Make Money Online The Real Deal
77Make Money Online, SEO and Adsense
The last few days I have been involved in a bit of a controversy. It started off as a poorly done review (mine) of a product - I'll get to that in a minute. What it turned out to be was a master class in SEO and Adsense. I decided to make this hub which consists of snippets from the comments because around 167 comments in, I joke not, it became a complete master class which most beginners should see - and many won't because before that it had got really quite nasty and long and most people would have stared skipping.
Some of you may not be familiar with the jargon: I'll add a list of common abbreviations at the bottom of this post - if I've missed one just ask in the comments.
Make Money Online and Link Bait
The short version:
- I made a review - it included factual errors
- I was slammed by the owner of the product involved - that was actually fair enough
- He brought in the "Rapid Response Team" - to basically shut me up with threats of law suits and cancer (I am not joking). I call them trolls.
- I don't scare easily but I got angry. I really don't like bullies.
- I have some friends - they got mad to.
- The people who came to my aid all helped in their own way - the net result is that if you search for "Site Build It Review" or "Site Build It Scam" - you will find something other than scophantic affiliate sites.
The long version of what happened to to my Site Build It Review post is here.
This hub is not about free speech and the Internet - though it could have been. This hub is about how to really make money on the Internet. If you are struggling and frustrated and thinking that you are missing something, you probably are. But you don't need to spend money to learn from a guru - I know the best on the net - and all this information is available for free.
This is not even about link bait - the original post wasn't link bait because I didn't write it as such - it just turned out to be - getting "lucky" is not the same as planning something so I am not claiming that one either.
BTW I am in awe of anyone who can video-blog as well as Allyn does when Blogger Illustrated Slams SBI! caution - Allyn is using words of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin!
SEO And Adsense
One of the supporters "yourmom" posted:
"If you want to see some SBI sites that make $10K+ month, check out: http://www.vacuumwizard.com For example, vacuumwizard ranks #3 on Google for the term "vacuum cleaners" (#1 and #2 are Dyson's and Eureka's homepages). Could these guys have done it without SBI and saved $200/yr? Maybe. When you're making $100k/$200k per year with affiliate programs with a single domain, do you really care about saving $200/yr on hosting?"
Now I think "yourmom" is not the owner of this site - she quoted a couple of others. I think she has fallen for the usual crap - that people quote unbelievable figures with authority and if they do it eloquently enough - they are believed. I'm not making fun of "yourmom" - she is hardly the first - unfortunately quoting these figures to experts is a really, really bad idea.
Now Vic was in fine, BloggerUnleashed, Make Money Online form, now and responded with (edited a bit to avoid the BAD words!):
"Real internet marketers make money from quality targeted traffic we do not give a <golly gosh> about the high numbers we look at the stats to determine what actual keywords that you can monetize makes it worth it.
Again noob, Twitter has more traffic than most sites online but yet they just can not make money from the traffic because it is unmonetizable traffic. But I guess I am expecting to much from a noob to understand. LMAO!!!
Yourmom please tell me you have an original though and not the typical cookie cutter sales copy you have been fed at SBI? I actually give conferences on this subject so please again tell me you have something real for me LMAO!! BTW: I will probably be giving a conference on organic traffic and the needs and requirements to be able to make that into money in this years Blogging Expo You are welcome to come and learn something LMAO!!!"
Now "yourmom" is not be deterred and quotes these figures: which are what you will get if you do the research yourself: Vacuumwizard.com ranks #2 for "vacuum cleaner" and "vacuum cleaners" Those terms, according to google's keyword tool, get a combined average monthly search of more than 1.3 million, at an average CPC of $2.50 or so. Vacuumwizard is on the first page of google for "dyson vacuum cleaner" which gets 110,000 average monthly searches with a CPC of $2.80.
I'm liking "yourmom" by now cause she is actually thinking and arguing not just regurgitating preformed stuff. She reports that the owner of the site claims to make $15k/month from that site alone she adds " Maybe he's lying...but the numbers are what they are regarding the niche and his site's rankings within the niche"
Now I have the advantage here I know the Grizz and Vic are both subscribed to the comments - quite frankly I am now under the bridge with the troll, just pushing the "approve comment" button and waiting for Armageddon.
Make Money with Grizz
I may get done for duplicate content for this long quote - so be it - its worth repeating verbatim. If you think you could learn how to make money with Adsense from Grizz for free click on that link!
"Your Mom": Vacuum cleaners... lol. An oil filter keyword. A term searched by people who don't know how to define what they are looking for.
Once the serp page opens they realize that what is on the page isn't what they are looking for and type a new query like "how to fix my hoover" and then "who fixes hoover vacuum cleaners in timbuctoo". People don't buy vacuum cleaners online. They don't click ads either. The site you mention is a splog, poorly optimized for Adsense and the CPC you quoted would net a content ad 5 - 10 cents a click.
People type "cars" into Google all the time and then stop and think about what they are really looking for and then narrow down the search.
How do I know Vacuum cleaners is useless keyword? Look at the competing pages. Only 8 million. Lol. I could outrank that site in a month. There is no competition because there is no money in it - if there were IMers would be all over it and the competition would be in the hundreds of millions.
The site you mentioned is ranked number 1 in my DC based on 130 backlinks with so-so anchors. Anybody with a hint of SEO skills could outrank it in short order.
The "make money online" keyword has 244 million competing pages and there is a reason for that. Which keyword do you think is easier to rank for? Vacuum Cleaners or Make Money online.
The MMO keyword also has hundreds of related terms that people search for including "Money" with 3,000,000 searches a month. Vacuum cleaner only has 300,000 useful searches (targeted us visitors) and 4500 (targeted Canadian visitors) per month - the figure you used is worldwide and the advertisers will only be charged pennies for clicks from any other destination outside N. America.
Of the 300,000 searches 75% will never get past the Adsense ads on the serp page - they will click those or re-define their query. The remaining 25% will click through to the top site - see it and back out. Less than 1% will ever click through to ebay (and not buy) just curious and 1% of that 1% may make it below the fold and maybe click a 5 cent adsense ad.
That site would be lucky to make a few hundred bucks a month and I am being generous. You have been spoon fed the notion that all traffic is equal. It isn't and you haven't been taught how to do real research regarding keywords.
The term "how to make" gets 20 million searches a month. Another useless term to rank for - the searcher quickly realizes that they haven't defined the search and narrows it down on the next search.
The worst part of you trying to impress us is that it is obvious to those of us who dominate niches that have competition that SBI doesn't teach any of you about real SEO or monetization principles.
Those sites you use are cookie cutter, poorly optimized and show no understanding of how to funnel traffic to the money click. The content is thin and verge on splogs. You have yet to produce a site that ranks well in a competitive niche and based on what you think is research I don't think you know what a real competitive niche is.
Why is that? Search numbers are estimates that are rarely accurate - I know as I hold the number 1 spot in dozens of competitive niches. You think PR has any relevance? Huh? To what? Let the fact that my PR0 site ranks number 2 for a term that has 244 million other pages competing with me sink in. Do you know who I outrank for that term?
All your high PR gurus like Steve Pavlina and Darren Rowse and John Chow and every other blogger that sells crap to noob readers. The kind of crap that you must have read in order to think that PR matters.
You show no knowledge of "targeted search traffic" or "anchored backlinks" - why is that? You quoted CPC estimates and didn't know that those are just estimates and that they only apply to "sponsored ads" on Google's own serp's. Content ads get 25% or less on your site and then only for targeted converting clicks coming from N.American visitors. (in most cases as the advertisers are targeting those visitors) All other visitors will produce pennies. The CPC you quoted will translate into pennies on the content ads on that site.
Btw - I have several sites in that niche and know the real CPC and CTR for targeted visitors to specific related keywords (I didn't bother with a generic term like Vacuum cleaners lol) and there is no money in it. And you spend $300 a year for a canned splog, learn the basic SEO BS found in garbage ebooks and are trying to tell the rest of us that it is worth it. Maybe you should read my blog and find out how to take a free blogspot blog and make 6-7 k a month with it - or make 30k a month with several of them.
Oh and for free. Stop trying to impress us - you only show your lack of knowledge and give people like Vic and I fodder - and trust me on this - we are going easy on you.
Grizz runs a real world fishing lodge and his own money making niche empire. He also spends considerable time teaching people how to make money with Adsense - apparently people don't get it because he gives the information away for free - go figure - I can't!
Buying Traffic and Keywords
So now you know probably a lot more about buying traffic than you used to.
Analyse A Sites Profit Potential with Adsense
But keep reading because then Vic added a video explanation of CPC Click and Adsense Pricing - the video format isn't supported here but please do yourself a huge favour and listen to this 30 minute video. The title is misleading -the first part of the video will explain to you how to work out what money a site is making - the second part may change your attitude to making money online.
I don't believe in much - but Vic is one person I do believe in pretty much unquestioningly - and its because of videos like this. The guy can't write for shit - he's the first to admit it but as a speaker he's amazing, but more than amazing he actually speaks about stuff he knows.He talks about not only why the above exampled is flawed and the figures almost certainly bullshit- he explains what takes to make real money online.
Grizz is a big friend of mine - but he's never met me and I've never paid him a dime: we are all lined up to buy his e-book - but the bugger can't be bothered writing it!
The simple reason that Grizz (Make Money)and Vic (Make Money - Video mainly) are believable and authorative in terms of make money online, is simple. They don't make money from their "make money online sites" - in fact Vic it costs him - at the amount of traffic he gets hosting is a little more than $5/month.
Next time you are considering a new make money online guru, ebook or video course, consider this: how is this person making money? Is he teaching me how he/she makes money or is he making money from teaching me?
Check out Vic in full flow - SEO can be fun, but bad language!
Site Build It Review
Looking For a Structured Course on Making Money Online
If you want a structured course which will teach how to really make money online check out my hub: How to Make Real Money Online
Free Tools For SEO
- SeoQuake - extension for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers
SeoQuake - extension for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers provides lots of SEO info - for free! - Google AdWords: Keyword Tool
Googles tool to provide search vols and CPC for Adsense
SEO Abbreviations - and I few others
CLR - click through rate - percentage of visitors who will click the ad.
CPC - cost per click - how much Google charges the Adsense advertiser
DS - data centre - Google has different servers around the world so google search results vary a little depending on where you are searcing from.
LMAO - laughing my arse off; like more than LOL
SBI - Site Build It - don't buy it :-)
PR -Page Rank - a figure from 0 to 10 (best) that google assigns to every webpage
SERPS - Search Engine Results PageS
CommentsLoading...
Hmm...you talk sense. Off to do some reading. Thanks! :)
Hey Lissie, may I be so bold as to point out a "factual error" (haha) in your hub? LMAO = "laughing my ass off"! :) Awesome site mate, keep up the great work.
Great hub - how'd you get it up so quick? Man - you're at your computer more than I am.
Tracey ;)
Hi, Lissie. I read your blog posting about all this Site Build It business. I'm still shaking my head that a group of people would attack en masse like that. I think you've shaken, or at least challenged, their cultish beliefs. :)
This Grizz person, on the other hand, sounds like he knows what he's taking about.
very informative hub.........thnx for sharing
Great Hub Thanks for the updates on whats going on. I know I have learned tons from watching this pan out. From seeing how people reacted to watching your site climb the SERPS. I'm even learning a lot about link juice and how that works.
Thanks
Hi Lissie,
You know what they say, the "devil" is in the details! You take the time to give us the details and we thank you. Although, I must say that while you are straightening out your white hat, your grammar suffers. Before you ride off in to the sunset, would you give me a link to your blog?
Thanks
that is just great, Lissie I liked it and I generally like your writing style very much no matter what the subject is, but im a beginner in the money making niche and I find your articles very helpful for me...thnx
btw SERPS stands for search engine result pages, i think you mistyped that
Hi Lissie,
it's good that you are writing about this issue. I also bumped into someone who will teach you how to make tens of thousand dollars online for twenty thousand Hong Kong dollars. They are all over the place now.
Great hub Lissie It's been a fascinating weekend and I've spent far too much time reading comments instead of working on my money sites! I see you're no 1 for 'site build it scam'. A great lesson in the power of backlinks.
Hi Lissie
Excellent hub page summary of the story so far ! And an excellent video by the other Vic - and no swearing ! I was shocked ! I embedded it into my latest blog post - http://www.netmonetization.com/2009/03/seo-video-f - VicW
Hey Lissie,
Good hub there and great use of the content ;-).
Just to let you know your gmail account is going straight to askimet.
Nick
Hi Lissie
LMAO (that's with an English "arse", by the way... so you didn't make a typo its how we spell it outside the US!) An ass is a donkey where I come from so those nasty trolls are a bunch of goddam donkeyholes...
a nice hub! I really appreciate it! =)
The best way to learn is first of all just do it, the second way is to learn from the experience. Some time you come out ahead of the game and some times you come a little short. Moral of the story is you seem like an person with integrity so you know what the other party can do.....!
Thanks for sharing, Gary Rust
Very nice recounting of your adventures, and
fascinating to see it from your view having
lived it.
Hey Lissie
I'm useless ! I put the extra 's' in the URL again ! I don't know whether to LOL or CRY - dump the previous comment if you can GB
I just posted another comment on your article. Hopefully it will cause more comments to come your way.
I just need to figure out how to bait others into the discussion. :P
Excellent follow-up post Lissie, and a nice shout-out to Grizz to boot. You are absolutely right about the response of these folks to your intial post...they have a right to their opinion, but they do not have the right to bring down the hammer and attempt to intimidate you. It's great that the community over at Grizz's was able to put them in their place...what fun :)
Well Lissie, trolls love reaction. It is how they operate. They try to shock you and then they watch your reaction. You really just have to act like a victim when you get right down to it. :P Then you can be the one getting the lulz. ;)
OMG. I thought for a minute I was reading another language. I'm impressed that you are able to speak this language at all let alone hold your own in a troll war. Kudos!
Hi Lissie....love all the typos..;-) Griz taught you well!
I still can't believe all this. I take ONE long weekend off...
I thought you were kidding when you said see you back in a week. Well, I'm back and there is still a lot I haven't gone through yet. And I haven't even looked at your blog - I understand there was major fireworks there. :)
Anyway, thanks again for recommending those guys and I will see you in a week.
For some reason I dropped off your fan club list. Have rejoined.
This episode is a wonderful example of the effect of backlinks for SEO.cheers, Eric G.
bookmarking this Lissie - coming back soon to read and digest...cheers
Hi,
Exhaustive description. Really useful.
Jyoti kothari
All these financial matters are way above my head.
I am bookmarlking this hub too to read further.
At last I can now try bookmarking.
Thanks, Lissie.
A great hub, Cheers
Hello - you and another blogger got me into blogging. I have posted a Hub that mentions how I got into HubPages - but I don't mention you by name... :-)
A great hub about seo. I'm new to hubpages and found it very helpful in many ways. The reality is that I can find advice for just about anything right here in Hubpages... :)
Lol, when I first saw the url of your hub with the word "Religious" in there I nearly skipped it thinking you were a clean-living clean-talking gal ROFL
I loved reading your story - I think I nearly fell for the SBI line a few years back. Heh, am mighty glad I stayed away...
I love it when cults get their commuppance :D
Isha
I love Grizz's explanation. His blog, make money online for beginners, is very informative.
I like the way vic laughs. Where's he and grizz these days? no sign of them. Grizz has stopped updating his blog too.
sad to hear that about vic, hope he's doing well now. And i just figured you're quite right about Grizz. Just read his latest blogpost. :)
Suprisingly enough I've been making quite a nice income by means of working online. I'd tried all the common job opportunities (surveys/customer support) without very much luck. Following lots of research I discovered The Affiliate's Bible and put the method to the test. Now i'm now able to work full time in a home office :).




























Jerry G2 3 years ago
I noticed on Friday the flares started firing as I saw Vic and Griz both responding. Nice little hornet's nest you stirred up there...and I'm glad to see the good guys coming out to your side :) Hopefully all of this will lead to some excellent backlinks for your trouble :D Keep at it, Lis, and tell it like it is!