33 replies to this topic

[mal4mac]

OK, so what should the original poster do in her spare time to make some extra dosh?

Emma - why not set up a nanny advice site? You could perhaps gear it towards "Nannys from country X working in country Y"? You might monetize it by using Google AdSense ads.

[NASA]

I would say that they all pretty much suck.

now now Jill, you know for a fact , that directory submission for the right reasons to quality directories does not suck!

You might monetize it by using Google AdSense ads.

shudder, GOAS does this really add valuable content and links to your site.

If you wouldn't link to these sites via a recipricol linking campaign, why would you plaster your sites with links you have no control over (ok I know there is some control, but you know what i mean!)

[Randy]

Personally I wouldn't monetize it with Adsense, but the general idea behind such a site and monetizing it is definitely doable. There are actually several angles from which one could monetize it. Nanny content, targeted towards others in the field, the whole nanny in a foreign country angle, or simply as someone from abc country/culture living in xyz country/culture. Depending upon the specifics I could see how any of the above could attract a loyal following that would be more than happy to cough up a few bucks for the wisdom and/or entertainment value.

And no I'm not kidding. These are the sort of (some would say crazy) niches that make me money every single day.

[Michael Martinez]

OK, so what should the original poster do in her spare time to make some extra dosh?

Search engine submission is not really dead -- it's just evolved into a new form. The major search engines all work with XML sitemaps and some of them work with .TXT sitemaps.

A lot of sites that are struggling to get indexed might be able to use some expert help with sitemap creation and management. That's not exactly the same thing as "submitting to search engines" but here are the ways you get sitemaps into search engines:

• Include them in your robots.txt file
• Authenticate a domain with a major search engine and submit sitemaps (you can do this with Google, Live, and Yahoo!)
• Ping a search engine (I think Ask still accepts pings)
• Cross-link sitemaps (I think only Google allows this, and you have to authenticate both domains)
• Link directly to your XML sitemaps (a bit inefficient but it seems to work)

People tend to generate XML sitemaps once and then walk away. If you're trying to manage crawl for a site you have to tweak the sitemaps and change priorities, update frequencies, etc. That takes a fair amount of work. Anyone who becomes proficient at this may be able to sell their services in managing XML sitemaps to large commercial sites.

If you can read server logs (not Google Analytics or some other third-party service's reports) -- I mean REALLY read server logs -- you can combine your sitemap management skills with crawl analysis to determine which pages are being hit too often and not often enough. That is pretty advanced SEO and most people don't go that deep. It's not something you learn overnight, either, but it's a direction you can go if you have the opportunity to study the right resources.

I think most people who want to offer basic SEO services these days just go with link building. If you do that right, and know how to market yourself, you can make pretty good money.

[mal4mac]

Personally I wouldn't monetize it with Adsense

Is this a general view on AdSense, or on the quality of Nanny ads?

In my experience, AdSense is a great way to make money from a niche like this, as long as it's a niche that attracts appropriate ads.

With your vast experience, Randy, you no doubt have other ways of making money, but do you have ways that would be easier for a novice?

... I just did a search for "Nanny" and the ads look highly promising

[Jill]

If you're selling your own product or service, having AdSense on your site just detracts from your actual goal.

If you just want to make money from ads, however, I've seen sites making a nice living by having lots of great content and using Adsense.

[OptimalPages]

RE: Getting a new site listed

My website is a self-hosted WordPress blog which runs on the Thesis theme. I created my content, then submitted a sitemap to Google via Webmaster Tools. That same day, I also created a Technorati profile and submitted one of my articles to StumbleUpon. No directory submissions.

Within 3 days, my site was indexed.

[Randy]

Is this a general view on AdSense, or on the quality of Nanny ads?

It's my personal view on Adsense in general. Nothing more, nothing less.

As Jill pointed out above, if you're trying to sell something of your own from your site the Adsense tends to distract visitors from your ultimate goal. And in my experience you can always make more from selling something yourself than you can from getting paid for Adsense ads being clicked upon.

I'm greedy. If I'm going to monetize something I'm going to monetize it so that it brings me the most revenue possible. And in my experience you can always make many times more by offering something of your own than you can from running ads for someone else. On the flip side if I'm not going to monetize something I'm not going to clutter things up and possibly confuse visitors with lots of ads and content I do not control.

It's not that I begrudge anyone doing the Adsense thing. It's just not for me.

[mal4mac]

As Jill pointed out above, if you're trying to sell something of your own from your site the Adsense tends to distract visitors from your ultimate goal. And in my experience you can always make more from selling something yourself than you can from getting paid for Adsense ads being clicked upon.

That has not been my experience. I think it depends on your site. For instance a "nanny" site might be difficult to monetize using your model. What would you sell? But there are lots of Google ads from nanny employment bureaus.

I'm greedy. If I'm going to monetize something I'm going to monetize it so that it brings me the most revenue possible.

That's not greed, that's common sense.

And in my experience you can always make many times more by offering something of your own than you can from running ads for someone else.

Tell that to TV moguls. I don't see them stopping commercial advertising to sell their programmes directly (even though Google AdSense is seriously damaging their bottom line!)

On the flip side if I'm not going to monetize something I'm not going to clutter things up and possibly confuse visitors with lots of ads and content I do not control.

You can control it, you can ban ads you don't like. Mostly, I find the ads add to the page rather than clutter it up. Often I have to resist clicking on them myself...

It's not that I begrudge anyone doing the Adsense thing. It's just not for me.

It grows on you :-)

[NASA]

Well personally I think Adsense is morraly wrong, if that is all your site does.

It defeats the point and flys in the face of G! only wanting quality 'real' content from 'authorative' sites. I thought 'Content is King', but G! will turn a blind eye to that if it's making them lost of money!

I despise any SERPs when i click a result and all I get is a 'made for adsense' website, I also make a point of NEVER clicking on any G! adverts on anyones site.

I nearly set up a made for adsense website, I have a fantastic shopping site domain name, but even though I spent a lot of time and effor tdeveloping a quite nice 'shopping directory', I never released it , because deep down inside I knew it was wrong.

I care more about feeling good about myself and my work than i do about money, ok maybe some (cough Randy!), feel good about themselves when they make lots of money, I get more satisfaction out of doing something well, and making a 'made for adsense' site is not doing something good IMHO, whether you make a mint from it or not!

If the SE's index had all sites that were 'made for adsense' removed , the SE's would be a nicer place to search, alas, the SERPs is full of !

OK enough of my whining, maybe some will say "if you can't beat em, join em" and "more fool you, I'm making a fortune from it".

But it's those attitudes which not only make the SE's not such a nice place , but the world as a whole!

is there such a thing as 'Ethical SEO' ?

[Jill]

There are actually made for adsense sites that are extremely good and informative, although possibly few and far between.

But I've seen some that do have lots of original, helpful articles and are the authority on their subject. The ads are a supplement to the content, but bring in buttloads of money.

[NASA]

I guess in a dog eat dog, money makes the world go round world, making butt loads of money deserves a pat on the back, not my acid tongue, but hey we can't all be the same or like the same, that would be just boring!

Hey , may be i'm just jealous or annoyed with myself for not allowing myself to earn money doing things i know I could do and make serious money from, but again, maybe that's why i'm not a drug baron either!

[Jill]

Yeah, seeing some of the money others are making with those sites has made me want to give it a try some day also. I think you need a combination of revenue sources, however. Some affiliate sales, some adsense, that sort of thing.

The problem is picking a topic you're passionate about. I can't do it for SEO because I would prefer to sell my services than ads to others.

[Randy]

I think we're just odd NASA.

I know why I do it. Or don't do it. I like having more control and know if I do my thing and do it right I can make as much or more with less effort.

If my limited skills were more along the lines of being a prolific writer instead of being a marketing geek I'd probably have a completely different opinion of Adsense. It's just not for me.

To the point that I don't even see Adsense ads on people's sites because I have them blocked at my hosts file.

[NASA]

Speak for yourself , ok alright agreed!

I have them blocked at my hosts file

What you have actually banned them via LMHOST file is that what your saying?