One of the most important things to do when you enter any niche market online is to take the time to carefully plan out your site, and this is exactly what I’ll be discussing in this post.
I’ll be honest and say that I’ve made some blunders with websites before, due to a lack of planning and organization and paid the price of having more than my fair share of sites end up in the website graveyard. Thankully though, I’ve got a lot better at marketing online these days and plan my sites more carefully so this no longer happens.
The kind of sites I’m talking about are SEO sites, the kind I love! When you’re considering building and SEO site, the most important thing to work out is the keywords you’ll be building the site on and how you’ll monetize the site.
If you’re building a larger authority site, which I discussed in a recent post here: Growing Authority Sites then you really should take the time to do your keyword research well. Like I mentioned in that post, I have larger authority sites and smaller sites also, they both make me great money, however with larger sites planning can be more important.
Keyword Planning
With larger sites you can obviously go after more keywords, and therefore have mulitple categories. For example if you decided to enter the baby market, you might have categories on baby safety, baby toys, baby bedding and baby clothes. Within each of these categories you could have multiple articles.
Lets take the baby safety market for example, you might have articles on baby safety monitors, baby safety gates, railings for cots etc…..and interlink between articles in the same category.
One major advantage with this style of site is that you can legally target a brand name in your URL’s by having a page that targets a brand. Another example might help here I think. Lets stick with the baby safety category, and a page about baby safety monitors.
You could have a page that ranked for “Philips Avent DECT” which is a brand of monitor and have that keyword in the domain, as long as it is like this: http://www.yourdomain.com/philips-avent-dect. However you are not allowed to have it before the .com due to trademark laws. (I’m not a lawyer but that’s my take on it)
You can also target more than one keyword on a page, so when you’re planning out your sites pages, consider the primary keyword you intend to target for each page and also why not target another very closely related keyword. To do this, just use this second keyword in your article and meta tags, and then when building backlinks vary up the anchor text with this second keyword until it ranks also.
Using a Blog
Some of you may have ecommerce stores and therefore should consider adding a blog to your domain. By doing this you can write blog posts that target specific keyword related to your store and rank these posts in Google where they will get traffic.
By using a blog on your domain like this, you can drive more and more traffic to your money pages. Just remember link back to your money pages so the traffic you do get to these posts make its way to where they can purchase from your site!
Content
Once you have a good idea of the keywords you intend to rank for, your next move is to get some content written and up on your site, so you can start implementing your SEO plan.
I always put original content on my sites, and these days I get writers to do my articles for me, although I do still do some of my own. Its up to you are what budget you have, but at the end of the day make sure the content is good quality.
Once you are ranking and getting traffic on your chosen keywords, you can just add more pages and target more keywords and carry on making more money!
Monetizing your sites can be done in a number of ways, from Clickbank products, Amazon, Google Adsense and CPA offers, just find what works best and stick with it. I personally do a lot of physical product marketing myself as I find there is so much potential for this.
So remember to plan you websites carefully, and take the time to choose good keywords and target more than one per page if you can. The key then is to have a good SEO plan that you follow and stick with it until you get the result you are looking for.
In closing I have my own course coming out on March the 3rd where I teach my entire affiliate marketing, website building and SEO plan, plus A LOT more, so stay tuned for that…
Matt Carter
Related articles
Good stuff Matt! props! I’ve made the mistake before of not planning a site out before putting it together. It’s not worth rushing past the details 🙂
Matt,
You are a spot on, too many people rush this phase and then spend months trying to get the site to rank.
One tip for your readers, check out your competitors page titles! There are some smart affiliates out there and often they have unearthed a couple of keywords you might not have thought of or found in your research.
That’s the great thing about internet marketing you can reverse engineer everything!
Joe Hughes
Thanks for the tips and advice Matt. As usual, very helpful, clear and effective points to follow. I’m looking forward to your course you are offering on March 3rd. If your past performance is indicative of your future performance then I’m sure it will be well worth it.
Best regards, Derek
Good tips on keyword usage. I have crashed and burned a couple of sites prior to getting it right. I think that must be a prerequisite to getting anywhere…
Thanks for the post.
Matt,
Thank you for all your great content.
Looking forward to your new launch on March 3rd about creating websites and SEO.
Do you have any product that specifically teachs how and where to build backlinks? Didn’t you have a product on backlinking that you were giving away as bonus for your rapid rewriter? Is that available for purchase?
Regards,
Hector
Matt,
Great post as usual. I have one question regarding niche sites. On your site for Caralluma Burn and some other of your niche sites you have a about me page. Can you tell me your thoughts behind it ? Is it to increase trust and make you sell more(easier) or just to fill up some space. I have tried the same on some of my sites but I can not see any difference what so ever in increased sells. Maybe I am doing it all wrong so please share your thoughts about it.
Best regards,
Kristian from Sweden
Matt Carter Reply:
February 19th, 2011 at 8:35 am
Hi Kristian,
It always a good idea to have an about page I think, people do go there sometimes and have a read, so it can’t hurt.
Thanks
Matt
Choosing the right keywords is vital…I think most of us when we begin affiliate marketing don’t spend enough time finding the right keywords that don’t have too much competition…that’s why many fail.
Also, Matt’s right…look for high priced physical products.
Thanks,
Jhoe
Great! Cant wait for your new offer.
Thanks Matt …
Took your advice on the Google Sniper program .. does your
upcoming course differ in substantial ways?
Always look forward to your comments and advice!
Tom
Matt Carter Reply:
February 19th, 2011 at 8:34 am
Hey Tom
Yes my course is a lot different from Google Sniper, it is much more detailed and teaches a different style of affiliate marketing.
Thanks
Matt
Matt,
Sorry i forgot to ask. There was a backlinking product you offered a while back with the purchase of rapid rewriter. Is that product for sale? I would be interested in a product that showed me how to create backlinks. If not do you have any recommendations?
thanks. Great post by the way.
Regards.
Matt Carter Reply:
February 19th, 2011 at 8:33 am
Hi Charles
The backlinking product that comes with Rapid Rewriter is not for sales apart from Rapid Rewriter, but my new course coming out has an even more detailed backlinging plan.
Thanks
Matt
Good as always Matt,
Gotta say…the structure you spoke about hits the nail on the head. I run with the larger style site(s), not monetizing as of yet, still ramping up, but, do follow alot of your advice. I’m in the process of putting together a variety of ebooks I think will be in demand and do amazon and all that stuff. I write alot of articles, blogs,etc. I just wanted to say keep up the good advice work. Thanx, Don
Matt-As always you have provided excellent advice! Looking forward to seeing what you have to offer in your new course!
Cindi
Hi Matt
Thanks for your Great Tips on Planning a Website. With your new course course coming out on March 3rd…is there any point in purchasing Google – Sniper…? as it sounds as though it will cover the same info.
Thanks Again
Ron
Thanks again Matt, I always read your blog. And I learn a lot every time. I also have to thank you for your article spinning software, that save me so much time
Ha! Website graveyard indeed….I have a few sites there myself.
This is very good stuff that I have only really begun to understand and appreciate lately, thanks in large part to your posts, webinars and products Matt.
Many thanks.
Hey Matt,
I follow you very closely and have really been trying to implement all your tips as of late. The authority site idea is one that I came to think was an eventuality for me anyway as I used to have an ecommerce store.
I am also going to be hitting physical products hard in the near future. I can’t wait for your course thats coming out, I will be marking off the days.
Thanks, Chaz
Hey Matt,
Good stuff as usual, I feel like I’ve been a head less chicken over the last couple of years, but starting to listen to your advise I am moving in the right direction, will be nice to see your SEO product.
cheers
Colin
Good article Matt. Any tips on where to find top quality article writers and how to get the most out of them?
Hi Matt,
Great information. I really like your style when it comes to explaining things.
Looking forward to taking your course and learning how you are having success with selling physical products.
Thanks,
Wayne Stanila
Yes, Matt, I totally agree with you. I used to just pick a niche and throw in a few keywords and wish the site could make me a million. That’s just not going to happen!!!
Now I just start to get the idea of “Planning the website” in my head. I don’t rush to build my websites any more.
Your article is a great help to me. As usual, actually all your articles are excellent and very educational. Thanks so much, Matt!
Hope
Hey Matt
This IS the part that we miss on most. Like anything else, the planning always makes the execution easier.
Do you find that going back to sites that you set up improperly and “fixing” them is advantageous or you are better off simply setting up a new one properly?
Thanks!
Mark
Matt Carter Reply:
February 19th, 2011 at 8:30 am
Hi Mark
Well you can go back and fix sites that are set up and planned badly if you think it is worth the time, and to be honest I have done this on one site. The advantage is that you are working with an aged domain which helps, but if the set up is a mess I would move on.
Thanks
Matt
Hi Matt,
Thanks for this post!
I have a quick question on site structure related to this: If you are going after a fairly competitive niche like the baby market, then multiple categories and longer-tail keywords for each category (i.e. the “Philips Avent DECT” product and keyword in the ‘child safety’ category), would you focus your homepage (in WordPress) at the highest level term (baby, babies, whatever) and then have categories and post-pages for the longer-tail keywords? [By the way, I realize in this example you may not want to rank for ‘baby’, but in other cases you may want your site to rank for the most broad keyword relating to your niche…]
If so, how would you accomplish that – would you set your homepage in wordpress to be a ‘page’ (rather than posts) on which you have added content focused in on that highest level term (again, babies, baby, etc)?
Thanks in advance for your response, and again, nice post!
Matt Carter Reply:
February 19th, 2011 at 8:28 am
Hi Yeast Remedy,
I think the baby niche would actually be too broad, so you would be better offer going more specific such as Baby Safety equipment, and then having categories for baby monitor, baby gates etc….as for the home page you can either target a general keyword like baby safety, or you could use your home page to target something like baby monitors if you wanted, but I think the more general keyword is better.
Thanks
Matt
Hi Matt, as always with your posts great advice that can be acted on, Thank you Patrick
Thanks Matt! I have quite a few domains that are aging that I could use this way.
Instead of letting your sites dwell in the website graveyard, why not auction them off? Someone else may be able to make them profitable.
Regards,
Hi Matt, Is it a coincident that you picked the baby market as your example. Good blog as always love reading them look forward to the next one.
Regards
Neil
Actually, most people don’t plan to build their website, and at the end the fall for real. I mean, it’s always about action plan or (business plan), and if you plan it right you’ll get success from it, and the rewards are great.
Thanks for this post, really. I’ll share with my friends.
Regards,
Dev
BTW
Can’t wait for your course coming out on March the 3rd…:)
You are amazing!!! I am 18 and studying at Nottingham University and have been reading about internet marketing for more than 6 months.I have come to the conclusion that SEO was really the way forward for me as I have experience in web design and I am good in IT. I have been researching honest and true information about SEO for quite a long time and have not managed to find anything very good.Then I came across your blog, which made me see you as a role model in terms of internet marketing. I am currently in the middle of watching your 12-video course and have started a blog(7 Feb 2011) using my name just to test out the first strategies you have explained.And guess what, today(18/02/2011), the blog ranks on the first page in Google.
I am now trying to get a bit more time off from university in order to start my first money making website.I will update you to let you know how it goes.After putting a lot of hard work and staying determined,I am sure that it will pay off.Today I got my first proof that it is possible.
Many thanks from the UK,
Eduard M.
Thanks for the reply Matt!
Just to be clear though, would you actually put content focused on the ‘baby safety equipment’ keyword on the HOMEPAGE (i.e. create a page of content for this term, and then set the homepage to this page) such that you have a page of content targeting primarily that term? Or would you just leave your homepage set to your most recent posts and then create a separate category and post-page that targets that broad/niche keyword (‘baby safety equipment’)? Of course, I’m assuming that you actual want to target the TERM ‘baby safety equipment’ here – that it’s not just the name of the niche you’re in…
Hopefully, that makes sense. Again, thanks in advance for your feedback!
Regards,
Carrick
Great post-must say I am a little worried as have domains with product name before the .com so far no drama from the companies producing the product-I also only sell their product on the site-Have you come across any problems in this area your self?
Doing SEO takes a lot of time. It changes mostly for the better. It is not as simple as what other people though it was and it will “ALWAYS” require your most precious time. Blogging is not as easy as it looks and doing keyword research just means the same. Creating a website is not just knowing how to do it, but do it the right way.
Good stuff as usual Matt, I always read your posts with great interest. I would like to get into the groove of planning my future websites, I think it would be very beneficial to do so.
Looking forward to your course in March…
Grant
Thank for the guidelines and advice Matt.
As usual, very helpful, clear and effective points to follow.
After reading your posts and watching your videos , I realised my biggest blunder was choosing my keywords on broad match. (Didnt know there was something called exact match!!) . Anyway learning something new everyday.
Great post Matt – I will be checking out your new course when it’s ready…
Hey Matt,
An even more detailed backlinging plan? WOO HOO! I am really looking forward to this course. I know it is going to be good.
Thank you for your continued support.
Chaz
hey matts.. good steps in plan build a money site.
my primary problem is writing articles, because it will need more and lot of time and was consumed my energy. I only have little budget in writing articles, because other budget are for design, SEO and others…
what solution with this problem?..
Matt Carter Reply:
February 20th, 2011 at 7:58 am
Hi Ary
Well writing article really is something you have to do if you want to build an SEO site, so if you haven’t money to spend to get someone to do them for you and you don’t like writing them yourself then you are stuck. I suggest to keep practicing and get good at doing them yourself and once you have a site making money then pay people over at odesk.com to do them for you.
Thanks
Matt
Thanks Matt. You actually have all useful thoughts about website planning well put together here.
I see from reading all your comments that you appear to have a very loyal following, and slowly I am myself becoming enamored in your blogs and what you teach.
Recently after watching a video about your use of the first Google Sniper product and how it works in the building of some of your sites, I had marketer who sent me an email about a product he was promoting that he had not used nor did he really know what the product was about, which irritated me to no end, to the point that I referred him back to the same video I myself had watched by you, relating to your use of the Google Sniper product, and told him that if he was going to promote a product he should take some lessons from you, meaning if you are going to promote it, buy it, use it, make sure it works, and then he would be an authority on the product, and more apt to make people happy that he is promoting a product he knows everything about. Of course I doubt seriously that it had any affect on him.
Anyway keep up the good work and I will continue to follow and learn from you, along with buying product that I might find extremely valuable to me in my pursuit of financial freedom through the Internet.
Paul
Hi Matt,
I should read your blogs more often :). You always bring up good topics. What you wrote is no news to me but do I apply it…..NO, not all the time or not enough anyway.
Somehow I don’t think I am the only one.
Thanks
Viola
PS. I do have a blog I tried to use to build a nutrition and fitness affiliate business for the over 40 crowd. I stopped posting and got on the local internet marketing. I am making money this way.
If anybody wants to check out my blog I stopped posting to and let me know if it’s worth reviving it, I would really appreciate it. http://www.jellybellyover40.com
Hi Matt,
great content for which I thank you very much.
Michael
@ Viola
I checked out your blog and the first thing I’d suggest is set it up so only one post shows. And use a keyword in the title of each post, in fact make the title a keyword/phrase. People don’t tend to want to read much past the fold but don’t mind clicking a sidebar link to read another post of interest.
Your posts appear to be good and well-written. Channel your writing skills into a good format and see what happens.
Thanks Owen for the great advise! I went ahead and changed the blog so that only one posts shows up and I will be paying more attention to the use of keywords in the title.
Just one question Owen. Are you talking about my http://vhmarketingonline.com blog or the http://www.jellybellyover40.com one?
Thanks
Viola
Thank you for sage advice. Proper on site SEO is crucial. I’ve noticed that if your on site SEO is done perfectly, your site could be found on page #1 on Google, even without a single back link!
Great article. I realized that I don`t pay enough attention to SEO. I am looking forward what you will offer in your course in March 3rd.
Best wishes!
Andrej
Thanks,
Looking to new launch about creating websites and SEO.
Ary,
Go to fiverr.com and you can get articles for $5 each, or sometimes 2 for $5.
Check sellers previous feedback ratings before buying.
Hope this Helps!
Ian
Thanks Matt for these amazing tips you shared with us. I think that Monetizing one’s site using Clickbank products, Amazon, Google Adsense and CPA offers as well is on cue. and the best way to go. Right On…
Lately I have been paying more attention to the major factor (or at least I feel it’s major), Monetizing a site to the fullest, and in this manner, which could bring me better overall results. This is very important if I/we want the best results from our hard work :-).
Now I’ll just have to wait & see what the results will look like – what’s working & what’s not working (using clickbank, amazon, comm. junct., .. then as you mentioned, I stick with what does bring good conversions.
I usually have layout problems, especially when everything needs to be it’s own place, for performances reasons, and visibility.
I truly learned something here, that I thought I already knew, but Matt gave me a wake-up-call. However on one of my blogs I need to do as Viola stated – Go change the settings, as to have one blog show at a time. And the purpose is to concentrate on the keywords used for each page. Am I correct? If not, feel free to correct me.
There is so much content here, plus comments, and that’s a good thing. I read many of them & learned something from everyone in the process.
I also have a thing for physical products for marketing, myself but I find myself putting more effort into digital products.
Physical products mean more more work, ship/handling, etc.
Digital products are easy, with fast access to product order, and all you do is click download. Some laid back shoppers enjoy just clicking the download button for immediate access, to their digital product – while you make the sale – that fast! Can’t get any better than that. 🙂 Easy sale-Immediate access.
Giving the people what they want & me making a sale is what’s up. This way, Everybody is happy.
Thanks again for such an eye opening-informative blog post and all the comment! Much knowledge here.
I enjoyed visiting!
Bettie
Thanks again, Matt. Althoug for many of us it must be already known stuff, it’s always nice to see that it really WORKS for someone.
Leo s.
Hi,
This is a lot of great info for those who don’t know
how to properly plan a website:)
Great Job!!!!!
Thanks,
great content for which I thank you very much.
Hi Matt,
I am getting so excited about your new ‘rapid profit formula’. I am planning to order it in the next day or two.
I have spent the last couple of years writing articles for SEO companies and earning a pittance. I am over 60 and I need a decent income.
I hesitated a long time, afraid I would not be able to learn all these ‘new-fangled’ things. When I saw that you begin right at the beginning, with how to build websites, I got quite hopeful that I would be able to cope. I would love to have successful websites, and I believe I am capable of learning a lot still. I still read, write and study quite successfully…….so here goes! Thank you for this opportunity!
Hey,
Thanks for providing list of useful information that is surely going to help readers. With this, I would like to suggest some of important aspects such as title, url and description of your site also plays an important role while we want site on top searching position. Is in it?
matt, you’ve got to try a firefox add-on called “web startup toolbar”. It’s awesome – it gives you:
1. Google PR
2. Alexa rank
3. Yahoo backlinks
4. Compete.com unique visitors
All in one visible toolbar (plus more, if you select them)… a great tool.
Hi Matt,
I’m a new subscriber to your list and am really enjoying reading your articles and receiving your emails. I have a couple of websites out there in the graveyard and I hope to learn how to make them come alive!
Somebody commented about having only one post showing on your website or WordPress blog – how do you do that? I have a brand new site and I want to do it right from the start!
Hi Matt,
I’ve just recently discovered you but I like the way you present information. Simple and straightforward. So I will likely continue to read your blog and learn as much as I can from you!!
My strong points are article writing and keyword research, but I seem to have obstacles when it comes to making a well designed website. Not being very familiar with you or your materials, do you have a course on just web design? Or as a part of a course you offer?
I look forward to learning all you have to offer!! Thanks!
Building websites around keywords and always keeping SEO in mind is a commonly overlooked factor.
In one particular case I was contacted by a website owner asking me why his website is not ranking well in Google search results for a certain keyword, but his competitors are way on the top.
When I looked at his site I found that the keywords he was targeting were NO WHERE to be found in the body content nor in any title tags.
Clearly this guy had no idea what onsite SEO is. I also find this with many other beautifully designed websites, but they turn out to be a total waste of money when looking at it from a SEO perspective.
Hey matt !
I got 1st page Google ranking in less than 1 month from your techniques but how can i stay on 1st for long time & how i manage those page on regular or weekly basis ?
Thanks you.
thanks for Matt for your pearls of wisdom and advice look forward to your course on March the 3rd I need to learn more , website building and SEO planning and I agree keywords are the foundation which you can continually grow on.
Thanks
Hello,
I have owned and operated an ecommerce store for years, and thought I really new my stuff. I have learned more from your free video course than from several rather expensive courses I have purchased.
Thank you, so much, you’re like a breath of fresh air!
Brenda
Matt if you were planning to launch a website of say 50 pages would you aim to launch it complete or say launch with maybe 20 pages to start the aging domain and then complete the next 50 over a couple of months?
Matt Carter Reply:
August 14th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
I would slowly publish the content over a month or two
Matt