How much content do you have on your site before you start promoting it?

46 replies
When you have a brand new site and you're adding content to it... when do you start focus on promoting the site? After 5 pieces of content? 10? Not looking for a right or wrong answer. Just curious.
#content #promoting #site #start
  • Profile picture of the author Jeepfreak81
    Put up a quality article, write a related article to promote it with guest posting, article directory or whatever you choose. Rinse & repeat.
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  • Profile picture of the author BiggyJ
    Depends on the website, as long as it is functioning properly and has at least something to grab the users attention, you can and should start promoting it ASAP.
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  • Profile picture of the author commonjoe
    Do not wait to promote your website until it is perfect. Start promoting now. You can continue to add content and tweak your site. But with out traffic it does not matter how much content you have.
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  • Profile picture of the author ArielT
    Originally Posted by thebarksmeow View Post

    When you have a brand new site and you're adding content to it... when do you start focus on promoting the site? After 5 pieces of content? 10? Not looking for a right or wrong answer. Just curious.
    Well, If it's a review site, then promote from the first article, but I mean promote that specific article. The promotion shoudn't be complicated, just use twitter, facebook, a youtube video, and of course a good written article so you can get a place on google

    Obviously when you have about 10+ articles or so, you might start promoting your site (homepage URL)
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetex Marketing
    I think 5 articles would be optimal to start promotion.
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    • Profile picture of the author SOCAL777
      Originally Posted by Monetex Marketing View Post

      I think 5 articles would be optimal to start promotion.
      That's generally my rule.
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    • Profile picture of the author jawasismanjanik
      Originally Posted by Monetex Marketing View Post

      I think 5 articles would be optimal to start promotion.
      YES... i have heard 5 articles would be optimal.
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      • Profile picture of the author gamboloyd
        Hey folks.

        With everything I have read, posting fresh content is king. The problem is that what do you do when there is no more content? Do you rehash old content? Certain niches only have limited scope, so what to do when you have exhausted the niches' content coverage? How does a site remain in the spotlight if you are not making the site fresh in the search engines' eyes? Is it then down to creating backlinks? I read and read and try to find my answers without asking questions but I believe I have reached mind-fry stage.

        Would someone please be kind enough to offer a simple conclusion so that I may then move on and dominate the world lol

        Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author linkdestiny
    I think if you would start 5-10 articles are a good amount before start promoting. You want your website to look like it is not completely brand new before traffic start coming in.
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  • Profile picture of the author Burgina
    There is no point in waiting and calculating. Start promoting your site from the first day. And then you can add more content.
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    • Profile picture of the author ArielT
      Originally Posted by Burgina View Post

      There is no point in waiting and calculating. Start promoting your site from the first day. And then you can add more content.
      Not the site but specifically articles at the beginning, It's better
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  • Profile picture of the author thomasjs02
    I believe you should start off minimum 5. This will at least give you the option to monetize your blogs and compare each other to get an idea of what's working and what's pulling in your audience attention.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Alan
    Maybe I am an odd duck but when I start a new site I don't put anything on it other than content. Once I see it has eyeballs on it then I add the promotional stuff into it. Sometimes I might have a site up for months without any money makers. I have had one go on as long as two years without any money makers. It boils down to two things really 1. why take a chance of souring the search engines on your site before any human gets to see it? 2. If there are no humans currently looking at it why waste your time putting stuff to make money on it?

    I see this all the time on You Tube now. Somebody puts his first video up and it is something spammy like a slide show of amazon product pictures and then it has an affiliate link first thing in the description. They get banned and act clueless as to why? Build your value first and then add the money makers.
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  • Profile picture of the author J Thornhill
    Well said Burgina, there is no point in waiting once you get your first article posted you will begin to get comments on your blog by building a relationship with your readers you will get some ideas as what to make your next post about. also each time you post after you put your article up go to a pinging service and ping the artice so the spiders know that you have new content on your page.
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  • Profile picture of the author blazingskull
    If you believe in the principles of the lean startup, you should not wait at all. You will start getting feedback from your potential customers starting with the first piece of content. So why would you want to wait and delay the feedback?

    So go ahead and start sharing your site today.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by thebarksmeow View Post

    when do you start focus on promoting the site? After 5 pieces of content?
    I start promoting with even fewer than 5, usually.

    About 3 articles, and the basic content I need on a landing page, and an autoresponder set up with either 1 or 2 messages already loaded in the series ... that's enough for me to attract traffic to a niche site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lyfe Lyte
    Dont wait until all things are perfect..your good to go once you have a few articles up....make sure you have a feed or opt-in box...to keep people coming back...
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  • Profile picture of the author everydayreviews
    how do you promote a site?
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    • Profile picture of the author pepper81
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Randall Magwood View Post

      On article #1.
      Wouldn't it be better to have some sort of substance and depth to your site so people would want to return? If I was to visit a site that only had 1 article on it, I don't think I would be a return visitor. If I saw that a site had plenty of articles and lots of information I would be more inclined to return. Just my opinion.
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      • Profile picture of the author thebarksmeow
        Originally Posted by pepper81 View Post

        Wouldn't it be better to have some sort of substance and depth to your site so people would want to return? If I was to visit a site that only had 1 article on it, I don't think I would be a return visitor. If I saw that a site had plenty of articles and lots of information I would be more inclined to return. Just my opinion.
        I feel the same way. If I visit a site with little content, empty categories, etc... I'm less likely to return. No matter how good that 1 piece of content is.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gianni
    I would say, as long as the content is good you are ready to go. It does not have to be a massive content of information.

    People are looking for quality not quantity.

    Thanks for your share.
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  • 1 page. You got something to say? Say it! Why wait?
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  • Profile picture of the author easternodyssey
    Depends on when you feel you are ready more than anything. In reality being it takes google a while to crawl and rank the site you could probably get away with 1 article as long as you are reguarly writing after uploading the website.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamesgan
    Originally Posted by thebarksmeow View Post

    When you have a brand new site and you're adding content to it... when do you start focus on promoting the site? After 5 pieces of content? 10? Not looking for a right or wrong answer. Just curious.
    For your reference:
    It's not the matter of contents.
    More importantly what is your 'Message' behind all your published contents.
    You need to focus on your 'Message' of your own voice.

    Go out there and preach the words boldly...in hope that it will helps somebody
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    The only way to build an avalanche of cashflow to your bank is to "Copy & Paste" a proven system.
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  • Profile picture of the author igoogle
    you can start with 5 article even a single quality article would be enough
    don't wait for promotion
    start it from first day and keep updating with quality contents
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  • Profile picture of the author Manoj V
    3 articles and 3 weeks before beginning any promotion and ads. But make sure that your site is indexed as soon as possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author ownergolan
    MVP - minimum viable product.
    Meaning it could be 1 article.
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    "Aiyyo I'm gonna be on ti-dop, that's all my eyes can see..
    Ill put in work, and watch my status escalate"
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    • Profile picture of the author Gary336
      In my opinion, you need not to be thinking about how much content before promotion, but more about how much 'quality content' before promotion. If you only have one article/post/video, but it is good quality and tells the visitor something useful or entertaining, then promote it!
      Just be sure to add more quality content regularly to keep the visitors engaged and your promotion efforts will take on a life of their own.

      Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author fixie
    I make my site live immediately after I get or write my content. I just put it in standard wordpress theme and worry about the design and page structure later on.
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  • Profile picture of the author MNext
    Banned
    I do both at the same time, adding content while building link to the site..
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Gray
    Hi,

    I would say immediately.

    Get a good quality article on there and start straight away, continue to add quality articles every day for a month then down to one every 2 days for the next month then one a week from then on, seems to work

    Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author vCr8
    As soon as I have my articles set up on my homepage, and other important pages, filled up then you're good to go. That will be enough traction to start promotion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Xneaker
    Usually I start with 10 articles. Then start monetizing at the same time you still add quality content. Don't forget to use some tools to help your job
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  • Profile picture of the author affilorama-portal
    I would personally prefer 20 articles for a new site and then add one post per day to increase my pages and content.
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  • Profile picture of the author MrFume
    It would depend on the type of site. for instance i am building a Town website, with a Biz directory and classified ads-I have those functioning, with a few articles and bits and bobs like weather info a news feed-so i am promoting it, it is interesting to visitors to see new features as they return.
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  • Profile picture of the author cassandraw
    As soon as you have content on your site, start marketing it. Don't wait, or you'll put it off and never begin.
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  • Profile picture of the author locke815
    Had like 3 other pages and one nice decent homepage before I went promoting it
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  • Profile picture of the author Martinsee
    The important contents are included :
    - About
    - Portfolio /sample products...
    - Your services
    - Your guiding line.

    And the last : your news/blog...
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  • Profile picture of the author Trevor
    I like to start doing SEO only when I have 5+ content pages on my sites.

    Recently I created a new rule for myself and my sites:

    Each post has to have 800+ words of unique content

    and

    the home page shouldn't have less than 2000 words

    I'm getting better results in SEO that way.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnGood
    Correct me if I am wrong here, but is the web site not just a tool to promote a product or service?

    If it is, then you can start promoting the the product or service before you have a website.
    Your website is one of many routes, and not the destination!
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by JohnGood View Post

      Correct me if I am wrong here, but is the web site not just a tool to promote a product or service?
      Mine isn't, to be honest, because I'm an affiliate marketer rather than a vendor.

      The primary purpose of all my niche sites is to get the opt-in and build my list so that I can promote things by email. (It's possible for people to buy stuff "just through my site" by following affiliate links, but I market mostly ClickBank products and nobody sells many ClickBank products that way, "off the page", without relationship-building).

      I do that by showing people that the article elsewhere that attracted them to my site in the first place is in keeping with what they find on the site when they get there, and by showing them that they can get a lot more of the same by opting in. But I'll start doing that with only one page of content, comprising about 3 articles and the other minimal legal stuff I need for my site, and of course the prominently incentivized opt-in (without which I wouldn't really need a website at all).

      Originally Posted by JohnGood View Post

      Your website is one of many routes, and not the destination!
      Well, to me it's one (essential) step of the continuity-process that turns people from "interested, pre-targeted readers" into "my customers".

      But I agree with the people saying above that you shouldn't wait for everything to be "complete" before attracting traffic. My sites are never "complete".
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      • Profile picture of the author andrewm
        Alexa,

        Are you saying that you do not need to offer a free report to get the opt-in? Are you saying that sometimes they opt-in if they find good related articles on your site?

        Alexa, you post very valuable information in every one of you posts. All one have to do is "read between the lines" as you give answers to other members. Thx.

        Andrew




        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post


        The primary purpose of all my niche sites is to get the opt-in and build my list so that I can promote things by email. (It's possible for people to buy stuff "just through my site" by following affiliate links, but I market mostly ClickBank products and nobody sells many ClickBank products that way, "off the page", without relationship-building).

        I do that by showing people that the article elsewhere that attracted them to my site in the first place is in keeping with what they find on the site when they get there, and by showing them that they can get a lot more of the same by opting in..
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by andrewm View Post

          Are you saying that you do not need to offer a free report to get the opt-in?
          I think you don't necessarily have to. I usually do, myself (though I don't refer to it on the site as a "free report", but that's what it is, in our terms). I'm a writer anyway so it isn't a big deal for me to produce a small "free report" and it's a way of using something else to make sure they expect and await and open and read my emails, so it's part of my "continuity process".

          All my "free reports" end by referring to three or four other, closely related things "which will be covered in emails over the coming weeks" to get them used to the idea of expecting email from me. It strike me that not doing this, or something very like it, would be a real missed opportunity.

          But I've seen (and opted into) sites which offer only a "newsletter" as the incentive for the opt-in, so it isn't compulsory to offer a free report.

          And I have one niche (in which I've actually built a pretty big list, considering the small size of the niche!) in which an "email newsletter" is all I offer. It's a peculiar little niche and site, and people who get as far as my home page are very likely to opt in anyway, because it's a really obscure one and most of them are pleased just to have found anything on the subject at all - these can be fantastic niches, when you can find one. (But that's not easy, because you have to find one or two suitable products, and they'll only exist if some real enthusiast has decided to produce them in spite of the small size of the niche).

          I think if you have just a squeeze page, you'd probably need to offer something more than "emails", whereas on a content-rich site, if your "written words" or "email series promised content" look like enough of an incentive in themselves, you can collect emails on that basis?

          Originally Posted by andrewm View Post

          Are you saying that sometimes they opt-in if they find good related articles on your site?
          I'm sure some will, though I want to "give them something" that I can use to encourage them to open my emails, myself. So I don't often do it without a "free report". Mine are pretty short, though: I'm not exactly "giving e-books away".

          Originally Posted by andrewm View Post

          Alexa, you post very valuable information in every one of you posts. All one have to do is "read between the lines" as you give answers to other members.
          You're very kind.
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  • Profile picture of the author Born to Earn
    Start promoting your site with minimum 5 contents. once you start getting traffic, you can add more contents to your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author andrewm
    Originally Posted by thebarksmeow View Post

    When you have a brand new site and you're adding content to it... when do you start focus on promoting the site? After 5 pieces of content? 10? Not looking for a right or wrong answer. Just curious.
    The day I put my first article on the site is the day I begin promoting. In fact, after posting my article to my site, I try speeding up indexing by using social sites. I guess indexing could be considered promoting, somewhat.

    Andrew
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