing and website creation and has been trying to read a ton of everything to get up to speed. This is a very dangerous thing to do for both newbie and veteran alike. You can get so bogged down and pulled in so many directions that nothing will ever be done. Below are a few guidelines on what every newbie should be focusing on and the order they should do it in.

1. Know Your Platform: It does not matter if you use BANS, Wordpress with PHPBay, Blogger or straight HTML, you have to understand how to use the platform correctly and make it dance on command. This should come as second nature before you move on to anything else. You do not need to be a code guru by any means, but knowing how to use the platform is the cornerstone of which your foundation will be built on. I see several veterans in the business who use it wrong and I guarantee they suffer because of it. I have suggested in the past that one should have a test domain setup to practice using whatever platform they are using. Do not advance to number two until you master this.

2. Understanding Onsite SEO: Search engine optimization of your website is crucial if you intend to get any traffic from the search engines. From meta tags, to keyword usage to site structure. You must learn it if you want to succeed. There are various free sites and information on this very blog that will help you learn it quickly.

3. Niche & Keyword Selection: Before you tackle any site you need to know if the niche is profitable and what keywords you intend to target. Targeting a niche too wide early on is a common mistake made by newbies. The tighter the niche and the longer the keyword phrase you target, the more likely you can penetrate the niche in the early stages of your development of an online marketer. There are plenty of free and paid tools to help in this process. Most noticeable, Traffic Travis. Regardless of the tool you decide on, it is important to understand how to use it as well.

4. Onsite Original Content: The days of the thin affiliate doorway site are long gone unless you are buying targeted traffic. Even then, a surfer now wants and expects to be engaged before throwing their hard earned money around. You need original content and lots of it. This should be targeted as well keyword wise and goes hand and hand with onsite SEO. The thicker the site is content wise, the more doors into your site you will have for getting some organic traffic. If you can't write content yourself, pay for it. It is well worth the money spent up front and it is yours forever. If you choose to copy and paste, be prepared not to get any love from the search engines.

5. Traffic Generation: If you have confidently mastered steps 1-4, you are now ready to generate traffic to your site. This is perhaps the hardest process to learn and stay dedicated to. Learn how to build targeted backlinks to your site through article marketing, link trading, social networks and the other various ways of building backlinks. Great onsite content will build links naturally, but you must know how to and understand how to build your own traffic as well. There are tons of free traffic building articles and techniques to learn all over the web, but none should be tackled until your site is ready for the traffic.

6. Continued Learning: The online marketing business is always growing and changing. You should always be reading your favorite and trusted sources for learning more about online marketing, but do not let it eat up all of your time. All learning with no action is worthless. Do not get off on tangents. Learn what you are trying to learn and then implement it. Getting pulled in too many directions at one time is a certain death blow for online marketers.

Story Behind My Twitter Page Background

I have gotten a few emails asking about the logo background on my twitter page, so I thought I would dedicate a post to it. In the summer of 2002 I lost my best friend to colon cancer. Other than my wife he was my only true friend I have had my entire life. I met him my freshmen year of high school and he was a grade ahead of me. Through my reckless teenage, early adult years and onward he was always there for me. I would always put him in tough spots in bars during my drinking years and he would always stand up with me. He was the best man in my wedding and I was his for his wedding. His battle with cancer was not very long. He was diagnosed on Valentines day 2001 and was gone in a year and half. During his eulogy the pastor described him with just one word, "Intense". That he was, always intense. The symbol is a hybrid version of the Kanji symbol for the word "Intense" that I designed. His favorite colors were blood red and black. On the first year anniversary of his death I had it tattooed on my left arm in memory of him as I was his right hand man and he was always on my left hand side. So it is indeed a very sacred symbol to me and I use it to draw intensity into my own life as well. Whenever I feel my self losing drive, all I have to do is look at that symbol and it fires me back up. So now you know the story behind it. One week from today would of been his 41st birthday.

Chris if you read this, I miss you buddy.

BANS Questions Of The Week

Happy 4th of July!!!! I am proud to be an American.

As promised on Fridays I am going to start answering questions I get via email as a blog post. I get quite a few that are quick answers and a few that are long drawn out. Here are a few that are great from this week.

Is BANS dying?

No! BANS is not dying. It seems like we go through this stage about 4 times a year. Google does not hate BANS and EPN is alive and well. Build great content driven stores worth linking to and you will be just fine. I do suggest you start modifying the looks of your BANS stores going forward. Start thinking unique, template wise. BANS is here to stay and Adam and Kelvin are always on the move with upgrades and improvements.

What is the single most important thing I should be doing after installing my store?

I would say make sure you have changed everything that is default about it. Including meta tags on every page. Getting it search engine optimized is an art and is very important and should not be left to default settings. It is a boring task for sure, but take the time and do it right.

How much do you make online with your stores and what do you do for a living?

Well that is pretty blunt and to the point. I will tell you this. I left a job as an Executive Director of a small Chamber of Commerce because of what I make online with my sites. So I guess you can say my job is now BANS full time. I also own 3 rental houses and two other high traffic non BANS sites. I am 40 and a work at home husband and dog owner. If you have any doubts about BANS making money, you need to get it out of your head. Once my light came on, my earnings went through the roof in a matter of 3 months.

What is your favorite free tool you use?

Not many good ones are free anymore, but one I use on every site I build is not a secret to my blog readers. It is the free SEO tester. It is not the end all do all tool for SEO, but really is a great tool for both newbies and veterans. I use it now more as a game to see if I can get a 40 on my first pass through it with a page.

I am new to niche store building, what target number for keyword searches should I be focusing on.

If you are using a tool like SEO book keyword suggester, I would say anything 30-50 in looking at the Google number. I know that sounds low, but if you target and capture a high Google ranking for even a term that gets searched for 30 times a day, the sales are usually there. I dominate quite a few terms with those types of numbers and they produce nicely. Just depends on the niche, but those numbers are obtainable by newbies to get there feet wet with.

What is your second favorite search engine after Google?

Well, I only use Google primarily myself unless I am backlink checking with Yahoo, but I find myself liking LIVE right now at the moment, because they are so manipulative right now and the traffic usually converts good. A good search engine optimized site with only free link directory and article backlinks can dominate LIVE in a matter of two weeks or less. I am sure they will change there algorithm soon, but right now I can get instant traffic from them on new stores until my proper place with Google is obtained.

Keep your questions coming and I will address more in the coming Fridays. Have a great holiday weekend. Send all questions to address listed below.

Post 150 & A Blog Facelift

Well it is hard to believe I have 150 post on this blog now. Admittedly I am not the worlds greatest blogger, but feel I have gotten a tons better. it also has helped keep me regimented with several other things as well. I felt is was time to give it a cleaner look at found this template at E Blog Templates. I really like the layout and feel of it and it hardly looks like a blogspot blog anymore. I have also added a widget that post related post at the bottom of each individual blog post. This now ensures post are deep linked and should help this blog do even better in the SERPS. I am a fan of Wordpress, but Blogspot has always intrigued me. If you are not too comfortable with Wordpress yourself and need a blog, I highly suggest starting with Blogspot, which is owned by Google. This blog does not produce glorious amounts of income, but it has started to pick up a little and every month seems to be better than the last. Thank you to all of my loyal readers as well. I hope you enjoy the journey thus far and there is plenty more coming. I make notes everyday on things I want to cover on this blog concerning Build A Niche Store and also some other easy ways to make money online. Let me know how you like the new look, even if you hate it. LOL.

Also I am going to start taking email questions and posting them on the blog, either every Friday or every other Friday depending on the volume sent. They will be posted anonymously, so do not worry about being embarrassed. You can send all questions to the email address below:

eBay Wordpress Plugin PHPBay Comparison

I have received a few emails concerning the PHPBay Wordpress plugin and wanted to expand on it. Yes it is a great plugin. Yes it is very easy to set up and integrate into your Wordpress blog. I have been asked if it is better than Build A Niche Store and I can only tell you it is an unfair comparison. Both do the same thing, they deliver product listings of eBay listings via the EPN network. You can use the PHP ebay plugin to either add listings to a certain blog post or build a content/store page as well. It is just a different basket to put your eggs into, especially if you are very comfortable with Wordpress. An even better use of it is attaching a blog to your BANS store and posting to it at least once or twice a week with listings in the blog post. I am asked if I am dumping BANS for PHPBay all together and the answer is no. I just use it as a separate tool. I still use BANS and PHPeBay both, sometimes separate, sometimes together. If you are still a newbie learning the whole system, I would say continue on with just BANS until you see how the whole process works. If you are very comfortable with BANS then you might want to venture into PHPBay to give you a little more broadness. Thanks for all of the emails and I hope this clarifies my views on both a little better.

Follow Up To Content Right Under Your Nose

One of my loyal blog readers asked me to go more in depth on an earlier post I made concerning content right under your nose. Basically what I was trying to convey is perhaps your Build A Niche Store is focused on collectible cameras for example. Now not having researched this niche myself (but it is a thought) I would guess that there are several types of vintage cameras one could collect. That being said, you could simply research the internet for types of vintage collectible cameras and create a checklist of sorts of some cameras that one might be interested in collecting. You could list a dozen or more by name with say model numbers and perhaps manufacturer name along with the year it was made. it doesn't have to be anything too complex or over the top. Primarily the name and model numbers will be great Google food for organic searches and bring in some traffic just on its own. I paused in writing this post to do a quick search for collectible cameras in Google and the first result is a great starting point.

We feature collectible & used equipment by:
Agfa, Alpa, Argus, Bogen, Bronica, Canon, Contaflex, Contarex, Contax, Exakta, Hasselblad, Konica, Leica, Mamiya, Minolta, Miranda, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Retina, Rollei, Sigma, Topcon, Voigtländer, Yashica, and Zeiss.

Now surely you could drill down, with a quick search on Google, each manufacturer. Perhaps even just list the brand name itself and build a couple of paragraphs around these manufacturers. Wiki is also a great source of info as well and the content can be put in your words very easily.

Perhaps you sell a collectible series of something, surely a nice checklist put in table format with model#s would be useful. The content is right there in front of you and you need not look far to find it and perhaps format it in a way no one else has. I hope I have cleared this up a bit for you. Any content is good content as long as it is put in your words or format.

How Long Does It Take To Make Money?

I see this question pop up from time to time on the Build A Niche Store forum. It is unpossible to answer not knowing what you are doing, what niche you are promoting and how you are promoting it. I will tell you if you have defined your micro niche the right way, submitted to link directories, traded links with like sites and written a few articles for the article directories you should see results very quickly. Remember it is not how fast as it is building a niche store that adds value and is authoritative. Do not put time limits on it. Build, promote, learn and move on to your next site. Do not over analyze things as you will learn as you go.

Taking email questions!

I will take emails over the next week and will try to answer any questions you might have. All questions will be posted and answered on next Fridays blog post. You can email me at the address below:

Thanks for all the visits thus far and I hope I am helping you on your path to success.