How to Prioritize Your Time with So Many Sites
If you come here regularly, you know I have taken a bit of time off since the beginning of the year. In January, we took all of our kids to Florida for vacation, then Kim and I took a cruise with her sister for 7 days in late January into Feb. Vacations are always great to help you wind down… but in the world of managing multiple websites, you tend to get into a routine. Vacations kill that routine and getting back into the flow of work is a bitch of a process! We got back on Feb 8th and it has taken me more than a full week, just to wrap my head around what I have to get done!
Several months ago, I started using an add-on for FireFox that helped me reduce the “routine process” to only 7 days, versus a full month!I thought I would share how I try to stay organized on a daily basis!
How I Prioritize My Time between Multiple Websites!
There should NEVER be a week that goes by that you do not know what your best performing sites are… Period! I look at site metrics only once a week and base my update schedule on those sites. The better a site is doing, the more attention it gets. Just makes sense right? In my own world, I look at more than just earnings on a site, because if a site has great traffic but does not convert to sales, I am doing something wrong and need to revisit the site more often!
For basic information blogs, BANS or phpBay Sites, I use one simple metric to gauge how much time I should be spending on it… daily pageviews. If a site has more than 500 daily pageviews, it deserves more of my attention than other sites. If its less than 500, I spend less time on it… but STILL spend some!
My +500 daily Pageview sites breakdown as follows:
- 9 Stand alone BANS Sites
- 6 WordPress / BANS / phpBay Sites
- 4 WordPress ONLY Blogs
- 3 e-Commerce websites
- 1 Higher Volume link directory
Less than 500 daily views:
- 2 Joint Venture Projects in the Building Stages (Less than 90 days old)
- 14 Stand alone BANS
- 3 WordPress / BANS / phpbay Sites
- 64 Stand alone Flip Sites in one phase or another of development, all live.
- 388 Other Domains in one state or another of flux. These do nothing, are for sale, or are in the queue for development!
When you have more than just 5 active projects running at any given time, updating the content can be a HUGE challenge!
Automate as Much as You Can!
One of the challenges we face is figuring out what content to write. On sites that are busy enough, you will find that your “search” box is used quite often! For phpBay users, you MUST use the Search2Post plugin! When a user searches for something on your site, a new phpbay generated post is automatically created, showing relevant results! I have done a bit of custom coding on my own sites to make sure the pages generated are NOT indexed in search engines until I have reviewed and optimized those pages! This keeps you on good graces with search engines by not showing pages of empty or duplicate content! All pages are dumped into a specific, non-indexed wordpress category, then I edit them and put them where they belong!
Of the 23 higher volume sites listed above, I want to touch each one of them at least once each week, some of them, once every day. The way I make sure I don’t miss one, is by using a free FireFox addon called: Morning Coffee. Morning Coffee works like a scheduler of sorts and allows me to tell it what tasks I need to do on a daily basis. In the editing screen, I simply place the URL’s of the sites I need to visit on a specific day, and when I click the Morning Coffee button in my browser, it automatically opens all those pages for me to work on them. For example, I put the 5 highest volume sites into the “Daily” class. Now I am assured that those sites will be in front of me on a daily basis, for some form of update or another. Other sites, may only end up in the queue 1 or 2 days a week for updates.
Just adding this feature to FireFox forces me to update the most important tasks!
Eliminate the Distractions in your Day!
I am very easily distracted! ADD… whatever you call it, who knows. BUT… if I don’t shut down the things that distract me, I will spend all day doing those instead! Some of the most common distractions:
- eMail – Shut it off! gMail now has a feature that automatically shuts down your email for the designated time you tell it to. If you like reading and responding to emails, it is a huge time killer that you must manage! :-)
- Television – Shut it off during work hours, or put on a music (not music videos) ONLY station! When my TV is on, I will watch CNN all day if I’m not careful!
- Metrics – One of the most common ways to ruin your day is by looking at your site stats and metrics EVERY day! In your Morning Coffee setup, pick one day to review ALL stats and stick to it! The only exception to this is when you get a post that goes viral and you get a bandwidth report!! Time to jump in there and fix it immediately!
- Clean your Desk – Starting every day with a clean desk is a great feeling!! At the end of every day, you should have your notepad onto a new page and ready for tomorrow! It helps to write down some of your tomorrow plans as well!
- Take a Break – Not sure if you noticed or not, but spring is coming quickly! Stop EVERYTHING in the middle of your day and take a 30 minute walk. It will do wonders to help you clear your head of anything that may be on your mind! BTW – Its great exercise!
Schedule The Time for Everything Else!
Earlier on this page, I listed more than 300 sites that have less than 500 daily page views! That number may only 5 views on some of those sites… but they still need love if they ever hope to make it to the top list! It’s too easy to just jump from site to site and work on random things at any given moment of the day. Scheduling time for these sites is very important as well as having a place to keep all of them ready to be viewed!
Some of the sites in the +500 range see high traffic, but convert like crap! This is another one of the things you want to spend extra time to review! Where are your offers on the pages? Can the visitors see exactly where you want them to go, or do they need to hunt for it? Etc…
Brainstorming ideas for new sites is also something that can be a huge distraction! If you have ideas, write them down and keep them handy, don’t just jump off and start working on them in the middle of something else! I myself, am too quick to get an idea and just drop everything else to pursue the thought! I now limit myself to registering the domain only… which can still have bad results! (Did you see the 388 in flux?)
The Bottom line in Organizing your Days
- Identify and Focus on Higher Traffic Sites First!
- Automate as Much as you Can – It makes Updating content easier!
- Create an “Update Routine” either manually or with the Morning Coffee Add-On!
- Eliminate the Distractions that are Time Killers!
- Schedule EVERYTHING into your Day to MAKE SURE it gets Done!
What other methods do you use to make sure you do everything, every day?
Previously Published Articles You May Like to Read:
- One of the Best Looking BANS Sites I have ever Seen!
- Spring Cleaning of your WordPress Sites
- Change at ePN Leaves Your Sites Useless – Again!
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I have been doing my part to "Build the Internet" since 1994, when I built my first website! Since then, I have built hundreds of niche websites for myself and many others, focused on design, applications, ecommerce, search optimization and internet marketing.
Thanks Mark for these tips. The Morning Coffee addon sounds like something I could use. I sometimes find it difficult to focus and how to divide my time between so many sites to get the best results. I will try to prioritize as suggested.
Mark,
This is what’s killing me right now!!!
I know I should be working on the high traffic sites but I think I’m never going to get any more of them if I don’t spend time on brand new stuff.
I’ll get the FF add-on and try to schedule time each day for the highest traffic and highest converting sites.
The rest will have to be thrown in there somewhere. I think my biggest problem is how much time to spend when I spend time on the new projects. I try to limit my time but it often gets away from me.
If I’m doing anything right, it’s writing down 3 things I need to accomplish each day(trying to make sure they’re important things too)and busting my butt to get them done. Anything left over starts tomorrow’s list.
Jeff
Yo Mark! Great info bud… I just have gotten the PHPbay a couple of weeks ago and LOVE it. Need to play with it some more and learn the ropes!
Definitely will check out the Search2Post plugin!
Thanks!!!!!
WOW I thought I had alot to keep up with…..
Mark,
As always the info provided here is useful, beneficial, and TIMELY. With regards to the mods made to the search2post plugin, is there anything you can share codewise to help others replicate this so as not to incur the wrath of the Big G, or have crappy looking sites (which is worse).
Also do you have a list set up in Morning Coffee that assigns time to tasks to be completed or only the sites that need attention?
@ All -
The Morning Coffee addon is a quick and easy helper for sure!!
@ Used Putters
I will post the nofollow code tomorrow afternoon for the search2post addon.
I don’t apply time or limits for getting the work done through the Morning Coffee interface… On some sites, the updates only take 10-15 minutes, on others.. 2-3 hours. I just try to get the easiest ones out of the way first and leave time for the others.
Most brainstorming or idea chasing is done late in the day! LOL
Dear God
I have one blog and it’s hard enough for me to keep up with it. I can’t imagine your work load. Are your internet businesses your full time job?
My worst habit is not keeping notes! Gah. I dont even have a pen on my desk right now.
Nice post Mark, I need to get on the ball here.
Great information Mark,
I am still struggling to get one site active, up and running – how you cope with all those sites at once is amazing – and still have time to make posts on this site as well. Truly amazing!
You clearly know how to orgainse your time. A great example to follow.
Thanks Mark! Focusing is by far my biggest challenge. This plugin will help nicely!
@ T Edwards – Yes, this is a FT gig for both myself and my wife. So while there is alot to keep up with, she helps some as well.
We noticed a bit of a drop in earnings over the past few weeks due to our extended vacations, but things are picking right back where we left off.
Its actually not as hard as you may think to keep up with it all. The key for me, which took quite a long time to get into the habit of, was staying focused on the matter at hand.
IF I login to update content, I MUST close all other windows and update that content while I am there, otherwise… I tend to stray off task!
ONLY after I complete what I started do I venture out and explore other ideas or sites.
Thanks Mark for the advice. But, how do you prevent ( the code)search engines indexing the pages generated by Search2Post plugin?
Thanks ,
Raj
@ Raj –
I will have a post on that today! It does involve getting into the code a bit, but it is a very quick and easy process of editing!
Mark
That Morning Coffee Add-On is an excellent, superior, first-class, blue-ribbon plug-in!!!!!! Oh, and did I mention it a GREAT plug-in. If you have challenges like I do with focusing, you need this plug-in!
We haven’t taken a vacation since just before my heart attack in 2004. It’s about time we take one. I am really getting sick of the cold weather here, so please fix up that spare bedroom I will be over shortly. :)
We just got the streets plowed from yesterdays 25 cm of fresh snow. What a mess, but at the same time it looks so clean and fresh that’s it’s breath taking. But I still need a vacation.
Management of my ever increasing number of web sites is my biggest concern right now. I get a little overwhelmed every day when I sit down to start working.
Maybe I am going about it the wrong way here. I tend to look at my stats and the ones that aren’t getting enough attention are the sites I seem to put more work into.
Ha, I have such a hard time having a site that doesn’t do well. I should perhaps put them on hold for the future, which would give me back some of the time I spend on them.
Have you been looking into my office, specifically at my desk. It’s always a mess and cluttered. I know it plays on my mind but I just don’t seem to be able to control this for long periods of time. I do work at keeping my desk cleaned up.
Sometimes I just stop everything and I do clean up everything on my desk. I also tend to write notes down on paper and keep a pile of notes around that make for a messy looking work space.
I downloaded the morningcoffee addon, hope that will help me focus earlier in the morning.
I would say the biggest distraction I have had in the past few months is my son who was out of work and moved back in with us. He was depressed about it and tried his best to drag us down with him. But we love him and he is back working again. It’s so much easier to work when he is not in the house.
I have gotten more done in the last week since he has been back to work than I got done in the last three months.
I tend to take care of emails first thing in the morning, about 5am, but maybe I should be working more on my sites while my mind is still fresh and clear, leaving the email to later when I am not as alert.
I am sure I will eventually get on track. I start to get organized but after a week or so I am back to the same ole same ole. :)
Just what the doctor ordered! I too am guilty of lack of focus. Just downloaded morning coffee and look forward to finding focus. Thanks for the tip!
@ James – Good to see you posting again! Sounds like it has been quite an interesting few months!! With 7 kids, I can relate to the entire house changing when an extra body is around… but it sounds like everything is back on the right track!!
@ Rhonda –
Thanks for stopping in and commenting! The morning coffee is a life-saver for me for sure, and it helps me get a check on myself every day!!
Mark
Even though I don’t drink coffee – that plug in sounds pretty sweet! I use a great little app called Total Organizer. It’s free, and works great for scheduling tasks, projects, reminders etc… Very small with 0 drainage while running in the background.
I absolutely have to have a clean desk area – this is also because my office is duel functional. It’s primary function is as an editing/production station for my music projects (there’s a small mixing board, monitors (speakers) and a few pre amps.. and I’ve managed to work my laptop into the desk area without it causing too much clutter – so it’s vital that my area remains organized!
[...] How to Prioritize Your Time with So Many Sites [...]
[...] of you will recall that several weeks ago I mentioned a cool little plugin for Firefox called Morning Coffee, and how it was AWESOME for helping me stay focused every day! [...]
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