Don't daydream - kick the fiction out and hack the reality!

Plan things well before putting efforts in any project.


I was talking to a newbie im friend who discussed his plans on making money online.


Fiction?
Most of his projects sound really good but only as a fiction. He plans to create a big health site because it is a huge niche.(home remedy) I was a bit disappointed at the way he was working on it. Because he planned to create 1000 page website and hope to make $100 a day once he finishes it.

It is easier to talk about getting to the moon but far difficult in actually being there!


He might even complete high quality 1000 articles in one year but WHAT happens when things don't work out for him?


While i do not completely condemn this method. The only thing is that he does not research the competition properly (and as far as i know most people new to the IM, with no or very less marketing knowledge don't realize this fact)


If you are like me making sites for adsense primarily then you must follow the following procedure on finding out the competition.

It might just increase your chances of success and direct your efforts in proper direction.

1. Find your niche
the best way to find niches is what is first, what people are searching for and second, find the exiting products/ site on that topic.

the BEST place to do this is alexa.com. It is a directory of website that will tell you keywords searched for any website. It also ranks site on the basis of category. That's a goldmine resource for any internet marketer be it newbie or experienced.


2. Select a niche that has medium competition
There are niches that have very HIGH CPC and there are some with very low CPC and low competition.

Don't go for the best high PPC niches because it will need lot of time and resources to stand somewhere in that league. On the other hand, if you go to niches that have virtually nil competition chances are that you won't get enough return on your investment and effort.

It is always BEST to start with niches that have medium competition. This would ensure that you get good ROI and your chances of success will increase.


By the way: by talking about high competition niche im referring to broad keywords. "weight loss" a highly competitive niche while "weight loss with green tea" and "weight loss dukan diet" is medium competition.


3. How to calculate competition
So how do you know if this is a good niche? I call it the process of reverse engineering. It is not rocket science and may be simplest of things BUT i think it is the single most important factor that can make or break your success. (if not done properly)
------------------------------------------------------->


Reverse engineering

Here i would share my EXACT method of how i reverse engineer any website's success and take my share from it.


1. Search in google for your keyword, in this example let us discuss "home remedy for ace"

You will find a list of websites ranking for that keyword. MAke a list of websites upto page number 3 that are ranking for the keyword

now use the following URL and paste it in the address bar

https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/search?p="placeurlhere"&bwm=i&bwmo=d&bwmf=s

here, remove the placeURLhere with the site you want to reverse engineer.

This will show you backlinks to that page with only from external sites and across all pages. This shows us true strength of the site.

Look at the backlinks.

• Are they coming from blog comments? If yes then it is easier to beat them.
• Are they coming from popular web directories? Will take more time.
• Are they coming from highly authority websites? very stiff competition.

Once you have this report in front of you, you will know exactly WHAT you need to do to beat it.

You have to do minimum what that site has done and something extra to be able to beat it and justify your ranking in google's eyes.

This method alone will teach you a LOT about internet marketing and what kind of websites you should built. And this is all TESTED and PROVEN facts. not some junk fictional stories crafted in the last ebook you bought.




2. A good backlinking strategy
in my experience a good backlinking strategy is :

• 40 % of the keywords should come from article directories like ezinearticles.
• 20 % of keywords should come from blog comments and forums (you must also post regular posts in that forum to get real benefit)
• 30% of the importance goes to directory submission.

Each type of link has its own importance.

• Web 2.0 links like twitter/digg these are usually short lived backlinks. Yes, they can help you rank an article for sometimes. But i never saw sites thriving on those.
• Directory submission
  is the BEST long term strategy. Most sites that rank good on google are listed in either yahoo directory or dmoz. That's what google as a software uses to generalize their rankings.
  
  So do not leave directory submission if you want the best traffic juice. Google knows that if a site is listed there, it must be relevant and trusts the source.
• Link exchanges from blogs and other websites
  This is probably next best thing from directory submission for long term benefits.I personally create small blogs on wordpress.com and create a link back to my parent site. If you do not have time to create them on your own. Outsource! You can also buy backlinks but i don't prefer that method because the links usually expire after a year and then again you have to spend money.
  
  So it is indeed better to build a small blog with 4-5 pages and creating a link for your parent site.

Where from here?
I have just scratched the surface here. And i have not told you about of the niches.

But the point of this post was not to catch "fish for you" but to teach you "how to fish" so that you can take this knowledge anywhere from here!


I know how frustrating it could be in getting started. (i have struggled for years in IM, so i know it)


So this is just in effort if i could help anyone by sharing this info about what i have learnt in so many years through trial and errors. You will stil have failures and errors.

But having more "tested" knowledge will make your way easier and less daunting.


Got Questions?
If you have any questions shoot em up. I might come back later in the day and answer those. Before you ask search the forum and chances are you will get your answer. If you don't i will be more than happy to try n answer it.

Best of luck to you!

PS:
Your luck only gets better when you keep trying! Start creating websites today and you will soon become lucky!