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Warning To Newbies: Never Use This Strategy

by JK Nyerere
23 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I have been doing IM for over 10 year now and I would like to warn all those starting out and still deciding how to make money online.

One method you should avoid completely is any method that relies on Google Search Engine Traffic. Avoid it completely. Do not even pursue a bit of it. When it works, it is truly easy money and it becomes addictive. Soon enough you will focus all your energies to it. Yes you might make money, but it WILL be shortlived. I guarantee you this. The opportunity cost of focusing on SEO is immense. You can be 5 years down the line from now and not have learned much about anything really.

The problem with SEO is that sooner or later you will be penalized for some reason. What is OK today will not be OK 2 years from now.

Using automated internal linking plugin methods, social plugins and every current "whitehat" thing will sooner or later be penalized. Putting KW in titles in a way that is SEO optimized may soon face penalties and anything else that suggests that you are trying to gain rankings will face a Google penalty sooner or later.

SEO is not dead, but I just think that it is not smart...unless you are of course a SEO firm.

Google have to permanently try to improve their SERPs. This means that they will permanently bring out new algorithms that decimate previously compliant sites.

In the past 12 years, I have made money (sometimes lots of it) but have lost it every 1.5-2 years due to new Google updates. I have built many small niche sites and also have a few large authority sites. Size does not matter if facing an algorithm based penalty.

So to those just starting out, DO NOT LEARN SEO! Just focus and master other traffic and conversions methods if you ever want to build a real business with any longevity.

Drug dealers also face the same problem as those of us focusing on SEO. Law enforcement with their unlimited state resources will ALWAYS be after them and be improving surveillance techniques. It does not matter whether you are Antonio Montana or a little hustler in a street corner, the end will be the same. Painful.

Please do not listen to anybody who will try to tell you how well their SEO based white authority site or micro-site is doing. Sooner or later they will almost certainly face some penalty.
#newbies #strategy #warning
  • Profile picture of the author dp40oz
    I think your opinion comes from a pretty bitter perspective. SEO can be a very solid business plan if you know how to do things correctly when building your foundation.
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    • Profile picture of the author JK Nyerere
      Originally Posted by dp40oz View Post

      I think your opinion comes from a pretty bitter perspective. SEO can be a very solid business plan if you know how to do things correctly when building your foundation.
      I am not bitter as I have seen these big updates happen 5- 10 times over the years. I have very many sites and money earned was use as seed money off-line. So I am not broke and not bitter.

      A lot of people will think they are good at SEO and know what they are doing. I have heard it all before. That maybe what they believe. All I can say is that I am pretty good too and have used some of the best SEO people out there. All I can say is that Google gets them all, sooner or later.

      Whatever you may know or do about SEO, Google can switch the goal posts overnight. I know some people may have 20 or 5 niche sites and make $300 day and consider themselves geniuses at SEO. All I can say is that if you are actively SEO'ing your site in any way, you will be terminated sooner or later by Google. Some of us have made many times that with single pages and sometimes with 50,000 domains at other with very white-hat methods - so I am talking from experience, not bittreness.

      This was addressed to newbies as I know that those already in SEO or selling SEO services can not do much about it and they are well into the Kool Aid. Confirmation biases will just make them disagree with me and will continue to convince themselves that SEO is great.

      My advice is that newbies should focus on other traffic and conversion methods and avoid Google altogether. If you are good at the other stuff, Google will love you any way and whatever you get from them will just be a bonus, and not your bread. My group of ignored "hobby" sites are just doing so extremely well out of more than 1,000 domains I currently have. They were built completely ignoring Google. No SEO was ever deliberately done on them.

      SEO will make you money today but it will be gone two years from now, either from competition or an update. If you choose to compete through SEO , Google will crush you soon enough. If you do not compete, your competitors will crush. SEO is a lose-lose situation.
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by JK Nyerere View Post

        This was addressed to newbies as I know that those already in SEO or selling SEO services can not do much about it and they are well into the Kool Aid. Confirmation biases will just make them disagree with me and will continue to convince themselves that SEO is great.
        Sounds like your pushing your own flavor of Kool Aid, usually these types of comments come from anyone that sells something besides SEO.

        I understand, you feel like Google did you wrong, your not the first to complain & defiantly won't be the last, SEO isn't for everybody.

        I do agree on diversifying traffic.
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        • Profile picture of the author TheFBGuy
          Originally Posted by yukon View Post

          Sounds like your pushing your own flavor of Kool Aid, usually these types of comments come from anyone that sells something besides SEO.
          I sell SEO services among other services to offline clients, and I would just like to say that the OP is correct. Perhaps a bit dramatic, but overall he is correct. If you are NEW, starting your core business based on Google traffic is like building a house on sand.
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          • Profile picture of the author yukon
            Banned
            Originally Posted by TheFBGuy View Post

            I sell SEO services among other services to offline clients, and I would just like to say that the OP is correct. Perhaps a bit dramatic, but overall he is correct. If you are NEW, starting your core business based on Google traffic is like building a house on sand.
            OP, is classifying SEO as peddling drugs (lmao).

            Personally I started out with niche forum traffic, which requires two things, decent product/content & trust.

            I still don't agree with most of OPs comment (besides diversifying traffic), If you never start SEO you'll always be an SEO newbie.

            BTW, starting any business is risky, both online & offline. A large percentage of new offline business goes belly up shortly after they start, so it's not realistic to say newbies should stay away from SEO just because it's new to them.

            Heck, If a person is going to be afraid of doing online business, what's the point in even starting?
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  • Profile picture of the author jakecoop79
    You sound pretty wounded. Which I get, especially over the last year or so.

    However, i think it's a must that every newbie learn seo and attempt to rank sites. Because it can still be done and be done profitably. However, my advice would be not rely on only one source of income like google.

    Always have multiple streams of income from many types of sources. That way when one dies, you still have income from the others, while you work to replace the one that died with a new method.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cyberdog1
    It's best to have a range of ways to make money - Being on Page on of Google brings in natural customers that you don't have to go out and find yourself so I think you are very wrong in that it doesn't bring benefits.

    I take it you've been hit by the evil penguin - then work your way back up more organically and all will be good in the future!
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    Most think that it was God who created man in his own image but it was us who created God in ours.
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  • Profile picture of the author seotrafficsearch
    Well, i agree with the fact that SEO cannot be pursued as a career option if one is trying to make easy bucks with few websites. But it is definitely a good option if one is interested about SEO and its related techniques. One thing i'd mention is that never rely on SEO for your main earnings.
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  • Profile picture of the author GodMode52
    One method you should avoid completely is any method that relies on Google Search Engine Traffic. Avoid it completely.
    Yes people , absolutly avoid the biggest search engine that gets around 1 billion of unique visitors monthly so I can keep all the money for me.
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    Want Google Page ONE Rankings? [YES] [NO]

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  • Profile picture of the author retsek
    50,000 domains and whitehat shouldn't go in the same sentence. Real whitehat strategies have been working for the last 10 years. If your "whitehat strategies" only had a shelf life of 2 years, then you really weren't white hat to begin with.
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  • Profile picture of the author ralchevd
    I agree with that dude! There is a difference between SEO (link-building, white/black hat strategies/on-site optimization) and the Internet marketing. I had to learn a lil bit of SEO in order to realize that the power comes from the marketing side. It is very important to focus on the user.
    As probably all of you know, many websites that are ranking VERY GOOD are not CONVERTING WELL, and vice-versa, many websites that are even not ranking are converting as hell.

    The guy above said - "unless you are a SEO firm". Exactly! SEO is just a tool. You have to know how to use it. Even if you are not a SEO expert, but you have the right marketing idea, all you have to do is to hire someone.
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  • Profile picture of the author bilbobaggins
    Hmm im not so sure. Google just raised the bar on this game. We can either quit and go home, or learn new tactics and get better.
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  • Profile picture of the author wilsonm
    How do you diversify traffic sources?

    God....SEO is so addictive like cigarettes!
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    • Profile picture of the author JoshN
      Originally Posted by wilsonm View Post

      How do you diversify traffic sources?

      God....SEO is so addictive like cigarettes!
      +1 I'd like to hear more as well. Although I am doing well at the moment with google, as a business guy It drives me insane to have my whole business rely on a much more powerful partner who doesn't particularly like me.
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by wilsonm View Post

        How do you diversify traffic sources?

        God....SEO is so addictive like cigarettes!
        Originally Posted by JoshN View Post

        +1 I'd like to hear more as well. Although I am doing well at the moment with google, as a business guy It drives me insane to have my whole business rely on a much more powerful partner who doesn't particularly like me.
        First you need to understand that even though Google SERPs traffic is massive, it's still only a small fraction of web traffic.

        The easiest way to diversify traffic is to have good content/products & be able to build up trust with your potential traffic.

        IMO, niche forums related to your own site is one of the the easiest ways to generate repeat traffic.

        Keep in mind, there's a huge difference between spamming links on forums & building up enough trust that other forum members will consistently recommend your site/content on their own.
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  • Profile picture of the author CK Pittman
    I believe internet marketing is like anything else in life... Never ever put ALL of your "eggs" into one basket... There are other forms of traffic than Google. I believe that we've put way too much trust and faith into Google, and so when they decide to switch things up it often leaves many of us bewildered and confused... Combine SEO with other forms of marketing, so that if one "lead generation" technique dries up, you've got a dozen more to take it's place.... Never put all of your "eggs" in one basket... Google isn't the only "show" in town (: It's time that we remind them!
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    • Profile picture of the author wilsonm
      Originally Posted by CK Pittman View Post

      I believe internet marketing is like anything else in life... Never ever put ALL of your "eggs" into one basket...
      What on earth do you mean by that? I know plenty of people for whom there offline business is their only source of income. And plenty of people for who their job is their only livelyhood. And that strategy works very very well. IM with G is an unusual and flakey situation - more so then many other situations.
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  • Profile picture of the author JayKnight
    You make a good point about it not being a good foundation and relying on Google rankings for your income could pose a problem, but I still think it's important for beginners to learn SEO.

    Even if your main purpose isn't to come up in search engine, it's always nice to catch free traffic from them. There's plenty of business models online that do rely on Google and are very profitable, but definitely diversify your income streams so the hits from algorithm updates aren't devastating.

    SEO will always be changing, like any business, you have to adapt.
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  • Profile picture of the author coluden
    For the life of me, I cannot understand how easy it is for most folks to 'miss the point'! Your point is well taken, at least by me. I am 100% sure that you believe this, and to be clear, I believe that although many people will disagree with you, you are right on track. So what if you just spent $5,000 building a site and another $5000 on SEO, big G does not care about that.

    In any case, my take away here is the simple matter of over-confidence and over-reliance on Google once things are going well! We all tend to believe that it will last forever! It will not. A site that does well today can lose ranking next week, and re-appear near the top of the SERP's in another 2 months! That is no way to build a business. For what it's worth, thank you for the reminder! I got the message loud and clear!

    coluden
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  • Profile picture of the author LucyLane
    Just because you've had a bad experience with the world of SEO, doesn't mean that everybody has. Also, I tend to think that if you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines and aren't constantly looking for shortcuts or the easy way out, your website will do well, eventually, but it takes time. If you are using black hat/grey hat SEO to illegitimately increase your site's ranking, then of course you will be penalized!
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  • Profile picture of the author Certitude
    If you put all your eggs in a Google controlled basket of course that's asking for trouble.

    It's always wise to have multiple pillars supporting your business so that if a pillar crumbles your entire business doesn't also crumble.

    But if something is working and making your money why not pursue it? Just remember that Google is a wonderful servant but a terrible master.
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    “We Dream And We Build. We Never Give Up, We Never Quit.” ~ Jeremy Renner as Carmine Polito in American Hustle
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  • Profile picture of the author ThatAblaze
    Some products need to be sold online. I happen to have a product that makes many people want to look, but a very small % of them end up buying. For that kind of market SERPS are the main game in town. PPC can never pay off. Google has be looked at like the weather or another natural force: It does new stuff all the time, and you protect yourself the best you can.

    Plus, selling drugs?? It's not inevitable that you get caught, it's just inevitable that if you don't run in those circles and you hear of someone who sold drugs then it's because they got caught. Kind of like how if you watch that show "Cops" you know the cops are going to catch the guy, because they wouldn't be showing the clip if it didn't end that way. That doesn't mean they catch everyone who runs.
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    Hi,

    Interesting thread. I have learned so much from you guru's here.
    @JK Nyerere when I understand you right, you make more money with your hobby sites
    than with niche sites who are ranked in google? So I think you get your traffic without seo and google only with forum marketing and blog commenting?

    As a noob I have this questions here;

    1.Many said micro niche sites with 10 or 20 pages, (adsense or amazon)-google will kick you out,deindex is that right? (hope not)

    2. Is 50-60% unique content enoughto rank and worth it to make money with adsense and amazon products or not?

    3. JK Nyerere, when I will make money in my niche from forum marketing, how many I must work on this? Daily answer questions in 5-8 forums and blogs or is this not enough to get traffic and make sales????

    best wishes
    marco005
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