June 19, 2008
Over the past few days, I have been working on refining one of my existing BANS sites into more of a complete content and niche store solution. The first thing you will all notice is that it’s really NOT that much different than what we have already been doing!
In my post from Monday, I asked if we were Having fun with Build a niche Store and by the look of the replies, there is really quite a mix of opinion. All of the comments were very good to read but there were a few that I wanted to comment on in this post, just to answer more thoroughly.
Robert made a very good point with this statement:
For me this is a business and not about topics for which I may have some passion. My passion is to develop websites, BANS or whatever, that generate revenue for my bottom line. I strive to go where the money is. In order to do that, I soak sites with content that will pass for unique. If that’s what it takes to run my business profitably, that’s what I’ll do. If I have to sound passionate, that’s what I’ll do.
Truthfully, I completely understand exactly where Robert is coming from! I actually have the same goal… turn my passion for website building into more that just point and click stops for visitors browsing the Internet, I want to earn a very good living and prosper long term from each one of them!
Change Sucks….
The recent change of my own direction is really not all that far from where we have been in the past year, I am simply modifying the route of success, in order to accommodate some changes in the how the search engines view my sites. Change is something we will always have to get used to in affiliate marketing… my goal with this new type of site, or Niche Store of Tomorrow as I have used in this title, is to minimize the effect of change in the future!
I Have a Fault of Being Honest
Maybe it was because I was hit so hard by the google deindexing… or maybe its a different reason, who knows. Since I wrote the post about the Duplicate content issue with BANS, finding a solution has been at the top of my priority list. The deindexing just so happened to come along during the process…
I read new posts every day, where people are talking about the power of Build a Niche Store. Don’t get me wrong, BANS is still alive and very well, but it’s going to take a bit of extra work if you plan on having any long term success with it! Whether you choose make content pages on your sites, or turn BANS into one part of a total website solution is up to you.
I have been in 2 separate discussions with representatives from Google since last week in regard to my affected sites. Even though the answer is part of the canned response in the guidelines for webmasters, I was told to pay specific attention to the following:
Take from that statement what you wish, but it tells me I need to do something “more” than just showing listings in a tightly categorized format.
Do we have to Re-Learn Everything All Aver Again?
Another common theme I noticed in the comments were that many of you have concerns about learning a whole new method of building sites and the curve-ball of learning all kinds of new technology.
The BEST part of all of this is that you already have the skills, software, hosting… just about Everything! Of course, you will learn 1-2 new things about using platforms like wordpress, but I assure you… it is not hard!
My New Content Generation and Article Spinner
Possibly the biggest change on the new site I am building has to do with a new type of content generator I am using. My fingers! As the site progresses, I will post every time I make a change… not just here, but on that site as well. Giving the visitors (and search engines) much more content to consume that cannot be found elsewhere on the web.
Just like the way I built all of my original niche stores, keyword research and demand will still be quite important in my decisions on content, but I will instantly open the door to much more traffic, with a need in my own markets.
Instead of revisiting only once a month for updates, I will revisit this site almost every day! Overall, I will need to spend about 2-4 hours each week looking through logs for what visitors may be in need of, typing posts based on those needs etc. The key difference with this however is that almost 100% of the content is unique and relevant to the BANS store on the site. This offers the visitors very good reason to not only visit, but come back often.
I know several will say… its just a blog, we can blog about anything! Let me tell you, I have the fine-designer-shoe site… it does pretty well actually and I don’t know jack about shoes! BUT, when I go to the site to add some content, it tends to take a bit of time since I know nothing about designer shoes. From research, to finding images, to posting some unique content… it may be 2-3 hours work!
If I knew about the subject, writing comes very easy and is quickly completed without searching for knowledge.
Progress on the New Site
Keeping in line with a very simple process, I have changed one of my stores into more of a portal. A resource for DIY homeowners who need heating and air conditioning equipment for their homes. http://www.webHVAC.com/ (good, 3 year old domain name) contains the following:
The site takes advantage of several wordpress plugins I will explain in detail in a future post when the site is 100% completed, but every one of them were free! I have tried using the phpBay plugin but was not happy with my first series of results. I will likely use it again, just not right away. Again, my goal is to convert a few of my existing sites without any further out of pocket expense.
I still have quite a bit of work on the site… but the changes I will be making from here forward are just styling and ad space changes to maximize my visitor experience and revenue possibilities. I just wanted to get this in front of you so you could get a glimpse…
Mark
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25 Responses to “Progressing on the New Site - Niche Store of Tomorrow”
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Wow Mark, I think you are really onto something here.
From looking at this, it looks as if it has *perfect* WP/BANS integration!
I am very anxious to hear about how you accomplished this in the future posts.
Excellent work!
Mark,
Let me tell you something man, I came into your wonderful community fairly late (once your niche store series already started) but I managed to get going and get a few sites up, one of them which is doing very well. Since then (April approximately) I’ve been eagerly returning almost daily to see what else I can learn from you.
I’m really digging the direction your taking, and it is completely relevant to the market we’re treading in. The world of “working at home” is constantly changing due to multiple players controlling the way we “should” do things. What so many of these Guru’s don’t tell you on their squeeze pages is that in 6 months there is a good chance their “system” will be irrelevant due to changes in the industry. When your cash-cow scraper sites get shafted by Google, who do you turn to then? Mr Guru?
No we will turn to Mr. Hansen.
Robert hit it right on the button for sure. But to elaborate, I believe the ultimate goal should be to have a diverse portfolio of content rich sites, with 1 or 2 sites that are your “babies”, sites that you are passionate about and take personal interest in not because they are initially profitable, but because you crave the topic.
It’s all about balance.
Really nice looking site, Mark. You are providing some good inspiration.
I would love it if you could explain at some point how to modify the templates to make the blog look like the BANS site or vice-versa.
So google won’t mind the store which still has the same duplicated ebay listings with no original content as long as there is enough other original content throughout the rest of the site? If so, that’s great!
I like how you’ve come up with a solution so quickly and are willing to share the details. I like this format you are presenting for a “BANS” website so much better. It makes the site look much more legit, especially when you are submitting for directory listings, or leaving links in forums, blogs, etc back to your site. The content will please everyone.
Thanks Mark
Love the site layout. Goes to show you that simple is better. Looks very user friendly. The site layout and design, IMO, should merely be a tastefully done container for the message. In no way should it be a distraction from the content and navigation. You’re accomplishing that very nicely.
I too wish I had the skills necessary to integrate BANS in other templates. As you mentioned, there are any number of good WP templates free for the asking.
Privacy: Ya gotta have a privacy page! Do it now!
I like it. I wish I had built my blog as my top level on my best site
Mark,
This is awesome! I love the way you’ve integrated BANS and WP so that its hard to tell what’s what. Is all of your content, contact, about us etc in the WP module, with only the ebay listings in BANS? Beautiful job!
I love the direction this is going!
Thanks Mark for being so generous with your experiences, your time, and your expertise. You’re A1 in my book!
Alice
Thanks all…
In regard to the BANS info being the same as now, just in its own directory. My goal is to pull the blog rss feeds, kinda like a “Related Posts”… onto each product category of the store. I am already halfway there, just need to get more posts in the blog. :-)
Going in the direction of BANS on the root of domain and the blog and other pages in their own directory is actually easier for me by adapting your BANS template to a blog template. I will have a few examples of that as well. (fine-designer-shoes. com was done that way)
@ Robert - Heading for a priv-policy right now! Thank you.
Mark
Mark
Well Mark,
I have two websites of my passion - http://www.thirdeyehealth.com and http://www.lifesip.com. The first has around 300 content rich pages (adding new blog posts every week) and 800 unique visitors per day. The second has around 500 content rich pages (adding new blog posts every day) and 300 unique visitors per day.
Now 5 of my BANS site match the part contents of the first site (in fact I had made these BANS store with that only in mind) and another 5 match the part contents of the second.
What if I integrate these 10 of my BANS stores with my own content rich sites instead of going for a Wordpress plug in?
Mark,
In the light of what you are doing, another idea struck my mind. I have 2 content-rich websites with good traffic on them, matching the niches of 10 of my BANS sites as their sub-topics, out of the 30 that I have.
What if I link my 10 BANS sites contextually with my own sites instead of a new wordpress blog for each?
Mark,
The new site’s looking great - not surprised about that!
I’m moving myself into a position to be able to follow any advice you give over the coming weeks; new domain ready to go, wordpress installed. Will be ‘playing’ with it so I get a better idea of how it all hangs together.
The only part of all of this that does give me some concern is integrating BANS with WP. I’m hoping that you’ll be able to continue your ways and offer help on this.
I’m with the balance approach too. Several sites, some that are my passion, others just there to (try to) make revenue from. I’ve only been BANSing for a month or so but can see the potential of both it and the direction you’re taking. I want to be riding the wave and not swamped by it!
Thanks again for all the free tips and know-how you publish, without it I’d be nowhere.
G.
Well, I think that it is unanimous Mark. We all are dieing to know how to put the WP theme on the bans site. I love this idea.
Worpress installed, couple of plugins added - Google XML Sitemaps and All in One SEO Pack seemed like good places to start - SIte builder champing at the bit :-)
Hi Mark
Very interesting, love the new site. However, just thought I’d let you know you’re getting a 404 error on the main HVAC STORE heading on the horizontal bar. It’s fine when you first go to the store but if you then click on any of the right hand nav headings and then try to go to the HVAC STORE you get the 404, eg from this page http://www.webhvac.com/hvac-store/Shop/full-hvac-systems, if you click on the heading you get this http://www.webhvac.com/hvac-store//home/webhvac/public_html/hvac-store
The wp/bans integration part is the hardest for me. Using Hostgator I can set up WP on my BANS site is pretty easy (sort of…) but I can’t figure how how to link the two seamlessly or how to make edits on the WP side to make it look like the BANS piece.
This is technically way more than I can handle, and the support for WP is crap. I wish there was better support for this kind of thing.
I could pay someone to do it, but I don’t want to waste the money if the site isn’t going to work out (it happens).
Hi Mark,
I love the new look of you site and what will be your future sites.
To get your store site started how often will you be posting to the blog?
Was WebHVAC one of the sites Google de-listed?
Randy
I never had adsense on my bans, but all of my .info’s were completely deindexed, not just sandboxed. Gone. All of my .com bans survived and are still ranking and doing fine.
I’ve done bans stores on a couple of wordpress sites, but it’s more of an after-thought and they don’t do much money-wise.
Instead of making a complete WP and bans as a extra, why not add content to the Bans software. You’ve got above items, below the items and you can have complete pages with no items and only content.
What about just adding more content to a bans site, take adsense off and concentrating on ebay or affiliate banners if you want something in the sidebars?????
There are thousands of ecommerce sites that don’t have that much content.
Hey Mark, I like your approach and I’m sure it’s everyones goal when it comes to “Affiliate Marketing”. I’ve tried Wordpress, but their templates are confusing, especially when I’m trying to integrate with BANS - just trying to get the look and feel the same.
Have you tried integrating Blogger into your sites and posting with Blogger. You have one dashboard with all your blogs in one place. I’ve only seen one autoblogger script for Blogger and it wasn’t free. But I have a couple of sites that I use blogger with. Then for some price comparisons or malls, I integrate it with Goldencan.
bodybuilding.americanfitnessstore.com is my best sample.
I have been wanting to use BANS for a couple of sites I have. I’m a big believer in adding BANS to an existing blog but have ZERO experience building templates, etc. so any info you could provide on making BANS look like an existing Wordpress template would be great!
I’ve read the last few posts with great interest going back to the post stating not to use AdSense on your BANS sites.
This is going to be a somewhat lengthy reply so please bear with me. It hopefully will be useful as even though I only have 5 BANS sites, I will share what has worked and what hasn’t.
I have only 1 BANS site built on the BANS platform at the top level. This site has bombed miserably. I have 10 high quality unique article written around low competition keywords and Yahoo currently shows 99 inbound links to the domain. Yet it gets around 5 unique visitors a day and is basically no where to be found in the Google. Yes it has AdSense.
The other 4 are much like Mark is doing except I’m using XSP instead of Wordpress. I have a header created that I use for both platforms so even though I’m a non-techie, I can keep the pages looking the same. On the home page on XSP, my nav menu consists of links to 5 unique articles and a link to (”product keyword” store). I simply create a folder called “store” on the server and put BANS in this. And this is where my “store” navigation link leads. These store pages use a standard BANS template with very little modification and only a small amount of unique content at the top of the listings.
3 of the 4 sites I’ve built this way are doing way better than I ever expected and the other is doing OK;. I have AdSense all over these as well.
My takeaway is that even though this is a very limited sample, I have much better results with BANS if I don’t use it at the top level. Remember that the store with BANS at the top level actually has twice the unique content of the other stores, but doesn’t do nearly as well.
As far as AdSense goes, I don’t think it’s the problem, but it may be the trigger that causes a review sooner.
One other thing… I do pretty extensive research but try to focus on keywords that indicate the visitor is in a buying mood. Once I pick my keywords for the articles, I run them through this free tool:
http://adlab.msn.com/Online-Commercial-Intention/oci.aspx
to help determine if it is indeed a commercial keyword.
I’m definitely going to try using Wordpress at the top level next like Mark has done here to see how this goes.
Ned
I agree, you need to be unique and build a site that stands out.
It takes work, but it will be worth it.
I agree adding a blog may make the store unique, but you may take a different approach. I’m looking forward to your progress.
Lest anyone has doubts about WordPress as a platform of choice, I went live with a WP site yesterday using phpBayPro, around 1:00 P.M., PDT. Within two hours, Google crawled the site. As of 6:00 A.M. today, the site has been fully indexed in google, and is drawing orgainic traffic.
I don’t think anyone is doubting WordPress’ ability to get indexed, my issue is that if you put a huge blog in front of your store, or it takes a click or two before someone gets to any products, then people may not see the product they want right away, then go on the next site looking for their stuff.
I think Bans is a good platform for what it’s supposed to be, but people just put up a store with ebay, adsense and affiliate ads and no content and expect to get organic traffic.
You can make content pages within Bans or only have a few products and more content on each page.
Like the HVAC example, it’s got plenty of content and long tail possiblity, people looking to learn about HVAC systems will find the site and may or may not buy something.
People looking for Cheap HVAC systems are looking to buy, not; to read information. You’ve got to put products in front of them as soon as possible. IMO
Bans works if you do it right.
Will, I don’t think you should assume that everyone is doing WP blogs the way you describe. I’m certainly not. I display products on the home page. There should be no mistake on the part of the visitor that they are in the right place to shop for what they’re seeking, since I visually display product categories above the fold.
I personally would not take the approach shown in the HVAC example for the very reason that it’s appeal is to the information seeker, and not to the shopper, IMO.