Plyplemadesign.com.au » General

Just added a Market Samurai Review

Troy — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:13:20 +0000

I have been getting asked quite a few questions about why every one raves on about Market Samurai so I decided to create a few videos to go through the program in detail.

The review is broken up into three parts so hopefully you can get through alive Click here to read the review.

The Week from Hell

Troy — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:03:11 +0000

Well, it has happened again. I have had my progressed halted and set back a couple of months in the matter of moments. Last Monday my host decided to terminate my hosting account for violations of the AUP. No other details than that.

It has taken this long to get the correct backup restore and the databases converted over. My rankings have taken a dive to oblivion but hopefully it is a short visit. I will be making a handful of pretty thin sites at the end of the week to hopefully get my income backup with some exact domain name match websites. Will be interesting to see how they go.

I recommend everyone who relies on a website to have another host that runs a mirror of your site to prevent this from happening to you!

Market Samuari SEO Competition Example – Keyword 1

Troy — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:57:20 +0000

I thought it might be helpful for people who are unfamiliar with analysing competion to post some real work examples of where I have ranked for a range of keywords. Use these screenshots to find an understanding of what is and isn’t beatable. I will post more over time.

In the example below (where I rank #1) you will notice that I have beaten sites with a lot more links to the domain than my own, and that a lack of a Yahoo and DMOZ backlink hasn’t hurt my potential. Domain age also hasn’t caused an isssue.

The backlinks to the page aren’t anything over the top but the anchor text is the exact phrase 60% of the time.

Another tip to look out for is that when you see a page with a large number of backlinks but a relatively low PR – more than likely the backlinks to that page are of poor quality and the site is easy to beat.

If you haven’t used Market Samurai before than I recommend that you try out the trial version. It is enough to get you started and to get a feel of what it offers. Even once the trial has expired you can use the keyword research features for free.

What I Have Learnt in 9 Months Using AdSense

Troy — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:41:40 +0000

It has been quite a while since I have made a post on this site but I think it is about time I start making regular use of it. Some of the most interesting blogs on the web are from those chasing a goal. This allows for readers to really feel part of a journey and learn a lot on the way.

It has been about 9 months since I started my Internet Marketing and web design journey and everyday I get more and more motivated to make this work and beging working for myself. The amount I have learnt is phenomonal and if I wasn’t juggling a full time job I am sure I could have been making a comfortable amount of money by now.

This lack of time has been a benefit though. It makes my thinking to the point and my methods efficient. I work best off a schedule of tasks and stick to what I have set out to do. I have spent time in creating processes that can be scaled up and repeated as quick as possible. I use tools that are automated as much as possible and make sure something is always running while doing hands-on tasks.

I also no longer get sidetracked onto new and wonderful methods and my time on the forums is kept to a minimum. At one stage I moved away from AdSense and spent a lot of time learning and using PPC. I actually made quite a bit of money from it but I found that it was too much of a time sink with my limited schedule. I now have one tweaked campaign running constantly on the Google Content Network with a cost per conversion of $0.33. The ads lead to a squeeze page and a mailing list that is very under utilised – I will tackle this down the track.

One of the most exciting things I have learnt through this period is that keywords are a lot easier to dominate than you might first think. If you are persistant, patient, and methodical, you really can dominate the front page of Google in some very tough niches. Patience is the big one though. Many people get caught up in trying to get indexed in 1 or 2 days but it really takes more than 3 months before a keyword will begin to bring in serious money.

I actually had one of my AdSense sites in the weight loss niche on the front page for some difficult but very rewarding keywords. It was bringing in $50/day and rising weekly. This site allowed me to invest in several automated tools and content for other sites that would have really got me close to my goal by now. Unfortunately it was too good to be true and I received a Cease and Desist from a weight loss company who insisted I was breaking a handful of US Laws and I had to hand over the domain (I was under just under their site for their company name).

After a lot of swearing and denial I decided I would change the domain name of the site BUT would not hand it over to them. I 301 redirected the domain to my new one and replied to their letter informing them that they held no trademark in Australia but I changed the domain over anyway. I haven’t heard from them since but the damage to the traffic really put the brakes on my march to a full time income.

The site is starting to return to its previous form now. Many of the keywords actually dissappeared from the top 100 for a few weeks but many have now returned to positions higher than before. It is one thing many people gamble with but if you are making an authority site I would not risk it with a trademark in the domain name.

On top of the weight loss site I have several other AdSense projects running and they are starting to pull their weight now. I really regret not building more sites when I first started but as many can relate to, I didn’t think I would be able to have any type of success.

From here on in I am going to document my progress as well as methods used to achieve what I am doing. Each week I will add some quick stats from my sites so you can get an idea of where I am at. My goal is to leave a job that I’m not enjoying and to do that will require $150/day. Let’s see how I go!

Update on Domain Registration Issue

Troy — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:31:02 +0000

I’m not sure if this is a total coincidence but it was revealed a could of days ago that Nicholas Bolton’s domain company Bottle Domains was suspended, “due to a serious breach of its obligations under the registrar agreement”.

The breach is to do with personal details of clients (credit card details) being stolen from Bottle Domains and published for sale on the web. Allegedly Bottle Domains did not do enough to advise their customers of the breach and the possible consequences. This happened several years ago but recent events involving the BrisConnections saga may have stirred up a hornets nest somewhere.

As I mentioned earlier, Nicholas Bolton runs 4 different domain company and they all seem to share some sort of resources. These include Bottle, Bottle Domains, Domain Central, and Name.com.au – the company I tried to register through. They use variations for the actual domain registrar. Various attempts at contacting Domain Central and Name.com.au seemed to fall on deaf ears.

The suspension occurred during the same week and possibly even the same day that I tried to register the failed domain.

I applied for a domain transfer and fortunately it went through successfully and pretty quickly to Jumba and everything is now up an running.

The suspension has since been lifted and there is talk that Bolton is trying to get all transfers that occurred during the suspension returned to his company’s control but I haven’t heard anything more from this.

I’ll keep you posted on what happens to my domains.

You can read more about the whole saga here

Welcome to Plyplema Design

Troy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:43:13 +0000

Welcome to my new (and first!) blog, Plyplema Design. It is based from my new web design and freelance programming business I am in the process of starting. You can check out the main site at http://www.plyplemadesign.com.au which was launched just a few days ago.

The business side of things will be targetted at website design and development with a focus on smaller businesses looking at taking the first step into gaining an online presence and those that have sites stuck in the dark ages. My programming skills will allow me to also create custom database driven sites that many designers can’t deliver.

Outside of the web I will also be developing software from my own ideas as well as turning third party concepts into working applications. I will be looking at jumping onto the iPhone SDK bandwagon and also the more business savy/friendly Windows Mobile 6.

My main experience comes from developing control systems for high end home automation and corporate solutions such as video conferncing and function room management. I like to deliver touch panel user interfaces that are both pretty to look at yet easy and functional to use. I will be hoping to share my skills and experiences through this blog with examples of how to take systems such as AMX, RTI, and Crestron to the next level.

With this blog I am hoping to create a great source of useful information on a vast range of programming and design subjects and also keep you up to date with how the business is going, so stay tuned!