Niche Adsense Sites - Has Google Fallen Out of Love with Me?

24 replies
**Update: I believe that this issue may have to do with my Web Host. See my last message for a detailed theory**

Hello Warriors:

First of all just let me know say, thanks for answering...I always get great answers here!

I have been building sites for about 4 years now. About six months ago, I started building them in mass and I now have over 100 niche adsense sites up and running. Some do pretty well and others not. I dont want to make this a tutorial of how I did it; but essentially:
1. Pick a long tail keyword with low competition that still gets 1000 searches a month.
2. Register exact match domain.
3. Place 1 or 2 keyword rich articles on site
4. Build backlinks

From Oct. to Jan of this year I had a success ratio of about 75%. About 3 out of every 4 sites were making enough money to make it worth it (avg. of about $1/day). I have lots of sites in the top 10 of google for my chosen keywords.

However, since January I have built about 50 more sites and my results are TERRIBLE! Only about 1 in 10 are ranking. My old sites still continue to perform well, but the new ones dont.

So, here's the issue. Many of these site DO rank number 1 (or very well) in Yahoo. But they are no where to be found in Google. They are indexed, but rank 150 or lower. So, why has google lost the love for me?

I know from experience that these site SHOULD be ranking very well in Google. So, does anyone have any ideas/recommendations? How can I avoid the penalty in the future?

It seems like Google is only penalizing new sites that I build. All my old ones have remained unaffected for the most part.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated!
#adsense #fallen #google #love #niche #sites
  • Profile picture of the author BruceWayne
    I've noticed that Google has been a little tougher myself since January. It's all about giving quality to the end user in Google's "mind".
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    • Profile picture of the author Spencer Haws
      Originally Posted by nathanpennington View Post

      I've noticed that Google has been a little tougher myself since January. It's all about giving quality to the end user in Google's "mind".
      So, is it possible that Google has changed their algorithm for ranking sites to only affect new sites that are built? That seems odd, but maybe it is indeed the case. Or maybe my old sites will slowly start dropping in the rankings. I guess I will watch out for this.

      Any other ideas?
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      • Profile picture of the author BruceWayne
        With Google I'm not going to try to second guess them. That's a waste of time :-)

        Yes, they could have something in the algo that doesn't affect older sites but does affect newer sites.

        I would definitely watch your older sites. Currently my older sites are holding their own right now. But my newer ones are struggling a bit more.

        Honestly, this could be a big to do about nothing as well. Perhaps you and I are just seeing some kind of anomaly.

        Google is that way . . .


        Originally Posted by The Redfox View Post

        So, is it possible that Google has changed their algorithm for ranking sites to only affect new sites that are built? That seems odd, but maybe it is indeed the case. Or maybe my old sites will slowly start dropping in the rankings. I guess I will watch out for this.

        Any other ideas?
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      • Profile picture of the author theimdude
        Originally Posted by The Redfox View Post

        So, is it possible that Google has changed their algorithm for ranking sites to only affect new sites that are built? That seems odd, but maybe it is indeed the case. Or maybe my old sites will slowly start dropping in the rankings. I guess I will watch out for this.

        Any other ideas?
        I was reading your post here and then headed over to this 3 way link system but then came across this article on a website so changed my mind. Might be your problem

        Three Way Links - Manuel Viloria.com
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        • Profile picture of the author Spencer Haws
          Originally Posted by theimdude View Post

          I was reading your post here and then headed over to this 3 way link system but then came across this article on a website so changed my mind. Might be your problem

          Three Way Links - Manuel Viloria.com
          This article was written in 2007. I have been using this 3waylinks network for a couple of years and all of my OLD sites in this network are not affected. In fact, many of my new sites are not in this network yet so I dont think this is the issue. Its always a concern of course.
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  • Profile picture of the author Terry Hatfield
    You didn't mention how you are back linking your sites.

    Are you diversifying your back links or just building with one type? Maybe google is taking a disliking to the method of linking you are doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Spencer Haws
    I dont think its the linking and here's why.

    Most of these small niche sites rank immediately before the backlinks are built (or should rank).

    However, I am using 3waylinks dot net primarily as my linking strategy. I have been using it for a couple of years and never had issues. And like I mentioned my older sites are still unaffected, so I dont think its the linking.

    Its just any new site I build is not ranking, when in my experience it clearly should (as there is almost no competition for my chosen keywords).
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  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    I build new sites with Adsense and affiliate links on them all the time. Have been for years now. I'm seeing it too in recent weeks. I think it's Google implementing Caffeine. My new sites are all "dancing" a lot more than normal. It should all settle, but it could be a roller coaster ride for a while. Hard as it is to do, you gotta keep adding content/sites and ignore short-term trends.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author Spencer Haws
      Originally Posted by Zeus66 View Post

      I build new sites with Adsense and affiliate links on them all the time. Have been for years now. I'm seeing it too in recent weeks. I think it's Google implementing Caffeine. My new sites are all "dancing" a lot more than normal. It should all settle, but it could be a roller coaster ride for a while. Hard as it is to do, you gotta keep adding content/sites and ignore short-term trends.

      John
      I think you're right; Google Caffeine could certainly have something to do with it. I hadnt thought of that.

      I hope it is just a short term anomaly. Its just difficult because almost all of the past 50 websites I have built are not really ranking at all. They get indexed fine, but dont show in the SERPs...its just odd.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bertil Jenner
    You need to wait for your new sites to be "aged" a bit more.

    Aging and Trust building seems to be taking longer in Google at since the New Year.

    Your sites NOT ranking very well does not mean there is a "penalty" applied to your sites. It could also just mean that other websites are more relevant in Google's eyes than yours.
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  • Profile picture of the author badboy_Nick
    I suspect changes in Google's algorythm being the culprit here. That's the main reason I try to stay away from investing too much time in SEO and focus more on PPC. It's just more controllable from this side of the table.

    Give it a few weeks time, they will get ranked properly in time.
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  • Profile picture of the author SEOPoints
    Originally Posted by The Redfox View Post

    However, since January I have built about 50 more sites and my results are TERRIBLE! Only about 1 in 10 are ranking.
    So it sounds like you have 5 sites from the 50 website batch that make around $1 per day?

    What's the cost of setting up 1 of these websites? Do you know?

    Because if you can drive the costs of rolling out 1 site to below $25 for an entire year (including domain name purchase/renewal, hosting, backlink building, content production etc), you'd generate a pre-tax profit of around $550 per 50 websites that you deploy where only 1 in 10 is successful (defined by earning $1 per day). It works out to a pre-tax profit of around $11 per website built.

    Oh and if you have a pile of these websites that never really stick or do well, you can sell them off as a package of "aged" websites to newbie buyers and at least recoup a portion of your investment. That really drives up your pre-tax profit margin.
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    • Profile picture of the author theimdude
      Originally Posted by SEOPoints View Post

      Oh and if you have a pile of these websites that never really stick or do well, you can sell them off as a package of "aged" websites to newbie buyers and at least recoup a portion of your investment. That really drives up your pre-tax profit margin.
      So basically taking "newbies" for a ride. With friends like you who needs enemies. Advice like this should be given on WF.

      @The Redfox - I didn't see that date on the article
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      • Profile picture of the author SEOPoints
        Originally Posted by theimdude View Post

        So basically taking "newbies" for a ride. With friends like you who needs enemies. Advice like this should be given on WF.
        I shouldn't have used the word newbies. Instead, I should have said anyone willing to buy them. I didn't mean to single out newbies. There are a lot of not-so-newbie people who buy up websites like this left and right on places like Flippa and elsewhere. It doesn't necessarily mean they're dumb or suckers, although some might see them that way. They could have other plans for the sites and are happy to buy them at a fair price. Who knows? Who cares? It's a free market. Nobody forces anyone to buy.
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    • Profile picture of the author Spencer Haws
      Originally Posted by SEOPoints View Post

      So it sounds like you have 5 sites from the 50 website batch that make around $1 per day?

      What's the cost of setting up 1 of these websites? Do you know?

      Because if you can drive the costs of rolling out 1 site to below $25 for an entire year (including domain name purchase/renewal, hosting, backlink building, content production etc), you'd generate a pre-tax profit of around $550 per 50 websites that you deploy where only 1 in 10 is successful (defined by earning $1 per day). It works out to a pre-tax profit of around $11 per website built.

      Oh and if you have a pile of these websites that never really stick or do well, you can sell them off as a package of "aged" websites to newbie buyers and at least recoup a portion of your investment. That really drives up your pre-tax profit margin.
      I've definitely done all the calculations, trust me. My cost per site is less than $25. Yes, these will generate a pre-tax profit; but what is the cost in time? That's the killer!

      At $11 profit per year; even if I built 1000 sites; that's only $11,000 in profit a year. Even if I could built twice as much doing it full time, its not a wage I'm interested in...I'd make more at Mcdonalds.
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      • Profile picture of the author SEOPoints
        Originally Posted by The Redfox View Post

        Yes, these will generate a pre-tax profit; but what is the cost in time? That's the killer!
        Wait, so you do this all yourself? If so, you have to factor in the cost of the time you work on building these sites. I thought you had someone else doing all the labor, and that it was a line item cost. If you re-do the math to include the number of hours it takes you to produce a site (at an hourly wage that you think is appropriate for yourself), you might discover that it costs a lot more than $25 per website per year. That completely changes the dynamics of determining whether or not you're turning a profit.
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  • Profile picture of the author Spencer Haws
    Most of it is outsourced. But there is still some time involved. Even if it is only 30 minutes of my own time on research, etc. I would still have to make way more than $11/website per year to make it worth the time.
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    • Profile picture of the author SEOPoints
      Originally Posted by The Redfox View Post

      Most of it is outsourced. But there is still some time involved. Even if it is only 30 minutes of my own time on research, etc. I would still have to make way more than $11/website per year to make it worth the time.
      Remember though, that's assuming 1 in 10 "work" at making $1 per day. We'd like to believe that given a little bit of time and potentially some more backlinking, some of those other sites will start ranking and generating some money. All we're saying is that in a worst case scenario, you're generating a profit of $11 per site. Do you use a tool like Market Samuri for research?
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  • Profile picture of the author bannor32
    I've given up on micro niches as I think Google is setting the table to eventually slap these down. Now concentrating on authority sites that will hopefully survive for the long haul. It is a bit discouraging to keep working and working and working, and seeing little money in return, but hopefully it will pay off down the road...
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    • Profile picture of the author Spot the Ball
      Originally Posted by bannor32 View Post

      I've given up on micro niches as I think Google is setting the table to eventually slap these down. Now concentrating on authority sites that will hopefully survive for the long haul. It is a bit discouraging to keep working and working and working, and seeing little money in return, but hopefully it will pay off down the road...
      This is my thinking also although I have no idea what googles intentions are.

      Build authority sites in a niche that will attract lots of longtail searches for a crap ton of content, use multiple backling methods and in time your sites will gain PR which hopefully will make it a lot easier to rank for anything you throw on there related to your niche.

      More of a slow burn start with a lot more upturn once your sites have aged some.
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      • Profile picture of the author Spencer Haws
        Originally Posted by Spot the Ball View Post

        This is my thinking also although I have no idea what googles intentions are.

        Build authority sites in a niche that will attract lots of longtail searches for a crap ton of content, use multiple backling methods and in time your sites will gain PR which hopefully will make it a lot easier to rank for anything you throw on there related to your niche.

        More of a slow burn start with a lot more upturn once your sites have aged some.
        I agree. I dont think I will ever leave the small niche sites completely; but I have just recently launched 2 sites that I intend to build up with lots of great content and plan to rank for lots of long tail keywords. 1 site has about 50 articles so far all related to this niche. The other only has 4 or 5 so far. I expect that these larger niches sites are the future. I just hate to see the small ones fail!
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        • Profile picture of the author Spot the Ball
          Well, if you think about it, building large niche sites could actually be less effort ... in the long run.

          How many times have you tried to register a domain but its already taken for your smaller niche sites.

          By choosing to expand the niche you could possibly open yourself up to countless more oportunitys.

          Say you wanted to sell large womens clothing, Ive not looked but I would guess "large womens clothing dot com" is probably taken. What if we just add "large womens clothing and shoes dot com" Theres a good chance you could get this and have lots of variations in the name when people search giving you a very broad niche.

          (womens clothing, large womens clothing, womens shoes, large shoes)

          Then with the tons of content you put on your site, your site will be like having 10 or 20 niche sites, especially when google starts to give you some love.

          It will probably take longer to rank initially but once you do I would like to believe the site would be in a far better position than a 5 or 10 page site.

          These are my thoughts anyhow.
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  • Profile picture of the author Spencer Haws
    Alright, I have an update here, and I'm not sure why I didnt think of it before. I believe (and am really hoping) that the root of the problem lies with my web host. All of my old sites I have used Bluehost.com. They are awesome! Bluehost only allows a maximum of 100 SQL databases (for wordpress), which I maxed out on.

    So, I opened an account with Hostgator.com IN JANUARY (when all my problems began) because they allow unlimited (actually it turns out to be closer to 250 based on "innodes"). Anyway, all of my domains on Hostgator are performing very poorly.

    So, I have done some testing for speed and for whatever reason my sites on Hostgator load EXTREMELY slow. I believe that this is causing Google to not crawl my sites very well/rank them. My Bluehost sites load lightning fast.

    As a test, I created a new domain last week on Bluehost for a niche I believed I could rank for. Sure enough I opened up on Google at spot #9. Most of my Hostgator domains are nowhere to be found. I know many people love Hostgator, and maybe my issue is not reflective on Hostgator overall...but it certainly is an issue for the speed of my sites.

    This is still just a theory of course, but its enough for me to begin the process of migrating my websites over to Bluehost. So what do you think, does this sound like it could be the issue? I really hope so!
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  • Profile picture of the author big_t
    Interesting.
    Google does take load speed into consideration for rankings.
    I'm really curious if that may be the issue.
    But lots of people on here use Hostgator, so I don't know...
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