Premise 1 (as understood by me from reading this post): Finding the right keywords so that your money site gets found + inbound links for more targeted traffic and higher search engine rank is the key to getting high volume and targeted traffic to your site

Exactly…if your goal is to use organic search to get traffic. Sometimes, you can find targeted traffic by just using your noggin’ and figuring where your market congregates. However, if you go this route, you can’t depend on them clicking adsense ads..because most likely they won’t.

Tactic # 1 – Keyword research – So what I know about keyword research as a newbie is that you go to google keyword tool find out the volume of various search terms and try and use those terms in your content. Now that is like saying an atom is made up of electrons, and protons – it’s technically correct bit there is obviously SO much more to it.

So what am I missing – a keyword program like keyword academy or something like that?

Keyword research tools are overrated and tend to oversimplify things. Knowing your market first will help you hone in on their online conversations. I can’t state that enough. I do use keyword research tools but I tend to use them to hone in on general keywords. Google gives you all the clues you need to figure out what your market is searching for (go to google.com and start typing in what you are searching for…you will see google give you a number of options that it thinks you are looking for….now go to a search query and scroll down to the bottom…..you will see “related searches”….now look at the ads around it….these are from real people who are spending real money and trying to target the same people you are hoping to reach….)

All that said, I use micro niche finder sometimes.

actic # 2 – Link building/competition research

A) So, you state that you need to find out who is linking to your competition.

How? What tool or mechanical Google backlink search capability do you use to do this?

B) Okay, assuming you’ve found a bunch of sites linking to your competition – is your goal to then go to those sites and try to get a link to your site too?

Partly right. You do competitive research to see what kind of work went into getting to where they are at. If you can get the same links that they are getting, good. If you can’t, you will need to find other creative ways to grab links. I usually try to find links in weird places using the premise that if anyone can get them, they aren’t worth a lot. Most niches have golden links that for whatever reason, will help to boost authority. A lot of times it has to do with where they are getting links. Going about getting these links is another story altogether. Sometimes, you can ask for them. Other times, you buy them. It really just depends.

Assuming that’s correct, you say you break it down into 2 categories:
i) Immediately doable – does this mean it’s like a simple directory site or something where all you have to do is list your URL (alongside your competitor’s?).

ii) Needs work – is that something akin to blogengage or Facebook or something where you have to actually write content and build a presence in order to get folks to link back to your money site?

Yes, a directory link, in most cases is immediately doable. So is an article for an article directory. They aren’t worth that much but whatever.

Links that need to be worked on typically means either networking with other webmasters or writing link bait, vying for guest posts, ect. These aren’t as easy to get as you would think.

Do you have to keep revisiting those sites to keep dropping links. No body likes a link spammer so I do’t think I understanding this step correctly…

No. The links you get from these types of site are typically negotiated or they think you are crazy cool. The spam type links should be far removed from your site until you gain authority from Google.

Now in each scenario of the link building strategy, you mention that you link deep within your money site – what is the significance of that. Doesn;t that also mean you have to write a ton of keyword optimized content before you eben know where you’re going to promote it?

Deep linking simply refers to linking to pages other than your “home” page. Natural link acquisition usually happens from within pages. People rarely mention websites naturally…they mention articles and pages. You link juice should filter upward naturally to your main page.

Premise # 3 – Okay – how in the hell does anyone expect a Mom from Topeka who “doesn’t even have a wensite” to make “a fortune online”. Well – obviously noone does – but how are newbies like me and many of the commenters here supposed to compete with folks like you who alrady know what they are doing and have this welloiled machine already in place?

You simply learn. I didn’t get here yesterday. What I know (or think I know, lol) was accumulated over many years. You learn a little, take a couple steps forward…fall on your face…get up and think “I don’t want to do that again“….wipe yourself off and take a couple more steps forward. After awhile, you find something that works for you and you simply create a system.

I know that people like Griz make things look so easy that anyone can do it. And for him, it is. But I will use the example of when I used to play and teach guitar. I would play something for someone who couldn’t even make an E chord. They would watch and tell me things like “I will be where you are at in one year.” Most never made it. They didn’t take into account that I had been playing for 15 years. They thought that just because I made it look effortless, that they should be able to too. The ones that stuck at it, made it there, but it wasn’t within a year.

Do you understand the point I am making here? Stick with it, take your lumps….learn from your lumps and if you are smart, you will begin to figure it out. It takes a bit of time but nothing that comes easy is worth it. And if the dip associated with making money online was not that steep, more people would be making money online, but the payoff wouldn’t be near as big.

I’m a newbie to your site and a newbie to blogging. Arrived here via Allyan Hayne->Griz->here I am!

It looks like you have a good art/science worked out for this so if you have the time, I think a lot of new folks might benefit if you would be kind enough to break down the money making strategy to see if I have the basics correct?

Premise 1 (as understood by me from reading this post): Finding the right keywords so that your money site gets found + inbound links for more targeted traffic and higher search engine rank is the key to getting high volume and targeted traffic to your site –

Right?

Unstated premise 2 – you make your money by writing good content on your niche topic (like Kabucha tea, for example) and then selling advertising/affiliate links etc. Assuming you are drawing in a lot of traffic based on premise #1.

Correct?

Tactic # 1 – Keyword research – So what I know about keyword research as a newbie is that you go to google keyword tool find out the volume of various search terms and try and use those terms in your content. Now that is like saying an atom is made up of electrons, and protons – it’s technically correct bit there is obviously SO much more to it.

So what am I missing – a keyword program like keyword academy or something like that?

Tactic # 2 – Link building/competition research

A) So, you state that you need to find out who is linking to your competition.

How? What tool or mechanical Google backlink search capability do you use to do this?

B) Okay, assuming you’ve found a bunch of sites linking to your competition – is your goal to then go to those sites and try to get a link to your site too?

Am I getting that part correct?

Assuming that’s correct, you say you break it down into 2 categories:
i) Immediately doable – does this mean it’s like a simple directory site or something where all you have to do is list your URL (alongside your competitor’s?).

ii) Needs work – is that something akin to blogengage or Facebook or something where you have to actually write content and build a presence in order to get folks to link back to your money site?

Do you have to keep revisiting those sites to keep dropping links. No body likes a link spammer so I do’t think I understanding this step correctly…

Now in each scenario of the link building strategy, you mention that you link deep within your money site – what is the significance of that. Doesn;t that also mean you have to write a ton of keyword optimized content before you eben know where you’re going to promote it?

Premise # 3 – Okay – how in the hell does anyone expect a Mom from Topeka who “doesn’t even have a wensite” to make “a fortune online”. Well – obviously noone does – but how are newbies like me and many of the commenters here supposed to compete with folks like you who alrady know what they are doing and have this welloiled machine already in place? I”m still struggling with trying to fond out if I have Google Analytics set up aright and if my blog permalink structure is hurting or hindering me.

And cononical links – WTF?

In other words – jeesze – theis stuff seems like chasing the horizon sometimes, the closer you get the further away it goes…

Hellllppppppppp….~

Thanks!

- Don

Just keep plugging away. You will get it. Internet marketing is more of a journey than a destination. I find that I am learning still….doubt that will ever change anytime in the future. If there comes a point where I think I know it all (which won’t be the case), I will probably quit and do something else. The challenge is the reason why I enjoy it.

“(working silos if necessary but making sure that the pages I link to are synonymic and relative to one another).”

Say whaaaa?

But it’s a good thing. It means I am learning. This blog is full of posts that I come back to over and over. Some I copy and paste so I can read them offline over and over. Sometimes I wish that some of the more difficult stuff was spelled out for my little newbie mind, but I go away and do stuff for a month or two and then come back and read the same article again and learn more from it. This is way better than 99% percent of the sites out there that I waste valuable minutes skimming, only to find that they are rehashing the same old info.

Thanks for sharing this info, Leo.

All that said, you could strategize a little. For instance, if you could rank #2 and your description was appealing enough (folks do read the descriptions)….say controversial…then you could draw them in.

Personally, I don’t go up against corporate giants. There are too many other terms out there that are far easier to rank for though.

But I come along and want to rank for that same word. It seems that it gets a good volume, and there are even advertisers claiming to have a recipe, and they’re making some good money – who nows, but it’s working and has been for a while, so they may be onto something. So I go for it, but I check the top 10 and see M.D. hitting #1. They have a page on the recipe, nothing special just boasting how cool it is, and the page gets 50 links from fans and a couple “famous” people in the news who have this unstoppable craving and just want the world to know how good this food is. Now I see that page with a few links and I know something is off, I check the overall site and the links are out of this world – around 150k ish with a lot of reputable sources in the Big G’s eyes.

My question is, would it be worth my time going after “McDonald’s recipe” going head to head with a business that advertises wherever the human eye will land on and is a pretty well known company worldwide. Would it be worth it solely as an adsense publisher, or would a guy with another fast food company, say Burger King, be better off in that race.

I’m wondering where the limits are to hitting it with adsense only, and then when to “step it up” to make a serious business online against the big boys.

I know I’m thinking big for a noob, but I can’t help to think big in whatever I’m thinking about. I’m ready and willing and…. I just can’t knock anything out with a niche site. I could build authority sites left and right, hit them up with good content and promote 6 ways until Sunday…so I’ve pretty much given up on the little guys and decided to sit in for the big ride and have 1 -3 authority sites up this year and see how the journey goes.

Any advice? As you already know, my own writing and ideas get thrown around a lot and I should probably let this site for a while and try to clarify, but I’ll be glad to post this now and answer anything later – being lazy is one bad habit that has been with me from birth. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll settle down and knock anything out of the park, but when I get off that track, this train won’t be moving for awhile.