Create a content web site in 12 hours — the quick & dirty way
Warning: this article is for newbies! What you need:
1) NVU (WYSIWYG HTML editor)
2) SmartFTP
3) A domain name
4) A web host
Total Estimated cost: $18.00
First, you need a niche. Pick a specific topic — a hobby, industry, or market. The most important thing right now, if this is your first site, pick a topic that you can write about off the top of your head. If you like the topic, even better.
Keyword research must be done before you start writing articles. I used to use Overture’s free Keyword Selector Tool. Now I prefer the pay service, Wordze.
What you want to do is look at the top keywords and make sure you have a specific page for each. Also, try to branch out beyond your main keyword if possible.
Take a list of the top 15 keywords and write 15 articles, roughly 5-6 paragraphs for each. Repeat the keyword or keyphrase several times in the article, but don’t go overboard.
Now open NVU and create an HTML template. I’m not going to turn this into a basic tutorial for making a website, you can find that on thousands of other web sites. Create a table roughly 700 pixels wide, add a 160 pixel column to the right side.
Now paste the articles you wrote into the left, wider, column. Save each file as key-phrase.htm. In the right column link to all the articles you wrote.
Its time to find a domain name. You want your main topic in the name. One tool you can use for ideas is DomainsBot Search Cloud. Personally, I seem to get the best names out of my head now. {keyphrase} + {wierd word} tends to work well, and you’ll get the dot com.
You need a web host. At this stage you are looking for a virtual hosting account. This would typically be priced between $6-$10 a month. The files will be uploaded with your FTP program. Make sure the front page is named index.htm, and any index.html or index.php files are deleted.
You do not need to pay anyone to be indexed by Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. What you need is backlinks pointing to your new site! If you are a good writer and your articles aren’t garbage this won’t be too difficult. Wikipedia is a first shot (if its a big topic your link will probably be deleted), you can try DMOZ (don’t expect much). Directory submissions can push you past the 12 hour mark, but check out Directory Critic for one of the best lists online of free directories.
The newest way to get backlinks is from blogs. You can do a search on Technorati for blog posts on your topics. Write something unique for every post, at least 2 paragraphs. “Great blog!” isn’t going to cut it; I delete those all the time. If it looks like a poster actually bothered to write something insightful and the link doesn’t point to cheap viagra, I usually approve the comment.
This is the quick and dirty way to building a web site. The point is not to have a good website — the point is to have a website. This is precisely how I started in the business. Drive-by content sites tend to not make a whole lot of money. In high value markets you are going to have a tough time competing with the guys spending $10,000 a month on paid text backlinks. With the type of site I just described, $300 a month is reasonable expectation. This is your starting point. You need to get familiar with rapidly building and deploying sites. You need to learn to allocate your time to the elements responsible for bringing in the money.
In the following days or weeks I will write about how to create a good content site. This includes — user submitted content, cheap content, forums, blogs, and e-mail newsletters. I have been drifting away from the content side of the business and I am now comfortable sharing my “secrets.” If you can’t wait, then check out WebsitePublisher.net.
It sounds interesting, but expecting newbies to achieve $300 is a bit optimistic. Well, perhaps you know some secret recipe
Comment by HrvaÅ¡ka — March 11, 2007 @ 2:09 am
I just made a program for newbies to build minisites so they can get started without much html and it’s free 19pages.com
it might be an easier solution than jumping into NVU, although I haven’t read your complete attack plan yet so it’s just a thought.
Comment by 45n5 — March 11, 2007 @ 10:06 am
Good job man, it’s exactly like I started. Except that I started with the old Mozilla. I downloaded NVU after that.
When I coach people, I get them started with wordpress or blogger. It’s strange, but one of my students seems to like Joomla.
Comment by Franck Silvestre — March 11, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
Andrew
Enjoyed the post
Is $300 per month what you would expect to make with this sort of website?
Comment by trek — March 12, 2007 @ 7:30 pm
trek, it can very. I’ve experienced anywhere from $40 a month to over $1000. If you want to make a modest amount of money, you need to be replicating this many times.
Comment by Andrew — March 13, 2007 @ 1:39 am
I love this model. I have 2 or 3 different niches I was developing and this could be the exact thing I may try. I will definately try it with at least one site.
Comment by Latimer Williams — March 13, 2007 @ 9:55 am
[...] So, you’ve already read how to create a content site the quick and dirty way. So, what do you do when you want a web site thats not embarrassing to own? [...]
Pingback by » Create a class A content web site — the hard way Part 1 of 6 - Web Publishing Blog — March 14, 2007 @ 8:14 pm
Just found this post from your more indepth one. I will definitely have to try this method… I figure if I make enough sites like this, I can make enough money to work on my sites full-time… Even at only $40/month, with enough of them, I will be making a nice amount.
Comment by Nenad Ristic — March 15, 2007 @ 12:45 am
Hi! Why does it have to be index.htm instead of index.html?
J
Comment by J — March 15, 2007 @ 5:56 am
do you also delete links to expensive viagra?
Comment by SirOJ — March 15, 2007 @ 9:05 am
An easy way to get your site indexed fast is just to buy some forum signatures or put up a link to the site in the forum signatures. Or you could just get a natural link from a friend for a week or so ..
Great guide.. thanks, Andrew.
Comment by Maki @ Dosh Dosh — March 17, 2007 @ 7:00 pm
Great guide, Andrew. My addition: when writing articles for your sites focus on keyword clusters. Don’t repeat the same keyword for each article but write the CONSUMER-FRIENDLY article based on the main keyword but populated by related keywords. Make sure it is readable and, most importantly, USEFUL to your readers.
Checklist of questions:
1) Does it FLOW?
2) Are the keyword instances “unforced”?
3) Does the reader learn something new?
4) Does the article make the reader want to learn more?
The key to great search engine ‘food’ articles is both FORMAT (tips, block by block formatting, chronologies, reviews, etc) but more importantly, SUBSTANCE.
As for the part on blog commenting, you are spot on. But I’d suggest that another way to get good backlinks is to CHALLENGE the writer of the blog for more info. Establish a debate. Get a conversation going. It doesn’t have to be confrontational or a case of ‘one upmanship’ but an invitation to an honest exchange of ideas with a quote and linkback to your blog in the comment (if allowed). This quote/passage must DIRECTLY address the target blog’s comment and CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING USEFUL to the conversation (in the form of corroboration, contrary evidence, or summation of the ‘existing literature’ or ‘state of the art’).
Comment by Website copywriter — March 19, 2007 @ 3:42 am