Happy Monday to all. If you recall my first site flip experience 2 weeks ago, I was able to build a blog based around a targeted niche phrase/market, fill it with keyword driven posts and get it indexed on the first page of Google for the primary search phrase. I know some of you are thinking “First page of Google, I can’t do that!” and all I have to say is if I can do it with 3 hours of sleep per night, and collection agencies ringing my phone off the hook during the day time – you can do it too, and here’s how: Value.
What? Who? Yes my friends, we’re going back to sales 101 and the good ol’ concept of “value proposition” and what that means to you and your potential client/buyer. Value is everything when it comes to sales and it’s no different with selling online – whether it’s affiliate marketing or site flipping. When consumers are in the buying mode, and you’re attempting to sell them a service or product that they weren’t specifically looking for you need to be able to answer these four questions:
- Who the hell are you?
- What the hell are you selling?
- How much is it?
- What do I get?
I’m sure you’ve seen different questions displayed in various sales bibles and manifestos but I assure you they are all reaching for the same end result – the sale – and since we’re talking about website flipping, or selling websites for profit, I wanted to focus on ways that you can increase the value of your site within a couple hours and how you can easily build and sell your first website within a weekend. Before you go ahead and read my 5 steps to increasing value, I want you to visit SuiteJ.com and read his post titled 5 Simple Steps To Get Started Website Flipping This Weekend, make some notes and then come back and read the rest of my post.
The reason I’m asking you to do this in order is because SuiteJ provides the foundational steps to complete your first site flip – and I’m not going to be covering those steps, but rather elaborating on the core process to increase the value and help you get indexed faster, and sell your site for more money. So assuming that you have listened to me, instead of flipping me off in your head, here are 5 easy ways to increase the value of your site flip:
- Keywords for categories – After you’ve found your key phrase that your niche site will be focused around, and you’ve purchased your keyword rich domain name, log into Wordtracker (or your keyword tool of choice) and expand on that key phrase compiling a list of 10-20 high search/low competition keywords which are niche related for naming your site categories – This is a process that I’ve practiced on every single one of my Build A Niche Store eBay affiliate sites and it helps greatly with the indexing and how much organic search traffic that I receive early on. Don’t forget to include your primary search term in every post title and at least once or twice in your content (don’t overdo it though) and remember that making a keyword bold or underlining it in your content let’s the search engine spiders know that you are putting emphasis on that phrase – and we want that! Also, use these keywords when submitting your site to social bookmarking services.
- Design a custom logo – When you’ve decided on a WordPress theme for your site flip, and checked the license, take the time to go through the image files and make note of any changes you would like to make. At the very least, I would suggest creating a customized logo and favicon for your site. Yes some themes (like ours) have the generated “blog name” text appear fashionably enough that you can live with it for a while – but when increasing the value of your site flip a customized logo and favicon can go a really long way. For an easy tutorial on designing a quick logo visit SuiteJ.com, and for a brief outline on how to make your own favicon image visit FaviconGenerator.com. If your design skills are intermediate you can also go as far as rearranging and designing custom banners, ebook covers and RSS icons. Click here for the absolute best collection of free premium RSS icons available from ProBlogDesign.com.
- Build a Squidoo Lens – Yes it might sound retarded to some people, but the value of Squidoo Lenses are increasing day by day. On my first website flip I created a keyword packed Squidoo Lens which linked to the site, and the next day I was in the first position for my main key phrase in Google. What does this tell us? Well to put it plainly Google loves Squidoo! And if this is the case we want to have one or many Lenses with links pointing to our site as this will greatly increase the importance in Google’s eyes, and improve the organic ranking. Having a site ranked number one in Google for it’s primary search term is value – and when flipping sites don’t forget that value is worth money! If you know squat about Squidoo you are going to visit my friend Wordvixen at TheNicher.com, subscribe to her blog and get reading her Squidtorials. Don’t forget to tell her Elijah sent you!
- Create social networking accounts – At the very least you want to create a myspace page with your search term in the url like www.myspace.com/searchterm (if available). I’m pretty sure I don’t have to go into great deal explaining why social networking is important but for those of you who are new let me just say that having social networking accounts set up, and focused around a particular site is the equivalent to having several organic traffic funnels dumping hordes of targeted surfers to your desired location. Would’nt that be considered valuable? Heck yes! Set up an email address for your site like domainname@gmail.com and use that domain to set up your social networking profiles and when it comes time to put your site up for sale you will include the myspace account and corresponding email address with the auction or as a bonus if someone chooses the buy now option. P.S. don’t forget to take some time and join a few myspace groups and add some friends within your sites niche.
- Write an article – I find it hard to understand why people don’t grip the importance and effectiveness of writing a good article. Not only will article directories provide one way links to your site, but if the article is good enough other webmasters will start to publish it and it will go viral. Most of the major article directories have a high page ranking, so write an article which contains your keyword in the title and throughout the content and submit that bad boy to 4 or 5 of the top directories. You will mention this in your auction, and could even go as far as including the article content in the zip file which you send the auction winner – just make sure you state what type of writes you are giving them in regards to the authorship of that article.
There you have it kids. I don’t think there is much more to say on increasing value, and I’m sure you get the point I’m trying to make. Going the extra mile on building your sites will not only entice potential buyers, but it will also set the standard for your future auctions and allow you to increase your “Buy Now” and reserve price points because people will know that they are getting their “money’s worth”. Value is a beautiful thing my friends… Don’t take it for granted.
Cheers,
Elijah
Very nice post Elijah and some great tips 🙂
Your posts keep on getting better and better each time.
Thanks Jarret – the strange thing is that the comments have been slowly declining over the last few posts.. hmmm..
Your posts are so good that people are speechless!!
I actually didn’t have a whole lot to add to your post, you pretty much covered everything. I wasn’t even going to leave a comment but I wanted to at least show my appreciation and to let you know that at least one person found it useful. Maybe others feel the same way in that they don’t have a whole lot to say but don’t feel like posting just a short thank you?
Come on readers! Elijah is doing a great job with his posts. Even if you have nothing to add to the post at least tell him if you think he is doing a great job so that he knows to continue writing about this kind of stuff. Don’t be shy now!!
I just think it’s been a slow weekend.. not a lot of new posts on some of my regularly surfed sites..
Great tips on flipping. Yes, getting a logo done is a great “selling price booster”! I’ve subscribed to your blog, you’re doing an awesome job here. 😉
Lucass last blog post..Be a Better Link Builder – Use Forum Signatures
Damn… I completely forgot about Flipping with Elijah on my To-Do list!! I must have lost some of those brain cells in my life that worked on remembering stuff! Between the Coors light, Crown Royal and other things I wont mention… I must be toast!
Lets do this… tomorrow am, I will call you!! What time zone are you in anyway? LOL Eastern here…
Mark
I’m feelin’ the love man, I feel it! 🙂 Thanks for the linky love (there should be another Squidtorial soon).
I don’t suppose you could offer up a few basic design tutorials for those of us who are helpless in that area? (not logo design, but how to replace logos on WP).
WordVixens last blog post..Can A Little Guy Use Contests To Boost Visibility?
@ Lucas – Hey thanks for stopping by man! We look forward to seeing more of you around here.
@ Mark – We’re both EST, so give me a call anytime tomorrow, I’ll be home and looking for a M.Hansen on my caller ID.
@ WordVixen – It’s all love. I’ve just learned the basic code/css manipulation to replace header img’s, hide the auto generated blog title, etc.. it’s a work in progress. A tutorial is a great idea though. I’m learning everything I know from SuiteJ and Jarret Cade!
Freakin great post buddy! I love it, you are killing it right now man, glad I’m on your side lol. Thanks for the info though…it’s really useful and can get folks started in a major way. Between you and J man, yall dudes are going nuts with this and helping tons of folks in the process.
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Thanks bro! You provide some sort of flame under my ass for real. I’m always watching your grind, and take into consideration everything you have going on day to day (which everyone might not know about) and it really keeps me on point – so thank you!
SuiteJ is like the little mentor that could! That guy has helped me so much, and I guess I’ve helped him in other ways, and it’s nice to know that there is a chemistry – it also helps that we’re both Canadian, because we get each others jokes!
Elijahs last blog post..Friday Night Smack Talk – Special Guest
yeah man! You guys are awesome! I love seeing yall get after it, Jay is the man…and yall canadians are crazy! I know too many of you man….it’s wild really.
Normal Joes last blog post..How To Increase Your Business Knowledge For Free Using Leverage
Thanks. I’m not planning on flipping my site but all of these seem applicable for someone who’s just trying to get good traffic to a site they plan on monetizing.
I’ve started a weight loss blog and hired my sisters to write for it. We’re generating a lot of good content but still working on getting people to show up and read it. I think I’m going to try the squido lens idea.
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@ Paunchiness – Welcome! You’ve made a great point. The whole concept of building a site, generating content and traffic and then selling it revolves around the concept of niche marketing and niche websites. Everything I said is the tactics that I’ve always used to generate traffic to niche sites and affiliate offers – and they are very fundamental.
Maybe it’s just me, but I always find that the second I build a keyword focused Squidoo Lens which points to a related niche site, I almost always appear on the first page of Google for that term within days. Try it out!
Danggit I’ve been looking for this information for a while….I had no ideal the icon was called a favicon…..I was calling it lil-thingy-by-the-url….lol Appreciate the info 🙂
Desmond….Also how do I get a picture up by my posts?
Desmond Owenss last blog post..New Milestone….
@ Desmond – I had no idea what it was until a few months ago! If you want to add an image into your WordPress post check out this link add images into wordpress
Hi Elijah,
I came to your site by accident and I’m highly impressed by your blog. It’s nice, neatly written and to-the-point. Good work. As you mentioned in your About page, I also want to quit my job some day and concentrate more on my sites and blog. But I don’t know when that day will come. 🙁
Anyway, keep doing the good work.
And by the way, my Google Reader recommended your site to me, so clearly you are doing lots of things right and your blog is being closely followed by Google. Congrats for that!
TechTrendsBlogs last blog post..Just Another Blog Post About Google Chrome Browser
Yet another awesome tips..Truth is I have both yours and Jay’s article on my Google bookmark I could rely on in the future. As usual, very well written and easily understandable for beginners alike.
By the way, are you suggesting that Google is placing more weight on Squidoo links?
Yan
Yan Shall Blogs last blog post..Blogging Topics: Making the Right Choice
@ TechTrendsBlog – thanks man, even though I do most of the writing, Veronica and I both work very hard at this blog and the rest of our online adventures. I really appreciate the comments towards the writing.. I enjoy doing it!
@ Yan – you have your own folder in my bookmarks! I really do believe that Google does put some good weight on quality links within a quality Squidoo lens… notice how I emphasized “quality”…
Elijahs last blog post..Friday Night Smack Talk – Special Guest
Understood! Quality wins the day. In fact, I’m in the midst both writing my lens and using Article Automation to spin articles on my first flip site right now.
Hope everything goes well..
Yan
Yan Shall Blogs last blog post..Blogging Topics: Making the Right Choice
@ Yan – Dude, that’s awesome!!! email me if you ever have any specific questions and let me know how it goes!
Excellent post. I sure need to follow all the advice given out.
@ Double – let me know if you have any questions!
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Elijah,
Thanks for the offer of assistance. You may hear from me sooner rather than later.
I am glad about the portion you pointed out for designing a site logo and favicon. I also was looking to find out what to call the item that I now know is a “favicon”. The information provided has added value as it has directed a reader in the right direction.
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Hi, Thank you so much for your kind words.yes, feel free to post this on your blog. It’s always nice to get conversation and links from others interested in the same things.Very special!