A newbie getting started in SEO - A Case Study

by NenadR
7 replies
  • SEO
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I just thought it would be nice to do my current project as a case study. I appreciate any feedback!

Well, this is my first attempt at an SEO site, relying on search engines for traffic.. I have decided to make it a case study, and provide information about what I am doing step by step. I am trying to this with spending the minimum possible, mainly because I do not have much money to invest, and because I am not sure if this will work

Each day, I will track the activities I do, and how much time I spend doing them. I will try to reveal everything, except the site and keywords itself, mainly because I do not want competition, and I do not want to skew the results.

I have already picked a niche and keyword when I start this (a keyword that has a decent amount of traffic according to the Google Keyword tool, and not too much competition. The front page of Google shows some authority sites, although the ranked articles are not actually a good match for the search term (one of those things that is obvious to a human, but Google's algorithm has not picked up), as well as a forum thread (ironically enough it is a forum that I am already a member of, so it might be useful for backlinks, if the tread is still active).

In this, I am hoping to do more with the particular broader niche, so I will try to set this up into a more sustainable business.

You might notice that I do not spend much time on this per day. The main reason for that is that I work full time, and have a wife and three year old child. This is more a side project, that will hopefully provide some extra income.

For the same reason given above, the posts will be appearing with a bit of a delay. As I am writing this, I am actually already a week in... The posts might catch up, they might not.

So, without any more ado, here is what I did on day one
  • Contacted a good potential company I want to affiliate with, to see if they support my country (5 min)
  • Checked Google AdPlanner for the demographics on the former company site, since my demographics will be very similar. Find out that they are slightly older than I expected at first, a good sign, since it will make it easier to write for people my age. (5 min)
  • Bought the domain and set it up on my host, I was lucky to get the first domain I tried for (10 min)
  • Setup Wordpress an plugins, this took a bit longer, since I actually had to track them down. (50 min)
  • Looked around for videos and graphics I can use later (10 min)
  • Researched the LSI keyword to my target keyword, got a bit distracted when I saw a couple more keywords that it might be worth building separate sites around (35 min)
Total time spent today: 115min
#case #newbie #seo #started #study
  • Profile picture of the author Top10SEO
    Ok, so don't be shy. If this is a Case Study, let's have the facts.

    What's the keyword phrase you're targeting and what is the URL (Domain Name).

    HOW did you select the Keyword Phrase you're targeting, since keyword selection is Step 1 of any good SEO project. A good SEO Case Study would detail the steps taken to arrive at the targeted keywords
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    • Profile picture of the author NenadR
      Originally Posted by Top10SEO View Post

      HOW did you select the Keyword Phrase you're targeting, since keyword selection is Step 1 of any good SEO project. A good SEO Case Study would detail the steps taken to arrive at the targeted keywords
      Whoever said that this is a good case study?:p

      But I do see your point.

      How I arrived at the keyword:

      I would like to say that I followed some sort of pattern, but it was more through poking around in the google keyword tool, and coming across a combination of high traffic (about 30,000 searches, monthly), and low exact match competition (about 42,000).

      There are a couple of threads debating the validity of using exact matches for competition estimation, but that is what I used.

      Like I said in the case study, I did look through the competition, and I did find a forum thread, and some authority sites, although the articles were not what the searcher would be interested in, so I would be able to get a fair amount of clicks, out of proportion to the position on the page, by having a good headline and description.

      I know, my method for deciding does need some work.

      As for revealing the actual keyword and domain... I might do that a bit later... If anybody really wants to know before that, send me a PM.

      Thanks for your feedback.
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      • Profile picture of the author NenadR
        Well, time to move onto day 2, which was a bit less exciting:
        • Setup Google Analytics for the blog, so that I can see where my hordes of traffic are coming from - 10 min
        • Searched for a good theme for the blog, found a couple free ones I could use, saved them to a folder until I can look at them with fresh eyes - 10min
        • Wrote the about me page for the blog, I tried to use the main keyword at least twice, as well as a couple of the LSI keywords I found yesterday. - 15 min
        • Got a response from the affiliate company I emailed yesterday, apparently they are only planning to start supporting affiliates from Serbia in a couple of months! I mailed them back asking them to let me know when it happens. I have a couple of other options for monetising the site, so I am not to worried. -5 min
        • Searched for the best way to handle a mailing list. I am still not sure what I would do with one, but I think that there is potential in the niche. - 10 min

        Overall, not a very productive day, but I am glad that I have kept moving things forward.

        Total time spent so far: 2h 55min
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        • Profile picture of the author NenadR
          Today has been a rather more relaxed day in this aspect, but I did get some basic housekeeping done:
          • Added a Privacy Policy to the site (5 min)
          • Registered the site with Google Webmaster tools (5 min)
          • Setup my long-neglected Squidoo profile (5 min)
          • Uploaded the themes I found to the site (5 min)

          Ok, a bit of an uneventful day, but it happens sometimes

          Total time spent so far: 3h 15min
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  • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
    Unless you are friendly with the mods they usually delete case study threads as they tend to end up in a pitch to sell an ebook.
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    • Profile picture of the author NenadR
      Well, I really hope that this does not get deleted, since I have no intention of using it to pitch an eBook (or anything else for that matter), i just thought somebody might find it interesting.

      thanks for the warning
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      • Profile picture of the author NenadR
        Due to other commitments, i did not actually get much done on this day either.
        • Revised the about me page (10 min)
        • Setup my Squidoo and HubPages accounts for later link building (5 min)

        Total Time spent: 3h 30min
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