The Road to #1 - Business Based SEO Dynasty

[MacroGuru]

Alright, for those who do or do not know what I do for a living, let me bring you up to speed.

I work for a software / training company as a Sales Consultant, we sell in a workshop based environment however this isn't about that...it's about our software and the online stores I run.

I currently have 2 sites up and running and I will be launching 2 more here in the next month. My goal, is to pick the main keyword phrases for each site, target them and get the #1 spot on Google.

I am going to use this as a way to keep myself on task, report back what I am doing numbers wise in regards to traffic and sales too. I will cover all traffic producing methods I am using for each site when I approach that stage for the site. I will not divulge my keyword phrases I am targeting on the sites, although you could probably figure it out.

Now, onto the sites...

Discounted Golf Shoes - Site has been up for 1 year. I have been quasi marketing the site, not link building mainly just on page optimization and using google base. Right now, I have two keyword phrases I am trying to target and right now I am #3/#5 on Bing/Yahoo with one phrase, not in the top 10 pages on Google.

With the other phrase I am at #3 on yahoo, #40(4th Page) on Bing, and no where to be found on Google (Means outside the first 10 pages).

Current traffic on this site is around 20 - 25 hits a day, my conversion rate is currently sucking and sitting at 1.7%. Since it's a new year, I won't pull my monthly sales report for another 2 weeks.

Exotic Hookah Pipes - This site has been up since July of 09, however there has been zero marketing and it really wasn't up in whole until today. I scrapped a Makeup Site and replaced it with this, so in the search engines right now it picked up the Makeup sites description for our site and I need it to flush out here soon. Our first sale happened last night by sheer dumb luck.

As for the Keyword Phrases, I sit at the following

#2 Google/#1 Yahoo/#1 Bing - However, the traffic on this keyword phrase is minimal at best. I have achieved this ranking from pure on page optimization for this keyword phrase. Because of this my traffic ranges anywhere from 1 to 50 hits a day.

#36 Google/Not Ranked Yahoo/#60 (6th Page) Bing - This is the phrase I want to be #1 on Google for. The pie is large for this phrase and a #1 ranking would mean self-employment after the first year.

Golf Shoes Daily - Currently a blog, but will be rolled into an online store in the next month. There has been zero marketing done for the blog, if anyone is linking to it I do not know about it. There is only 1 keyword phrase I am targeting on this one and I am going against some major players in the industry to get to #1

NR Google/NR Yahoo/NR Bing - This site will be my biggest challenge to get to where I want it.

Buy Hookah Pipes - A site that is up in spirit only. I was testing Zen Cart, trying to decide If I wanted to use that or the company software. So it isn't even an actual site. This site has only one keyword phrase I am going to target and I am competing against myself with it. The goal here is to choke the #1 and #2 spot and take over the SE with this.

[MacroGuru]

Some initial impressions so you know where each site stands

Discounted Golf Shoes - PR 2 / Alexa 3,455,930

Our competition with Google at #1 has a PR 3 / Alexa 1,745,977

Exotic Hookah Pipes - PR 0 / Alexa 14,257,223

Our competition with Google at #1 has a PR 3 / Alexa 119,926
One thing to note, that Alexa ranking proves a lot for this keyword phrase..#1 is getting most of the pie as #2 is sitting at 1.9 million Alexa ranking.

Golf Shoes Daily - PR 0 / Alexa 1,253,144

Our competition with Google at #1 has a PR 3 / Alexa 442,634
The shocking thing with the Blog, when I convert it, it is getting the traffic already but has a zero page rank...so people are finding it through SE terms, that will change and I expect a dip when I convert it over.

Buy Hookah Pipes - PR None / Alexa No Rank
Our competition with Google at #1 has a PR 3 / Alexa 119,926


So there you have it, I now know my work is cut out for me on all 4 sites. I will focus my attention right now on the 2 existing sites and get them going.

[cubboyroy1826]

Mac how do you find the PR rating for a site? I have been blogging to generate mortgage business and in a couple of months have been able to get the #3 and 4 spot on the front page of Google. The keyword i am using gets about 15000 local hits a month and my blog has generated a couple of loans already which is cool. I can definitely say that the quest to get ranked on the first page of Google can become an obsession.

[MacroGuru]

Mac how do you find the PR rating for a site? I have been blogging to generate mortgage business and in a couple of months have been able to get the #3 and 4 spot on the front page of Google. The keyword i am using gets about 15000 local hits a month and my blog has generated a couple of loans already which is cool. I can definitely say that the quest to get ranked on the first page of Google can become an obsession.

You have to download the Google toolbar for your browser, then go into the settings and make it visible.

Also, that's awesome...and if it's generating loans for you it's a definite keeper and you need to add a couple more sites and attack different keywords related to what you do. I have a really good friend that makes a killing just sending leads to mortgage companies.

[BYU 14]

This is very interesting to me as I am looking to get involved in some web based selling as a supplement. Glad you are doing this as I will probably pick up a thing or two.

[MacroGuru]

This is very interesting to me as I am looking to get involved in some web based selling as a supplement. Glad you are doing this as I will probably pick up a thing or two.

Awesome....Glad to have you along.

[Mustang]

I'll be reading since I'll be tackling this myself in the coming months. SEO is definitely something I'm very raw on.

[MacroGuru]

Currently for work I am doing competitive analysis, so my time is limited for the day. However, the goal for this week is to do what we call competitive reconnaissance.

I will be looking at my competition in each respective keywords I am trying to target and find out the following...

Page Rank
Keyword Distribution %'s (For on page optimization)
Inbound Link Numbers
Inbound Link Partners

Once I have this information, I will be creating a promotional action plan for each site.

I will post the findings when I have them later tonight. I will also list who I consider the top sites and their PR / Alexa Rank / Inbound Link Number

[MacroGuru]

I have a couple of plane flights today I will transpose my findings (I tend to write everything down on paper) onto word and post everything tonight when I get to my hotel room.

From initial observations it's not going to be tough as I will be doing a ton of link building for the golf shoe site(s) and for the Hookah it's going to be more along the lines of just getting it done.

[Icy]

I'm following as this is part of my daily work too :)

[cubboyroy1826]

Macro i took a look at this stuff and i have to ask what the heck is a hookah pipe?

On a side not i just checked last night and i know have 5 links on the first page of Google for my selected keywords. I am by no means an expert at this but took a 5 day course that was free and laid out how to rank on the first page. The course was geared toward mortgage brokers but could definitely be applied to any business.

Macro do you actually fulfill the orders or is that taken care of by someone else. I was also wondering how expensive/difficult it is to setup the checkout/payment system. I have a couple of ideas for a new ebusiness and would like to get an idea what these things cost.

[BYU 14]

Macro i took a look at this stuff and i have to ask what the heck is a hookah pipe?

On a side not i just checked last night and i know have 5 links on the first page of Google for my selected keywords. I am by no means an expert at this but took a 5 day course that was free and laid out how to rank on the first page. The course was geared toward mortgage brokers but could definitely be applied to any business.

Macro do you actually fulfill the orders or is that taken care of by someone else. I was also wondering how expensive/difficult it is to setup the checkout/payment system. I have a couple of ideas for a new ebusiness and would like to get an idea what these things cost.

Ditto, I have done some research, but some tips of what to do / not to do from someone that has been there will help too.

[MacroGuru]

Macro i took a look at this stuff and i have to ask what the heck is a hookah pipe?

On a side not i just checked last night and i know have 5 links on the first page of Google for my selected keywords. I am by no means an expert at this but took a 5 day course that was free and laid out how to rank on the first page. The course was geared toward mortgage brokers but could definitely be applied to any business.

Macro do you actually fulfill the orders or is that taken care of by someone else. I was also wondering how expensive/difficult it is to setup the checkout/payment system. I have a couple of ideas for a new ebusiness and would like to get an idea what these things cost.

A hookah pipe is essentially a Water Bong (LOL) however instead of smoking weed out of it, they smoke a flavored tobacco called Shisha, right now Hookah Pipes and Lounges are becoming popular with the college crowd again and it's kind of a trend sale for me.

As for order fulfillment I dropship everything, I refuse to carry inventory. So as an order comes in, I collect payment and place an order with my supplier who then ships it out to my customer in care of me.

As for Payment Processing and Merchant Accounts they can be fairly expensive. PayPal does have PayPal Pro which is $30 a month plus the transaction fee and discount rates which is honestly one of the cheaper accounts to get and integrate with. Your customers won't even know they are paying through PayPal at that time.

One thing I will say, running my sites are a blast however as with any business you have to stay focused on it (Just like Mortgages). I truly feel if I would not have went horse blinders when I moved to Buffalo to launch my biz I would have not had to go back to my currnet company and would be working on my own.

[MacroGuru]

Ditto, I have done some research, but some tips of what to do / not to do from someone that has been there will help too.

I will try and provide some in here for everyone.

[Mustang]

As for Payment Processing and Merchant Accounts they can be fairly expensive. PayPal does have PayPal Pro which is $30 a month plus the transaction fee and discount rates which is honestly one of the cheaper accounts to get and integrate with. Your customers won't even know they are paying through PayPal at that time.


To add onto what MG says here, you will need to examine the price of items you are selling, how much in international sales you might do, gift card usage, etc. All those things can add extra fees to any payment processor.

For websites, there are all in one type places (like Ebay Pro Stores) where it makes setting up a website easier. I know enough about websites to be knowledgable about what I want, but I don't have the skill/time to do a website from scratch, build the pages, etc. If you hire someone to do that, it will be around $1500-$2000+ for a basic ecommerce website.

If you have never done any online sales or retail work before (I'm talking actual sales, not selling something on Craigslist or clearing out a few items here and there from the house), my honest advice to someone would be to tackle Ebay, Amazon or Etsy (if you have craft items) at least for 6-9 months. That way you can get used to doing customer service, shipping, packing, inventory control, etc. (Unless you are dropshipping, then I wouldn't do Ebay because chances are you will get killed with your shipping time rating)

Sorry MG, continue. :D

[MacroGuru]

Sorry for the delay this week...went on the road lost my data card and honestly with 3 hour drives a night..didn't have a ton of time to work.

Right now I have done some initial analysis on my competition for Discounted Golf Shoes....I am going to purely focus on Google, because if I can get #1 on Google I should at least be on the front page of Yahoo and Bing.

Google -

1. Discountgolfshoes.com
Google PR 3/10
Alexa Rank - 1756347
Inbound Links:

Yahoo Link Domain shows - 822
Alexa Shows - 34
Google Link Query - 22
2. golfmonster.com
Google PR 3/10
Alexa Rank - 1517056,
Inbound Links:

Yahoo Link Domain shows -517
Alexa Shows - 54
Google Link Query - 43. golfdiscountsuperstore.com
Google PR 3/10
Alexa Rank- 549640,
Inbound Links:

Yahoo Link Domain Shows - 952
Alexa Shows - 24
Google Link Query - 4
4. Golfshoesonly.com
Google PR 4/10
Alexa Rank - 467498
Inbound Links:

Yahoo Link Domain Shows - 3227
Alexa Shows - 71
Google Link Query - 21
5. golfdiscount.com
Google PR 4/10
Alexa Rank- 185571
Inbound Links

Yahoo Link Domain Shows - 5128
Alexa Shows - 167
Google Link Query - 40
The information I have captured from my site:

Discounted-Golf-Shoes.com
Google PR 2/10
Alexa Rank - 2221032
Inbound Links:

Yahoo Link Domain Shows - 398
Alexa Shows - 8
Google Link Query - 1Now looking at this you see some higher PR's below #1 and they even have more inbound links...so why are they where they are at? The answer is Anchor Text, as links are built and the PR is built it is also looking at the Anchor Text you use and right now discountgolfshoes.com is using 22 links that google can find with the anchor text related identical to the search phrase that I am targeting.

Now the Yahoo numbers are big because it doesn't eliminate multiple links from sites. For example every time I post here on FOFC it adds another link to my site, however they only count it as 1 link, Google isn't counting it yet and I do not know why unless it is because of my posting habits and could be attributed towards PR/Link Spam....which is where I am leaning.

So right now, I do have a bit of a challenge with getting up there to the PR and doing it within the next PR update (Rumor has it is a quarterly thing but Google has been doing it monthly for quite a while now)

[MacroGuru]

Now Link Building is going to be crucial, I am shooting for higher page sites to link to me and I might have to make some trades in order for that to happen.

I have some software I am going to be using to help me out beyond what my company provides. But initially the goal this week is to do the following.


Create a MySpace page for DGS
Create a Facebook page for DGS
Setup an Ebay account for DGS (Going to start selling there as well)
Social Bookmark thru at least 100 of the social bookmarking sites (25 a day basically)....Just an FYI there are over 450 social bookmarking sites and all usually have a PR of 2 or more.
Twitter at least 2 posts a day related to Golf shoes and referencing the site
Add/Request at least 10 links a day from sites PR2 or higher.

[MacroGuru]

Just a quick update on work so far.

Mind numbing - LOL.

it's the best I can say right now, I am trying to perfect a process that I can get my submissions to everything down in minutes that way it will take me an hour a day to get all of the submissions done...right now I am not there yet and it's a couple of hours if not more.

I am testing out some software that is pretty cool on finding relevant blogs and forums to help with the link building.

I do have one issue, this is the only forum I truly visit and I refuse to be a forum spammer, so I will have to become active on a few forums if I choose to use them for link building purposes. As for blogs, not as much because leaving the comment with your URL isn't as bad to me...especially if it's relevant to Golf, I will probably truly enjoy it.

[cubboyroy1826]

What keywords are you targeting? Have you submitted stories to Ezine articles or PR log? With my blog which doubles as my mortgage site i periodically write articles that are targeting the keywords i am shooting for and i am amazed how quick ezine articles and PR log press releases are ranked. I also do a while lot of backlinking and link submission to sites like Digg and Shoutwire. You have to be careful with some of the sites like Shoutwire. If you do not submit links to sites other than yours then you will get shutdown. Any photos on your site should be renamed to target your specific keywords. Finally every page of your site should have it's specific address submitted to social sites.

[MacroGuru]

What keywords are you targeting? Have you submitted stories to Ezine articles or PR log? With my blog which doubles as my mortgage site i periodically write articles that are targeting the keywords i am shooting for and i am amazed how quick ezine articles and PR log press releases are ranked. I also do a while lot of backlinking and link submission to sites like Digg and Shoutwire. You have to be careful with some of the sites like Shoutwire. If you do not submit links to sites other than yours then you will get shutdown. Any photos on your site should be renamed to target your specific keywords. Finally every page of your site should have it's specific address submitted to social sites.

Well the main thing I am shooting for is Discounted Golf Shoes with the added benefit of being able to get Discount Golf Shoes out of it.

Once I get submitted to over 100 sites I do have about 15 articles written that will be submitted via PR releases and Ezine sites that I should get those picked up as well....

I have a set specific group of bookmarks I use for social bookmarking that are not just my sites but are sites related to mine as well. It takes me about 10 minutes to add my round of sites to the social bookmark sites and benefits my friends and business relations considerably.

The photos on my site have to have their alt tags set which is critical for my site but I will work on the On Page Optimization after the link building.

[MacroGuru]

Rough week on the road left me with minimal time and hotels that charge for internet. I have done the jailbreak on my iPhone and set it up as a wireless hub to work like the miFi from verizon so I will always have the web.

Tomorrow morning I will relay what I am doing for the week towards DGS and what I managed last week.

[MacroGuru]

So I have been submitting to link directories, blogs and article sites trying to build page rank.

Today I started to mess around with our software and test out the blog/forum aspect of it. What a win!

I have set up the RSS feed now with my site tying back to the onsite blog and i am now submitting that feed out to all the feed sites that accept it. Most of these feed sites are PR 2 or higher...if I get it added to most of the ones I submit to, we should see it build PR fast.

[MacroGuru]

well marriage and the pains that go with it has forced me to look at my sites in a different way. Affiliates....and I am making the switch over to affiliate sites...

No worries on shipping product, just sell it...a lot of what happens here also happened in the adult industry when I ran it. Also, by moving to the commission based payscale of affiliates, if I can produce the kind of traffic I need to for my sites...I can be quite happy...

So this thread will begin to take on a life of it's own again but this time it will cover affiliate based sites.

[Flasch186]

SEO question,

Do the backlinks need to be relevant or will any do in helping?

[MacroGuru]

SEO question,

Do the backlinks need to be relevant or will any do in helping?

Relevant is key with proper keywords in anchor tags...

If it's irrelevant, make at least sure the anchor tags are proper enough.