Is there anything Xfactor or Clickbump are not telling us?

I agree. The best thing you can do is create 20 or 30 websites, then review which ones work and why. Duplicate the ones that do, and continue to build up content on the winners.

Keep working - that's the best education!

They don't tell you their niches but that's expected.

I can't realize what is missing, but in the ebook everything is so easy and straightforward...!:rolleyes:

Thanks for your question.

The problem is that it is almost impossible to give answers on these type
of personal inquiries because it could be:

1) Non-targetted ads.
2) Non-targetted traffic.
3) Not enough searches (most likely the problem).

- John

On the contrary, I thought I was always open about the fact that I've worked
very hard, still work hard - and never put in less than 6-8 hours per day
while I'm not traveling.

Building my publishing business from the ground up (doing it the long-term
way), I was working up to 16 hours on some days.

- John

I don't mean to sound rude but if you consult the "6 months later - lessons learned" long XFactor thread, you'll see each of these questions has already been answered numerous times.

1. What you really should be asking is how many backlinks it to takes to reach > #3 in the SERPs, since the articles are there merely as a means of getting backlinks and it's not the articles themselves that allow your site to rank in Google. In any case, it's impossible to say -- it depends entirely on the strength of the competition for the keyword phrase you're targetting. Some may not require any, some may require 1, some may require 10, some 30, and so on and so forth. Also, if there is any reasonable level of competition you'll do well to submit your articles to more than just EZA, since Google likes backlinks from a variety of sources.

2. Backlinks are backlinks. Some people say that backlinks on pages with content related and relevant to your site/niche is better than having a backlink thrown in to page with completely unrelated content.

I've personally been having a lot of joy using XFactors blueprint by submitting unrelated articles. I don't wish to speak for John, and I hear that he's since started writing on-topic again, but I think it's safe to say that whilst he was taking the unrelated article approach his rankings were steadily improving and his income was going up (since he's now gone up to $500+/day according to his website). So does submitting unrelated articles work? Yes. Does submitting related articles work? Yes. Are both approaches exactly as effective as one another? I doubt even John can answer that definitively after all his testing. So which approach do you choose? Your call, my friend. Choose the one which either appeals to you most or which you find easier and thus enables you to get more work done more quickly.

3) In Johns thread at least, I believe he says he was submitting to around 5 high quality article directories. However, he also said that he doesn't submit duplicated articles and that he doesn't use article spinning software. He merely writes (or rewrites) each article manually by hand and submits each single unique article to one single directory.

I apologise to John if any of this information/advice is now outdated or otherwise inaccurate because he's changed his strategy. I really don't like trying to answer for other people but I'm actually starting to feel kinda sorry for the guy. He's repeated himself so many times and closed the original thread just because all the information you need is there within it. Yet still people open new threads asking the same information or rewording and spinning the same questions over and over again when it's clear if they read and absorbed the information within said thread, their answers would be clear. To top it off, just because they're afraid they might not get the answers they're looking for (usually because the person giving them is exhausted from repeating themselves), they start calling the method a scam or accusing the thread owner of lying or otherwise holding back information.

Also, since most of these threads are about clarifying whether the method works to some degree: YES IT DOES. It's basic SEO. You use content and backlinks to drive traffic to your site from search engines and some of your visitors click on your Adsense ads because they are (or should be) relevant. It's not brain surgery, it's not a scam and nor is it Johns invention (nor that of anyone else on this forum). He just happens to have utilized the process for some healthy gains.

Also, given that specifics of Johns methods are subject to changing and evolving and his income still appears to have gone up, shouldn't this be a clear indicator of the possibility that so long as you're getting the basics right, the details aren't so important?

What I'm saying is that if John can change his template around a bit (perhaps whilst still retaining the same similar format) and his CTR is still high and his earnings are still rising, this is an indicator that you don't have to copy the template he described (or listed in his book) to the Tee because the fundmantal principles of what make it work in the first place are still present.

The fact that John can go from writing related articles to writing unrelated articles and then go back after some time (and earning many $$$ per day extra) is an indicator that both approaches work and just because he's changed his own personal strategy for some reason, it doesn't mean it's best for you to change your strategy.

Guys, we all have to follow the same fundamentals to some degree in order to see results (we all need to put up websites, we all need to get backlinks, we all need to do keyword research, etc), but when it comes down to the nitty gritty details of how, where and why to do each thing a certain way there is always going to be (and there likely needs to be) some differentiation in each persons approach. That is because we all have different strengths and different preferences and sometimes need to work inline with them in order to be able to maximise our output.

Think about it, I can tell you to draw a picture of a person and you'd probably have no problems doing so. but you'd draw it your way. The way that feels most natural for you. If I told you to paint a picture of a person like Picasso, you might have more of a problem even getting started since Picasso had his own style and you might have a headache trying to replicate it. But the fact is, I asked you to draw a picture of a person. I never asked you to draw the picture like Picasso. It isn't necessary. Simply use your initiative, work with your own style but get the work that is being "asked of you" done. You will see results; you will earn money.

Read his thread, get his ebook (if you feel you need it and haven't already). Then, quit whining/worrying and coming up with every excuse in the book to rehash every question that's already been asked many times previously, and get cracking. You may make some mistakes but you'll quickly learn from them. If you're going to make mistakes even after all the guidance that's been given already, I think it's safe to say you're not going to avoid them by asking "just one more thing" (Hello detective Columbo!). Instead you're going to have to make it and learn from it.

TAKE MASSIVE ACTION ALREADY!

The answer that you'll most likely get back is 'it depends' or 'as many as it takes'.

What I've learned is that 'what it takes' is not set in stone. The success of your site may be dependent on so many factors: strength(authority) of competition, number of backlinks, importance of competing sites' backlinks, relevance of backlinks, your keywords in url or title, etc. Even within these variables, I haven't been able to come up with a clear vision of what it takes.

I set a goal for myself of 30 articles submitted to EZA for each site. (I have one site that hit the 1st page with just one article.) I never have reached that which is probably why most of my sites sit at page 2. Now that I've learned about leveraging articles with multiple directory submissions, I am taking all my EZA articles and submitting to other directories. I figure 10 articles accepted at 20 other directories gives me about 200 backlinks. Hopefully that will push my sites to the top spots.

I see nobody answering the keystone questions about SOC and rivers of ink flowing!

By the way, what is the difference between the "Ad cost" in MNF value and the value given by Spyfu?

Garry -

If that attitude is how you approach IM - you'll be just fine!

My own tip on keyword research (which most new marketers don't want to hear) is this:

Choose your method of keyword research - and then do it hundreds of times. You will develop a feel for what works - but only if you just search everything you think of. If you do that you will reach a point where it's much easier because often you just "know" - it's just experience and practice. No magic and no secrets.

kay

I agree that trying it out for yourself is the way to go. I am very new to all of this and I would have to say that it's all about trial and error. (mostly error)

MNF should only be used as a guide and the search figures from Google I don't believe for a second, but they can also be used as a guide.

I have a more experienced friend who has been earning money from Adsense (who is kinda training me) for a few years now and he is ranked #1 for his keyword yet only gets 10% of the reported traffic. So whatever google says the monthly exact searches are I would say divide it by 10 to get your 1st page results estimated traffic.

If one keyword is reported to have 5000 searches per month and another has 10,000 then expect to get twice the traffic with that KWP. I have 2 sites that are both on 1st page for their targeted KWP. 1 phrase is 4400/mo exact and the other is 8100/mo. The first site is getting about 10 visits/day and the other is getting double that, which is to be expected.

So in my opinion regardless of where you are on the 1st page (#1 or #10) you will get about 10% of the reported searches in Google.

I'm sure there will be others who have a different experience but this has been the norm for me so far.

As for these guys "hiding" anything, if they were we would never know. So asking the question is likely a waste of time as it will never be answered even if it is true.

One thing that will always baffle me is why they revealed their methods at all, even it was for a fee. The internet is now FLOODED with Xfactor sites. If I had a great way to make money I surely wouldn't sell that method to others, as all that does is create competition for me. Sure I would make money from the sale of the method, but it's likely I would lose more than that in lost opportunities from my new competition I would have created for myself.

Nevertheless I am glad I read Xfactors info as it gave me a good foundation to start my own sites which make a couple bucks a day at the minute, so it certainly works but at the same time I have had many failures as well. I think I remember one expert say that about 70% of his sites fail, but he doesn't care as he realises this will happen.

That's another nice figure to keep in mind. Expect over half of your sites to fail even if they are low competition. The Google algorithm is basically one big guessing game for everyone, and it is something that likely changes regularly in order to keep ahead of IMers.

Hi Davioli,

I'm not so sure it's sad, but it does get emotionally draining sometimes.

And I do not know if many people realize just how they are communicating
when posting.

I know we all have a different style of posting/writing as it relates to the
way we talk.

- John

I learned a long time ago that we attract in life what we project
onto others - even the way we write our posts to others.

Sounds like hokey pokey, but it's true.

That means acting, thinking and communicating the way I want my
life to be.

I do not want to attract misfortune, pain or anger, so I strive to be patient,
kind and loving.

But I'm only human, so there are indeed times I read some stuff that makes
me breathe deep before replying

- John

I think my question was reasonable and specific. Yes, these things take practice, but there's no reason that general guidelines are impossible.

Think of food. It takes a lot of practice to properly salt food. However, that doesn't mean I can't give a rough approximation to a beginner learning to salt the food, especially if they're unsure whether to put in a pinch or the entire container.