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Help with my blog- Is this blog useless?

by Latsyrc
12 replies
Hey all. I thought maybe some of you could help me if I risk giving my keywords away. According to the beta (new) Google adwords tool my original keyword does not get enough EXACT match traffic for anyone to go make a blog about it unless you are REALLY interested. I was following The Challenge, which uses the old interface thru Google adwords so it initially appeared that it would get a lot of exact match traffic.

Toddler Boy Clothing or Toddler Boy Clothes were the keywords I was going after. (BTW, the cute header I had did not fit when I changed themes, so that is why there is a non related header at the moment). I have 8100 impressions since Aug 17. However, I realized people seem to really be looking for major department stores to buy from. I realize I could throw some more Amazon clothes on the site, but not sure if it would be a winner.

How would you monetize this blog or what would you do to make it better?? Is there any hope for this blog? Another keyword to focus on? I don't know what to do.
#blog #useless
  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Definitely put Amazon on there ... or check out some of the other merchants and see if there are any toddler clothing programs you could join.

    According to MS, toddler boy clothing would get over 5000 visitors were you to get the #1 spot, not sure what the new google keyword tool is about or what you mean by 8100 impressions - are you testing it in an adwords campaign?

    I would make it more "boutique" looking. Take off adsense for now until you decide the clothing sales do not convert. More pics of clothing and perhaps round it out with some resources for moms with toddler boys - like articles and videos or whatever you thing these Moms might benefit from.

    I would not give up on it unless the adwords test shows that it is not getting any search traffic but 8100 impressions in a month seems good unless your idea of impressions and mine are not the same thing.

    Hope that helps!

    Lee
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    • Profile picture of the author Latsyrc
      Thanks so much for your response!

      When I log into Webmaster tools and analyze the past month it says I have had 8100 impressions. I don't really know what exactly it means though, lol. I am not spending money on ads or anything. I just analyze how many visitors I get a day. What should I be looking for with the impressions? I don't totally understand it yet.

      The beta tool is this one. If you go by that one, it says I will only get 1000 exact matches. If you log in, you will see where it says previous interface. That is the interface MS goes by. The results are very skewed compared to the current tool. However, I don't know what is correct! I get really confused by this data.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      I agree with Lee - the blog needs to look more like a boutique, or even a site where one could get a consultation.

      The header image makes no sense to me. What does a mountain landscape have to do with clothing for male toddlers? You'd be better served by finding a stock image of toddler boys playing or a mother with her toddler boy and cropping it to fit.

      I'd drop the Adsense or change the background color to blend with the page background. Right now, it looks like you needed to monetize, so you dumped some ads on the page.

      It's a nice enough start, now it's time to get the engine purring like a 3 year-old with a belly full of sugar...
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      • Profile picture of the author Latsyrc
        LOL, you're right. I use to have a nice header on there, but when I changed themes I could not get the header to size correctly. Currently I am using the standard header because I thought it was a lost cause. I know, I gave up too soon.

        Thanks so much for your tips!

        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        I agree with Lee - the blog needs to look more like a boutique, or even a site where one could get a consultation.

        The header image makes no sense to me. What does a mountain landscape have to do with clothing for male toddlers? You'd be better served by finding a stock image of toddler boys playing or a mother with her toddler boy and cropping it to fit.

        I'd drop the Adsense or change the background color to blend with the page background. Right now, it looks like you needed to monetize, so you dumped some ads on the page.

        It's a nice enough start, now it's time to get the engine purring like a 3 year-old with a belly full of sugar...
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  • Profile picture of the author Latsyrc
    Forgot to add: Thanks for your suggestions too! I think I will take adsense down when I change my blog's theme. Good ideas!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Oh, I think in google webmaster tools that means the number of times your blog was "seen" in a search result. I would think 8100 impressions would be fantastic. Is that just for the main page and main keyword?

    I'm not sure how many are clicking from that but if it's not a lot, then you might try looking at the title and description that come up in the google search for that and change it to be more targeted.

    Then look at where that page ranks in google search and do what you can to push it up higher. You already know how to do that if you are doing the challenge.

    IMHO, the only way to really tell how many people are searching is to put up an adwords campaign and see how many impressions your ad on page 1 gets (that's what I though you meant by impressions) But in your case I don't think that is necessary because you can already see the impressions in the webmaster tools so you know it is getting that many.

    I'm not that familier with google webmaster tools but I would think that if your blog is not on page1 for that keyword, then the number of impressions would increase dramatically once it is... so your initial analysis of the keyword could be correct. I'm sure someone else will come along and correct me if I am wrong!

    Lee
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    • Profile picture of the author Latsyrc
      Originally Posted by cashcow View Post

      Oh, I think in google webmaster tools that means the number of times your blog was "seen" in a search result. I would think 8100 impressions would be fantastic. Is that just for the main page and main keyword?

      I'm not sure how many are clicking from that but if it's not a lot, then you might try looking at the title and description that come up in the google search for that and change it to be more targeted.

      Then look at where that page ranks in google search and do what you can to push it up higher. You already know how to do that if you are doing the challenge.

      IMHO, the only way to really tell how many people are searching is to put up an adwords campaign and see how many impressions your ad on page 1 gets (that's what I though you meant by impressions) But in your case I don't think that is necessary because you can already see the impressions in the webmaster tools so you know it is getting that many.

      I'm not that familier with google webmaster tools but I would think that if your blog is not on page1 for that keyword, then the number of impressions would increase dramatically once it is... so your initial analysis of the keyword could be correct. I'm sure someone else will come along and correct me if I am wrong!

      Lee
      My inner pages are getting the most impressions. For examples, brands of jeans are search queries that get to my site. Let's take Jumping Beans clothing brand. There is no way I can monetize on that because the places that sell it do not do an affiliate program that I can find. On Amazon, i could not find anything. I am still waiting to get approved thru eBay though. Thanks again for your help!
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      • Profile picture of the author joesemo
        You can also check out Prosperent.

        They are somewhat new and do what adsense does but with products.

        I like the concept and will try them on sites that do not have affiliates.

        Adsense is my goto advertising for my sites, but it does not always work.

        Here is a link to Prosperent

        Affiliates - Prosperent
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        • Profile picture of the author Latsyrc
          Thanks! I will check them out! I have never heard of them before.
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        • Profile picture of the author mcmahanusa
          Originally Posted by joesemo View Post

          You can also check out Prosperent.

          They are somewhat new and do what adsense does but with products.

          I like the concept and will try them on sites that do not have affiliates.

          Adsense is my goto advertising for my sites, but it does not always work.

          Here is a link to Prosperent

          Affiliates - Prosperent
          I checked them out. Looks promising. Thanks for the link.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChristineP
    Do you have any idea where you rank right now? It seems like you've picked quite the competitive niche for the Challenge. Googling "Toddler Boy Clothes" has Gap, Overstock, Amazon, JCP and more all in the top 10 - not saying you can't beat these guys - but Whoa - that's a lot to bite off for a first site.

    Did those keywords show as 'green' in Market Samurai as per the challenge criteria?

    Sorry - these are more questions than helpful suggestions - but I'm just wondering if the niche selection is one you want to commit a large amount of time too given what appears to be very steep competition.

    Good luck! and also - google analytics (which seems more commonly used) may be easier to understand for you than webmaster tools. That shows you at a glance how many actual visitors landed on your site, where they came from and if organic what keywords they searched on to find you.

    In my books - who cares about 'impressions' - you want traffic!

    hth
    Christine
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  • Profile picture of the author kevinw1
    I'm doing the Challenge too, and one thing that keeps getting reiterated is that what we're building is a *test*. Whatever traffic tool yo use (Google legacy or beta, or something else) you never know for sure what you're going to get until the site is up here, getting traffic, and you can test response.

    Seconded on using GA instead of Webmaster Tools for traffic analysis.
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