No Success of with Xfactor - Frustration!

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So I bought Xfactor from a recommendation of a guru I follow a few months back. I read through the course multiple times and even bought Micro-Niche finder to help me along the way.

I followed Xfactor step by step and to the T, with the xfactor system, I created 10 micro niche websites each with about 5-7 pages of content. I submitted articles to article sites daily like Xfactor recommends, and I am aware of the fact that it will take time for my websites to "mature" in the eyes of google.

Well 2 months has past, and I hardly receive more than 5$ a week from these 10 websites. What am I doing wrong? Argh...
#frustration #success #xfactor
  • Profile picture of the author smr1968
    Originally Posted by yaotfeng View Post

    So I bought Xfactor from a recommendation of a guru I follow a few months back. I read through the course multiple times and even bought Micro-Niche finder to help me along the way.

    I followed Xfactor step by step and to the T, with the xfactor system, I created 10 micro niche websites each with about 5-7 pages of content. I submitted articles to article sites daily like Xfactor recommends, and I am aware of the fact that it will take time for my websites to "mature" in the eyes of google.

    Well 2 months has past, and I hardly receive more than 5$ a week from these 10 websites. What am I doing wrong? Argh...
    How did you check on the competition, you didn't rely on MNF SOC did you? Where are your pages ranking on Google? If they aren't top 3 you're not going to make a lot.

    I've had great success with the method, but you need to work very hard at it
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    • Profile picture of the author yaotfeng
      I targeted keywords with OCIs of over 90%, MOB below 20 and SOCs below 20.

      So every website I have and every keyword I targeted are green according to MNF. I checked to make sure there is no authority sites competing for the keyword either.

      So everything is clear on the radar as far as keyword research goes.

      I am not ranking well for some keywords, but 6 of my 10 websites are on page 1 of google.
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    • Profile picture of the author Nexus7
      ^^ Agreed.

      I've had pretty good luck with it, but it's not really a set and forget method anymore. Unless your sites are in the top 3, you need to keep writing content and keep promoting to get those backlinks built up. I started this method in June and have seen an increase in adsense earnings as I add more content and promote.

      John does state in his course that some sites will just fall off and that you just need to move on and make another one. Two months might be too soon, so just hang in there and keep promoting.
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      • Profile picture of the author yaotfeng
        Thanks guys for the fast response.

        I guess, what I need to do is just keep building and promoting websites.

        Although I do see an increase in impressions as weeks go by, the click-through rates are below 10%.
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        • Profile picture of the author Dellco
          Below 10% and you complain? Ok, I forgot that CTR can be 50%.....Not sure if Google can live with that, long term. But I am really curious, do X-Factor sites always get high CTR?

          My CTR is below 3%, but then again that is my overall CTR based on medium/large sites, the few micro-niche sites I have don't really have a great CTR either....some are in fact, near zeros. And the bounce rate can be super high. I think some may work, but many also won't work.

          If you have some long term large or medium type sites, you can clearly see the difference. The plus point is good and genuine sites are stable and (usually) get stronger and stronger over time.
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          • Profile picture of the author Nexus7
            Originally Posted by Dellco View Post

            Below 10% and you complain? Ok, I forgot that CTR can be 50%.....Not sure if Google can live with that, long term. But I am really curious, do X-Factor sites always get high CTR?
            It depends on the amount of traffic. I've had some sites get 30-40% CTR in a single day with low traffic. On average, it's closer to 15-20%. Some may say that this raises a red flag, but I haven't been notified. From what I've read over on Google's adsense forum, it's not an issue to have a high CTR if the clicks are valid. There's basically no set CTR you must avoid.
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          • Profile picture of the author Enfusia
            You may wish to consider switching form the micro site theory to more of an authority site plan.
            Build ten sites with 20 pages each, see which dogs hunt, cull the runts and feed the hunters.
            Out of 10 sites say 6 work well and make money. Take those and build them out 1 to 3 posts per day per site until each site is at 200 pages. Then ad 1 post per day to existing sites (or outsource and ad more). Then build 10 more new sites rise and repeat.
            Oh yeah, and deep link to every single post!

            Just a thought, Hope that helps, OP
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            • Profile picture of the author lexilexi
              Originally Posted by Enfusia View Post

              see which dogs hunt, cull the runts and feed the hunters.
              Try saying this fast when drunk!

              I think it's good to build for the long term. I've adopted the strategy of building a smaller number of bigger sites, around evergreen content ideas. The X Factor method is not a quick buck. He said himself that it took 4 years to get to the $100 / day level. I too have one-page sites that are earning several dollars per day. But it took a long time to get them to rank.

              Also I would advise caution in seeing this as a retirement strategy. The web changes so fast, how can we even say what will be on top in 10 years? Have a transition plan at the ready, I don't think there's any endless cash cow online.
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  • Profile picture of the author TristanPerry
    The xFactor 'method' is one that has 'changed' a bit recently (I say 'changed' not changed because John/xFactor has said all along to be flexible and change your methods as necessary)

    In May/June of this year, Google seemed to make some changes to their algorithm (Google "Mayday update" or similar) which semmed to mainly target micro niche sites (sites based around long tail searches)

    You can still rank for your mini-sites, you'll just need more backlinks. The (better) alternative is to start building out your sites (by adding more good quality content pages) and going from there.

    In-short, the xFactor 'method' works, although things have changed recently and the concept of building very small sites, getting a few backlinks and leaving them isn't something that works anymore.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mangozoom
      Originally Posted by TristanPerry View Post

      The xFactor 'method' is one that has 'changed' a bit recently (I say 'changed' not changed because John/xFactor has said all along to be flexible and change your methods as necessary)

      In May/June of this year, Google seemed to make some changes to their algorithm (Google "Mayday update" or similar) which semmed to mainly target micro niche sites (sites based around long tail searches)

      You can still rank for your mini-sites, you'll just need more backlinks. The (better) alternative is to start building out your sites (by adding more good quality content pages) and going from there.

      In-short, the xFactor 'method' works, although things have changed recently and the concept of building very small sites, getting a few backlinks and leaving them isn't something that works anymore.
      Think this nails it. My small fleet of adsense sites are working still but I am expanding them. One in particular to a 500 page site.

      John
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  • Profile picture of the author clickbumped
    Did you pay attention to the search trends? Even if you follow that advice to the T you need to keep in mind that in order to make money with a site you need visitors - that comes directly from searches on search engines. The trends ideally should be consistent so you can make money every day. Sometimes people search your term only 300 times per month others they may search 8000 times per month. Trying to keep the terms you go for consistent, unlike the above example, will increase your earnings.
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  • Profile picture of the author Darren Cottingham
    Micro Niche Finder didn't work for me. Market Samurai is way quicker and more effective. I use Google's Adwords tool first for quick searches, then I refine using Market Samurai (which takes its time gathering the data, but not as long as MNF, and does a really good job). MS also has several other really useful tools to track rank, etc. There's a free trial for a month, so you've got nothing to lose. It does require a steeper learning curve, though.

    Also, I would say that 2 months in you're not giving yourself enough time. And we're also making the assumption that your articles are really good and get resyndicated out to other sites, which is the real trick to getting the backlink count up quickly.
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    • Profile picture of the author Spot the Ball
      Please be aware that the figures in these keyword tools are WAY OUT!

      That is unless they have changed the way they show data in the last few days. You might get really lucky and find one or two that are near the figures being shown but in reality, most will be no where near the real amount.

      This is why we have had dozens of threads over the months from people saying they hit the top spot on G and their traffic is pitifull for the exact term they are ranked for (excluding other asscociated longtails).

      Then everyone thinks their meta descriptions must be at fault etc.

      Some very high exact searches of at least a couple hundred thousand searches a month can now show figures in single digits (thousands) when using googles googles tools and searches in the teens of thousands only show a couple of thousand.

      If you look at a lot of the terms that quite a few courses teach you to target ... ie, 2500 - 3000 searches per month, they will now show just a few hundred in a large number of cases.

      Originally Posted by Darren Cottingham View Post

      Micro Niche Finder didn't work for me. Market Samurai is way quicker and more effective. I use Google's Adwords tool first for quick searches, then I refine using Market Samurai (which takes its time gathering the data, but not as long as MNF, and does a really good job). MS also has several other really useful tools to track rank, etc. There's a free trial for a month, so you've got nothing to lose. It does require a steeper learning curve, though.

      Also, I would say that 2 months in you're not giving yourself enough time. And we're also making the assumption that your articles are really good and get resyndicated out to other sites, which is the real trick to getting the backlink count up quickly.
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      • Profile picture of the author ScottR
        I find it's hard to beat the free SEObook SEO for Firefox extension. It gives you an instant idea of the PR, backlinks, domain age, and many other relevant factors of your competition for a keyword. Way, way better than relying on just MNF's SOC.

        Once you have found a good candidate keyword/niche, the best cheap tool to drill down into the top 10 and really check out the competition's SEO is Market Samurai. Check to see what anchor text they are targeting and the quality of their backlinking (are they all reciprocal links? If so, there is a good chance Google is ignoring them or at least devaluing them.)

        MS is a great tool, but I find it too slow for initial research (spotting good potential niches). for this I use MNF, which is very fast and great for sorting through possible keywords. So if you start with MNF, then check out the top 10 Google results for potential keywords with SEO for Firefox, and finally drill down with Market Samurai, you can know with a good deal of confidence that you will be able to rank for a given term. Following this exact method, I have ranked within the top 1-2 spots for about 80% of my micro niche sites within a few months of starting them. It doesn't even take much linking.

        I do agree that it is smarter to build out sites much more than 5 pages, once you have winners. For the duds, either leave them alone, or sell them if you can for a few bucks. And try to make them look decent - not all cookie-cutter. Add quality, original content, grow the sites over time, and you should start making money. But it all hinges on the quality of your research.
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        • Profile picture of the author stephane
          I'm a bit fustrated too maybe for the wrong reason. I indeed try and try but never found a niche market haha.
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  • Profile picture of the author Teez
    I would like to know to those of you having success with Xfactors method

    Do you rely on the exact searches of MNF, I have MNF 4.6.2 or somethinglike that and when I throw in a word like say Golf and drill down to say

    alien golf balls local search of 3000 global of 10,000

    (Parameters in MNF are set to exact not Broad or phrase)

    Then I throw it in Google Adwords keyword tool and lo and behold I get different figures say for instance

    alien golf balls is now 590 local search and then global is 1900
    (again parameters are set to exact match)

    So the question is which figures are to be followed cs if you listen to xfactor the answer is to go with the MNF results

    But if you subscribe to clickbumps method the google adwoord tool is to be followed and those figures state you wont get much traffic

    And lets not forget in the google tool you alsohave to change the advance options to locality of uk and language to english which could have even lower results
    or
    locality Us and language english which can just be a fraction of the 590 figure originally shown.

    So what figures should be followed ?
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  • Profile picture of the author fthomas137
    Ok, there is a point in the xfactor book that needs further explanation. Since the book originally came out a couple things have changed, and it's important to know those changes.

    First, you need to do good keyword research. From what I now know, MNF is a good quick peek at the market to find profitable keywords, but you still have to take a look at the number of backlinks to the site too. Fortunately, MNF has added this feature in. Personally, I'd recommend Market Samurai to your keyword arsenal as well. I find that I can come to much clearer terms with MS with the SEO Competition module.

    Next, lighting up a web site with two or three article just really won't cut the mustard anymore. But in the same breath, you don't have to write 500 articles either. If you publish 3-5 to start and then add an article every week for about three months, you'll be up to around 15-20 articles. Very good! With that amount of content, you are more then just a very thin affiliate site.

    Finally and this is a MUST!!!! You need to build backlinks to your website for your article keywords. And you must continue to do so. The number of backlinks you build will really depend on the level of competition you are attacking. Let me just say, writing a couple of articles for Ezine by it self, just won't cut it. If you own the xfactor manual, you'll know what I mean.

    The xfactor manual worked perfectly until the algorithm updates that Google applied in the spring. Since then, you do have to build a bit more to the site and you do have to continously build effect backlinks to your site.

    If you do all of these extra points (yuck - work) then you will be successful. Your sites will hit a level and stick to the front page and you can back off and build more sites. Believe it or not, you can build around 40-50 of these types of sites part time over the course of a year or two and consider retiring on your earnings.

    I do hope that this helps!

    Frank
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    • Profile picture of the author Teez
      Originally Posted by fthomas137 View Post

      Ok, there is a point in the xfactor book that needs further explanation. Since the book originally came out a couple things have changed, and it's important to know those changes.

      First, you need to do good keyword research. From what I now know, MNF is a good quick peek at the market to find profitable keywords, but you still have to take a look at the number of backlinks to the site too. Fortunately, MNF has added this feature in. Personally, I'd recommend Market Samurai to your keyword arsenal as well. I find that I can come to much clearer terms with MS with the SEO Competition module.

      Next, lighting up a web site with two or three article just really won't cut the mustard anymore. But in the same breath, you don't have to write 500 articles either. If you publish 3-5 to start and then add an article every week for about three months, you'll be up to around 15-20 articles. Very good! With that amount of content, you are more then just a very thin affiliate site.

      Finally and this is a MUST!!!! You need to build backlinks to your website for your article keywords. And you must continue to do so. The number of backlinks you build will really depend on the level of competition you are attacking. Let me just say, writing a couple of articles for Ezine by it self, just won't cut it. If you own the xfactor manual, you'll know what I mean.

      The xfactor manual worked perfectly until the algorithm updates that Google applied in the spring. Since then, you do have to build a bit more to the site and you do have to continously build effect backlinks to your site.

      If you do all of these extra points (yuck - work) then you will be successful. Your sites will hit a level and stick to the front page and you can back off and build more sites. Believe it or not, you can build around 40-50 of these types of sites part time over the course of a year or two and consider retiring on your earnings.

      I do hope that this helps!

      Frank


      Thanks a lot for that one Frank
      Fortunately I always was going with the at least 5 pages start excluding (contact about us policy) and building on that

      But unfortunately Im not sure if the figures from my keyword research is right to work on

      I have MNF 4.6.2 not Market Samurai so what can I use as an alternative and can I still rely on the figures in mnf when I do the exact phrase cos when i run the same successfull looking niches through GAKT the numbers are much lower
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        A common misconception is that John's method advised building thin sites with only a couple pages of content. That's not true as his advice was have 5-10 pages of content at the time of launch. These might be short articles but target several keyword phrase variations.

        He mentioned having a few one page sites himself that did well - and too many readers interpreted it to mean "I can do very little and it will work". It won't. Launching a site with 5 pages allows you to judge the potential and if a site begins showing signs of life, you build it up more and more.

        In a more recent thread here, John (xfactor) told how he has continued to build his sites larger and larger rather than continuing to use very small, thin sites. He emphasized his method relies on "micro niches" - not on "micro sites" - big difference.

        I don't use the "tools" often recommended for niche and keyword selection. I can't even explain how I do keyword research simply because I've done so much of it that it's often a gut reaction based on experience rather than a measurement of exact numbers. It's what works for me - and that's all I'm concerned with.

        I'm amazed when someone says "I can't find a niche" - because niches are all around you. I'm constantly jotting down niche ideas to research while I'm watching the news or listening to friends discuss shopping, etc. Out of 100 niche ideas, perhaps 10 are viable and only 3-4 are really good after the research is done.

        I don't think you can take an ebook and follow it word for word - you have to adapt, use common sense and find your own twist that makes the method work for you. View any method as a guideline rather than a full exact set of instructions.

        No matter what tools you use - keyword research is always a best guess. You look at the numbers and use the phrases that are most likely to work. Then you try them and the ones that do work well you build on from there.

        kay
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        • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
          What I've found with larger sites is that you increase your long tail keyword coverage. The more keyword targeted pages you add the more likely you'll find that small percentage of keywords that bring in good traffic. Generally I've found that the 80-20 rule is in effect here, roughly 20% of your pages will get 80% of the search traffic. Therefore, the more long tail keyword pages you have the higher your numbers will be.

          There are exceptions to this, I have a number of low page count sites that work well, however, there is a statistical advantage to having a lot of content/pages.
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          • Profile picture of the author Thomas De
            Go on with the Micro Sites built them, set backlings and look back after 6 months. Honestly you will be a happy guy if you have more patience. 2 months is not enough to see the real results.
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          • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
            Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

            What I've found with larger sites is that you increase your long tail keyword coverage. The more keyword targeted pages you add the more likely you'll find that small percentage of keywords that bring in good traffic. Generally I've found that the 80-20 rule is in effect here, roughly 20% of your pages will get 80% of the search traffic. Therefore, the more long tail keyword pages you have the higher your numbers will be.

            There are exceptions to this, I have a number of low page count sites that work well, however, there is a statistical advantage to having a lot of content/pages.
            I struggled getting enough traffic to my websites until I started embracing the idea that If I wanted to be a publisher that I'd have to publish lots of content.

            Since I took that mindset, I've seen a big improvement in both traffic and earnings.

            Adsense is about publishing and the more keyword optimized content you write, the better chances you have of hitting the jackpot with a few keywords like you said.

            Think about it like this. If you add 10 to 20 pages of content to your portfolio every month and each of those pages brings in a measly 3 visitors each daily. Then every month, your traffic will grow by 60 unique visitors per day. After a year, that's 720 uniques per day. 720 uniques x .05 CTR and you're getting 36 clicks daily. And these are conservative estimates. Most of the keywords I target end up bringing 10 or 15+ UV's a day after they've had some time to develop and be promoted.

            When I started trying to get as much keyword optimized content out there as I could, I started making more money.
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            • Profile picture of the author paulgl
              Let me ask you experts this, if you care to enlighten me.

              I have only done one small site. The rest are much bigger.
              But, this small site seems to be spot on with adsense. That is,
              out of the 5 or so visitors a day I get (LOL), I get 4 clicks. And
              high price ones.

              I hate to muddle it. Should I add content, or try for more backlinks
              to ramp up the visitors?

              I'm a little gun shy in adding more content. Not sure if that's going to
              tweak the results for the better or muddle up the ads.

              If I was getting few visitors and no clicks, I would jump at the notion
              of adding content.

              Yes, I will admit, this was my only foray into a semi-MFA site, but I
              detest that term. I think the site rises above the connotations.

              Paul
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              • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
                Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

                Let me ask you experts this, if you care to enlighten me.

                I have only done one small site. The rest are much bigger.
                But, this small site seems to be spot on with adsense. That is,
                out of the 5 or so visitors a day I get (LOL), I get 4 clicks. And
                high price ones.

                I hate to muddle it. Should I add content, or try for more backlinks
                to ramp up the visitors?

                I'm a little gun shy in adding more content. Not sure if that's going to
                tweak the results for the better or muddle up the ads.

                If I was getting few visitors and no clicks, I would jump at the notion
                of adding content.

                Yes, I will admit, this was my only foray into a semi-MFA site, but I
                detest that term. I think the site rises above the connotations.

                Paul
                Well. It looks as though you're getting an excellent CTR so that is 1 very good indicator that you should add more backlinks and more content. If you could double your traffic you could theoretically double your clicks and earnings. It doesn't always work out like that but I don't see why not add more content.

                I know you're not a huge fan of paying attention to rankings but, look at where your traffic is coming from and if it's say from the bottom of page 1 on Google, add more backlinks to those pages to move them up higher in the rankings.

                For example, if your #9 on page 1 for a certain keyword. Add some good backlinks and try and move your page to between #3 and #5. That's where the traffic is. In this example, your traffic could improve 10 fold from a shift from #9 to #3.

                And you can definitely add more content if their are appropriate keywords out there. If you're getting good $$ clicks, then you don't have to aim for keywords with huge search volume. You could target a keyword with 500 monthly searches and really really easy competition and take the #1 spot. #1 spot would get you 20 or so visitors per day which with your current CTR would result in a good deal of clicks.

                I'd say first look at your rankings for the keywords. If you're not ranking well, then definitely add more backlinks and move those pages up. After you've deduced whether or not you need to improve rankings, then look for suitable keywords to expand the content. If you can find a few 500+ monthly search keywords with easy competition, then aim for all of them.

                Use my example above. If there are 10 suitable keywords each with 500 monthly searches. Write a page about each keyword. And even if each page only brought you an extra 3 visitors per day per keyword, that'd be 30 visitors daily. With your current CTR the site could turn into a much bigger earner than it is now.

                You're getting good CTR and earnings with the very very small amount of traffic. That is usually a good indicator that you should expand.
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              • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
                Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

                Should I add content, or try for more backlinks
                to ramp up the visitors?
                My tendency has been to leave sites like this alone but it depends on how much potential there is. I don't think it would hurt anything if you added new content as long as you kept the same basic keyword emphasis. But, if you had 5 pages on dog training and then added 10 pages on buying diamonds this might weaken your site somewhat in terms of earnings from Adsense.
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                • Profile picture of the author paulgl
                  Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

                  My tendency has been to leave sites like this alone but it depends on how much potential there is. I don't think it would hurt anything if you added new content as long as you kept the same basic keyword emphasis. But, if you had 5 pages on dog training and then added 10 pages on buying diamonds this might weaken your site somewhat in terms of earnings from Adsense.
                  Yeah that's why I'm a little gun-shy. I am having trouble with cross-pollinating any
                  new content. I'm thinking of expanding 1 article into 2, slightly tweaked. Point
                  taken on the dogs to diamonds.

                  Originally Posted by Jacob Martus

                  You're getting good CTR and earnings with the very very small amount of traffic. That is usually a good indicator that you should expand.
                  That's sounds logical. Me being a logical person, I always err on the side of logic.
                  Expand, but still on main topic.

                  The thing is, this site is winter/weather related. So, stands to reason the search
                  volume may increase on it's own, leading to more organic traffic, word of mouth,
                  people linking, etc.

                  It has a limited niche, very, very narrow. But this thread has my mind coming up
                  with at least 3-4 new ideas.

                  I also sold $200 worth of amazon products on this site last month. Sold that is, not
                  the total amazon gave me.

                  Certainly mini-sites have potential for income, I'm hoping for authority as well.

                  Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Suka
    Nice Post Frank.. i read it a few times i know were i am going to be in a few years
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  • Profile picture of the author calfred
    Did you make sure that you're really ranking?

    If your keyword is "plastic swivel chair"

    Real Ranking
    Type in plastic swivel chair.

    Common Ranking Misconception
    Type in "plastic swivel chair"
    (This is used by John to check for competition, nothing else.)

    I really agree with people who said here that top 3 ranking matters the most.

    You will see the light once your site hits top 3.
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  • Profile picture of the author calfred
    Oh yeah.

    And publish lots and lots of content.
    (I decided that I need to publish really good content for users after seeing what SBI users did. My gosh, their sites are easily hundreds in pages. )

    More content is better for long term.
    Makes your site more authority-like.
    Makes your site less MFA because you are providing visitors with genuine, helpful info. VALUE.
    If you are thinking of making them click ads by writing a generic 400 word (yah, it could work) that has little value, you could be facing trouble once Google finds out. Not long term.
    Serves you best in your favor in this business.

    You are a publisher.

    I also agree that the book has misled many people (including me initially) to only write for the money, especially newbies to IM.

    You might read the final chapter (or last part) of the Micro AdSense Niche Course book talking about motivation and taking action. But come on. Words are not perfect.

    I never realized the point he was making at that last chapter. At first, I only wanted the methods and techniques... aka newbie hunger/mistakes/shortcuts/whatever it is. After doing this business for 6 months, I finally realized how important the mindset really was to sustain this biz and keep striving.

    Talking about mindset is never delicious. Techniques and methods and secrets are much more enticing to the human brain. You will see many sales pages are structured that way.

    The epiphany I have after 6 months:
    You will hear John saying take action, take action, take action...
    But what he really meant was work/write 8 hours or more non-stop. BIG ACTION!
    That's what "take action" really means.
    Maybe it's a better phrase to tell people to work hard. I don't know about writing a book!

    If you are a 1st timer to the IM money making, you gotta have blind faith. But I guarantee all your doubts will be gone in the wind once your site rank top 3 and make money.

    This is why you really have to work that hard to get there.

    Gathering knowledge on the net and learning
    When I started with Micro AdSense Niche Course, I knew nothing about MMO (making money online). Up till today, I still don't know how Reseller hosting really works.

    I admit. If your first venture is the Xfactor book, you have to study up a little. Everyone has to study on their own by following reputable and value-offering SEO guys. Now that I've gathered 6 months of studying how this whole AdSense site works... I can tell you that the book contain the basics that cover 80% of what you need to know to MMO.

    Studying how this whole thing works will give you confidence that this can work. That's it.

    It's like the saying "don't fix it if it ain't broken." But we humans need to know WHY things work. For example, if a stranger tells you to eat vegetables, you don't just eat it right away even if vegetables are good for you! You need to know WHY! When you're starting on your own, it is really a blind faith trip, especially with SEO when patience is key.

    No patience, no money.

    I can understand the rationale of wanting to know and confirm certain knowledge. Sure, read them up. But then you'll come back to square one and realize it's back to basics again every single time (as far as AdSense goes): add content, add backlinks.

    Of course, you must learn how to assess page 1 competition, using Market Samurai or SEO For Firefox or SEOQuake.

    PS: Don't be surprised that some individual keywords require you to write 100 articles (for backlinks) or more to rank top 3. This is the brutal truth that no one wants to tell you, aka the hard work. There.

    I don't know man. I hope this helps in the long term too lol. Information can only do so much. Btw, you're Chinese, aren't you? Work hard like our parents tell us to!
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    • Profile picture of the author susb8383
      After following the directions in the book exactly and not having much luck, the most useful thing I learned (has been mentioned above) is this: don't rely at all on MNF's rankings. I use MNF to find keywords with EMDs, but that's it.

      Then I type that phrase into Google (without quotes) and see what the results are. If the top 10 have things like Amazon, Nextag, etc., I go for it.

      My most successful site has a ranking of #1. Ironically it was a site I put up when I was following the book's instructions exactly. But in hindsight, the Google results for that phrase are junk so it matches I've learned since.

      When I type the keyword phrase in Google, I get an ebay page, for example. It isn't even an auction listing, it's more of a resource. I also get sites similar to mine but with a lot more content. My site only has 5 content pages.

      Hardly any of the top 10 results have exactly my phrase; just some of the words.

      I have not added any backlinks since the first month and the only directories I used were Ezine and GoArticles, and I've stayed at #1.

      I also go for lesser traffic. I've tried for a keyword that gets 18,000 hits a month, for example, and even though the Google results are junk, I can't get ranked. But my best site only has about 2900 searches a month. It gets me about $100 a month.

      Doesn't sound like much, but if all my sites were like that, I'd be really, really happy.

      So it's really all about the keyword. I've tried to find as good a phrase since then but haven't had much luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruha
    Are you cross referencing your keywords at spy fu to make sure they are profitable adsense options?
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    Visit my website at www.ctbonlinemarketingllc.com to learn more about how to make money online!

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  • Profile picture of the author zandhal
    I think hardest competitors make you far away from your success
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  • Profile picture of the author mejohn
    The long and the short of it is that consistantly adding content and consistantly gaining backlinks pays off in the long run. I hit $310 last month, and am on pace for $350 this month. I have been at it a year now, but have only been putting in serious effort recently.
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  • Profile picture of the author LeeLee
    MNF 4.6.2? Micro Niche Finder has been updated and includes some new features. Updates are F.RE.E.

    You should be running 5.1.7.

    Currently MNF is having a problem with Google's search tool but they are working on it and expect a fix shortly.
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    The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials. ~ Lin Yutang
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  • Profile picture of the author Teez
    Hey people Ive done some further in depth keyword researching with the Google adword Tool as the new one is said to be more accurate

    Funny thing is that Ive found some ''click worth'' niches i.e the ones that you know people are likely to click

    However my issue is that I come against these issues (Note;2900 EMD search)
    1.The Keyword can have good number of advertisers in Us and then not in the uk
    2.The Keyword has no advertiser as in ''N/A'' but still has something like cost/click $2
    3.The keyword has cost/click of £1 but advertisers of like only 3

    Anyone got any advice with this type of info i.e if they have experimented with these numbers or anything.

    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author jogradadebas
    Anybody can give a direct link of Xfactor?

    Thanks
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