A little warning about XFactor/Clickmump sites

Goatboy

14 years ago

Yes, and they have some real potty mouths over on that other forum.

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warbar

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Goatboy

Yes, and they have some real potty mouths over on that other forum.

??????? Are you talking about the XFactor Forum? If so, I'm not sure of what you're talking about. I've been a member over there for 9 months and I've never seen any foul language use there.

John and his mods do / did a great job in my mind, but I'd never seen them having to reign anyone in due to foul language.

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simonheng82

14 years ago

Their method is effective but people just cant do it consistently and eventually proclaim that their method is crap.

I am doing it for almost 7 months now with about 400 sites in my profile. I have a team of 7 writers locally working for me to update the site routinely. Averagely each site having about 20-30 pages with pure unique contents. I am not going to increase the number of sites but just to expand the size of each site. Currently i am working towards to create a bigger site with more general topic, to be precise, i am working towards weight loss niche, because my wife is a distributor for herbalife weight loss product, so it is nice if i can help her to promote the products.

My comment to this method -> IT IS 100% WORKING!

Simon Lee

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WealthWithin

14 years ago

Originally Posted by simonheng82

Their method is effective but people just cant do it consistently and eventually proclaim that their method is crap.

I am doing it for almost 7 months now with about 400 sites in my profile. I have a team of 7 writers locally working for me to update the site routinely. Averagely each site having about 20-30 pages with pure unique contents. I am not going to increase the number of sites but just to expand the size of each site. Currently i am working towards to create a bigger site with more general topic, to be precise, i am working towards weight loss niche, because my wife is a distributor for herbalife weight loss product, so it is nice if i can help her to promote the products.

My comment to this method -> IT IS 100% WORKING!

Simon Lee

When you have 20-30 pages of pure unique content, it doesn't fall into the same category.

Just to make my statement clear:
I classify a 'XFactor' site as one with the same green-black cookie cutter template with few pages, and filler content.

Even John 'XFactor' has mentioned that he doesn't recommend using the same template with few pages. His sites have unique designs and 100+ pages now.

Most people forget it's the 'publishing' model which makes AdSense sites work.

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Joseph Then

14 years ago

Originally Posted by simonheng82

I am doing it for almost 7 months now with about 400 sites in my profile. I have a team of 7 writers locally working for me to update the site routinely. Averagely each site having about 20-30 pages with pure unique contents. I am not going to increase the number of sites but just to expand the size of each site. Currently i am working towards to create a bigger site with more general topic, to be precise, i am working towards weight loss niche, because my wife is a distributor for herbalife weight loss product, so it is nice if i can help her to promote the products.

My comment to this method -> IT IS 100% WORKING!

That's the key reasons why it is working.

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erazer 14 years ago

If "cookie-cutter template" were a criteria for getting de-indexed, we'd never see a Wordpress Kubrick site again. False.
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- Trin 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by erazer
  
  If "cookie-cutter template" were a criteria for getting de-indexed, we'd never see a Wordpress Kubrick site again. False.
  
  Google could de-index one style of cookie-cutter template while giving another one a pass, quite easily, I should think. It makes sense to me that Google would have XFactor templates in its sights, but then would look a little deeper to determine if the site was ok.
  
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Jody_W 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Goatboy

Yes, and they have some real potty mouths over on that other forum.

LOL, they are a "lively" bunch. And to the OP, no, he was not talking about the XFactor forum. He was referring to a place a bit darker...
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Tom Goodwin

14 years ago

Originally Posted by WealthWithin

Found this on another forum.

The infamous '4 slice toaster' is now deindexed from Google.

Try searching for site:4slicetoaster.org

So if you're making these XFactor/Clickbump sites (i.e. cookie cutter template + few pages) they are against Google's search quality guidelines.

Make sure you build unique sites with decent content.

EDIT: mistake in title *Clickbump

Statement 1: Site X uses a template similar to the Xfactor design
Statement 2: Site X was de-indexed by Google.

conclusion: "Xfactor-type sites are against Google's search quality guidelines"

Please, for the love of all things good in this world, tell me I don't have to explain why you can't draw that conclusion from those two statements.

P.S. you can have a site with quality content that is 2 pages, and a site with absolute junk content that has 10,000 pages.

Tom

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HCLee

14 years ago

I totally agree with you. I have found nothing wrong in Xfactor's sites or templates. It's the people who violate Google's TOS that get them into trouble. There are many people who jump to such wrong conclusions and that gives XFactor a really bad name.

Originally Posted by Tom Goodwin

Statement 1: Site X uses a template similar to the Xfactor design
Statement 2: Site X was de-indexed by Google.

conclusion: "Xfactor-type sites are against Google's search quality guidelines"

Please, for the love of all things good in this world, tell me I don't have to explain why you can't draw that conclusion from those two statements.

P.S. you can have a site with quality content that is 2 pages, and a site with absolute junk content that has 10,000 pages.

Tom

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clickbump

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Tom Goodwin

Statement 1: Site X uses a template similar to the Xfactor design
Statement 2: Site X was de-indexed by Google.

conclusion: "Xfactor-type sites are against Google's search quality guidelines"

Please, for the love of all things good in this world, tell me I don't have to explain why you can't draw that conclusion from those two statements.

P.S. you can have a site with quality content that is 2 pages, and a site with absolute junk content that has 10,000 pages.

Tom

What he said

As usual Tom, thanks for being the voice of reason...

To add to this thought, though it needs no reinforcement, Cutts is on record saying as much. Its not the quantity of pages, but the quality of what's there. A small site can have just as much authority for a given search than a large one.

Perhaps that's why Google ranks *Pages*, not Sites.

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kasadit

14 years ago

Must be check it

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cbreceipt

14 years ago

Micro Niche Sites no longer work? This marks the end of an era.

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Groovystar

14 years ago

I agree with the person who said the site was probably deindexed for having spun content. Spun content is pretty easy to detect just by giving the article a read. It has this flat, robotic, awkwardly worded feel to it. And if it reads well it was more than likely lifted directly from somewhere else thus running into duplicate content. But mostly what stands out to me is strange, unnatural sounding use of words in spun content. It doesn't flow. Hence why the person who hired actual writers to manage his content has a system that is working.

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TallyDon

14 years ago

google often banns for spammy or unlegitimate links, if you traffic is crap and you content is not unique youre gonna banned no matter wich template you use. It can be that google is more suspicious against a template that has been used more often for such blackhat practices?

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TristanPerry

14 years ago

As Tom Goodwin says, that's a pretty logically weak argument.

In-fact the flaw you exhibited has its own name: 'Correlation does not imply causation'

There are plently of people making good money via the 'xFactor' method. You can't imply that because one site got deindexed, all 'xFactor' sites will. That's a massively flawed argument.

How do you know that the site you mentioned (which I'd never heard of by the way

) didn't use link wheels, cloaked domains and other spammy techniques? Are you 100% sure it's due to the website structure, and if so, how do you know this considering Google never say why they de-index a website?

Also if you've been following things, you'll know that the 'xFactor' method is fairly fluid and recently John et al have been recommending to move towards larger, dozen+ page sites.

EDIT: I just noticed that the site breaks Google Adsense Terms of Conditions. Its privacy policy doesn't actually mention the Dart cookie and in doing so is grounds to termination from the Google AdSense program. Considering the privacy policy is wrong, how do we know that the owner also wasn't link spamming? And as others have said, the content isn't great and seems spun. I can definitely see why it got deindexed (and could potentially be taken off the AdSense program)

Originally Posted by WealthWithin

When you have 20-30 pages of pure unique content, it doesn't fall into the same category.

Just to make my statement clear:
I classify a 'XFactor' site as one with the same green-black cookie cutter template with few pages, and filler content.

Even John 'XFactor' has mentioned that he doesn't recommend using the same template with few pages. His sites have unique designs and 100+ pages now.

Most people forget it's the 'publishing' model which makes AdSense sites work.

Ah okay. Yep, I'd agree with that then. I guess I mis-read your OP. I agree with your clarified statement for sure, yes.

The one thing to note - though - is that John has always been very quick to stress that this market does change and people should think for themselves when applying this method (he mentions it dozens of times in the original thread and then in his first book).

Although - unfortunately - there will always be a minority who ignore the warning to think for themselves and as a result, this minority then went out and created loads of tiny websites with spammy content, and resorted to spammy linking methods to promote their sites. (I guess this is like any money making method online, to be fair - it happens in domaining, e-book production, SEO 'firms', hosts, etc)

But yeah, your last line is right:

"Most people forget it's the 'publishing' model which makes AdSense sites work."

I still think the xFactor method is fine (especially since he's releasing a new, updated book soon which is mainly authority-site oriented), but you're right that sometimes a minority of people forget this and resort to spam because they think it's easy to make money.

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buzzpoint

14 years ago

And also, Adsense is right under the heading.. breaks the google guidelines.

Originally Posted by TristanPerry

EDIT: I just noticed that the site breaks Google Adsense Terms of Conditions. Its privacy policy doesn't actually mention the Dart cookie and in doing so is grounds to termination from the Google AdSense program. Considering the privacy policy is wrong, how do we know that the owner also wasn't link spamming? And as others have said, the content isn't great and seems spun. I can definitely see why it got deindexed (and could potentially be taken off the AdSense program)

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Pratik-IM

14 years ago

Take a look at the site. The content is garbage. If you want your micro niche sites to work, write good content and don't use the same xfactor theme that thousand other sites use.

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1byte 14 years ago

Just checked out the 4 slice toaster site, and I can see why the site might be deindexed by big G. Most of the content is very badly spun. Main page is not so bad, but the other pages such as Mickey Mouse Toaster and Delonghi Toaster, Kitchenaid Toaster, etc. are unreadable. For example, on the Kitchenaid Toaster page the first sentence reads:

"Toasts have been customarily a constituent partial of a family's breakfast routine, carrying a toaster accessible in a kitchen is an undiluted thought to prove one's stomach as great as a family."

The rest of the article is more of the same. Not exactly a quality experience for the visitors. I would guess the bounce rate must be pretty high.
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Latsyrc

14 years ago

Just checked and the site is not "deindexed". It is working.

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miranon 14 years ago

Originally Posted by counselormom

Just checked and the site is not "deindexed". It is working.

google.com/search?q=site%3A4slicetoaster.org

It's deindexed, but the adsense banner is working.
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John Williamson

14 years ago

To reverberate Tom and Scott, I can say with 100% confidence that this method ABSOLUTELY works, you just have to know how to implement it correctly.

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miranon 14 years ago

Originally Posted by John Williamson

To reverberate Tom and Scott, I can say with 100% confidence that this method ABSOLUTELY works, you just have to know how to implement it correctly.

So how do you implement it correctly if its about MFA and that is not allowed?
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- TristanPerry 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by miranon
  
  So how do you implement it correctly if its about MFA and that is not allowed?
  
  MFA is a bit of a gray area. LOADS of sites are made with Adsense-monitisation in mind. Ezinearticles.com is made for AdSense revenue. As are hundreds of thousands of websites
  
  I think that Google disapproves of quick websites which have a few pages of poor quality content and spammy backlinks. *These* are what I think Google would class as MFA.
  
  But I wouldn't say that a website with good content which seeks good backlinks is MFA. Merely, it's designed with AdSense money-making in mind
  
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  susb8383 14 years ago
  
  All of my sites use the green/black Xfactor template (well, the Clickbump version). One of my first sites has remained at position 1 or 2 for many months now. (Interestingly the .com and .net sites that others put up use different templates and are not ranked as highly).
  
  I agree, it must be the content. I can't afford to hire anyone to write or spin, so I write all my content myself. Definitely no broken English on my site.
  
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Marhelper 14 years ago

Originally Posted by John Williamson

To reverberate Tom and Scott, I can say with 100% confidence that this method ABSOLUTELY works, you just have to know how to implement it correctly.

Yeah what he said.
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- yic17 14 years ago
  
  Hi, I just started using Xfactor's method. So this post is definitely very valuable for me. Just to summarize all the things I can do to make sure my Xfactor-like sites don't get deindexed.
  
  Change colors + maybe add a background.
  
  Change the layout, don't use the exact same black/green one Xfactor showed on the book.
  
  Have unique and quality written content (no broken English that makes no sense).
  
  Have more pages than 3-5. Have around 15-20 pages at least(?). And keep building more as time goes on.
  
  Get quality backlinks.
  
  Maybe .. my personal idea .. add a better looking Headline Graphic so the site looks more authoritative to visitors.
  
  Any other stuff I should be aware of? Please comment
  
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A little warning about XFactor/Clickmump sites

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