Even though it’s good practise to check the competitor sites regularly, most of us forget to.

There is however a very easy and efficient way [...]]]> Part of your research for developing your niche site will be looking at competitor sites. You usually find these sites by searching on your site’s keywords and then looking at the top 10 results.

Even though it’s good practise to check the competitor sites regularly, most of us forget to.

There is however a very easy and efficient way of tracking activity in you niche, and that is by using Google alerts.

Using Google alerts you can get notified by email when someone mentions a particular keyword in a blog, website,video etc.

Here is partial screen shot showing two alerts that I’ve set up:

I’ve chosen comprehensive which includes all media and I get an email one a day. An example is shown below:

All you need is Google account (free if you don’t already have one), and you can configure them here: http://www.google.com/alerts/

I can even choose whether I want to base my new Internet Empire on

And some even want to give me multiple empires, all [...]]]> I frequently get emails and mail offering to make me rich; if I just purchase their website package; which is all set up ready to go, and just waiting to make me oodles of cash.

I can even choose whether I want to base my new Internet Empire on

• Porn
• Gambling
• Supplements
• etc

And some even want to give me multiple empires, all for the same price… What a bargin!

If It Sounds Too Good To be True..

You’re familiar I’m sure with the saying ..If It Sounds Too Good To be True..It probably is.

What usually on offer is a site template full of affiliate links and google adense code and all you need to do is buy it and the visitors will be there in droves buying stuff and clicking on the adsense ads making you rich.

Of course they fail to mention how you will get the visitors in the first place.

Are Ready Made Websites( Turnkey websites) Bad?

Ready made/Turnkey websites are in fact a very good idea and extremely useful.They  could form the basis of a profitable web based business/ business website.

You should remember that all website start with a website template. This website is based on a template developed by Chris Pearson. Chris in turn developed his template on the Wordpress platform; which you could call a site template.

All I really needed to do with the site is to add content. So you could say it is 90% ready made.

There is nothing wrong with this type of site and that is how most of the websites on the internet are built.

Deciding Between Good and Bad

So how do you tell a good ready made site from a bad one?

 Well as a general rule of thumb the more complete the site is then the more likely it is to be a scam.

 By complete I mean does it include the site content as well as the site template? If so then I would keep clear of it.

After all if you had a website that made you $1000 a day for 10 minutes work would you..

• Sell it for $100?
• Sell it for $500?
• Keep your mouth shut and pocket the cash?

To get organic traffic you will need to get your pages listed high in the search engine results for your selected keywords. If you have done you research correctly then this should not be a problem as you will have choosen a niche market that [...]]]> Search engines can provide two forms of traffic- Organic and paid.

To get organic traffic you will need to get your pages listed high in the search engine results for your selected keywords. If you have done you research correctly then this should not be a problem as you will have choosen a niche market that you can compete in.

So for niche websites there shouldn’t really be a requirement to purchase traffic from the search engines using PPC (pay per click).

However you shouldn’t dismiss pay per click traffic out of hand. It is very useful for getting traffic:

• for testing a niche idea
• for getting traffic while your site is new and not ranked well
• for getting traffic for related keywords that are not possible to rank for.

PPC Traffic for Testing

Is your niche idea going to work? Well you don’t really know for sure until you’ve tried it. But getting organic traffic from the search engines can take many months, and require that you create a content heavy website; which in itself takes time.

However you can turn PPC traffic on and off in an instant, and send it to a small mini site which you can put together in days.

This sounds easy, but in practise it requires that you have experience in PPC, Website building and testing to make it work. For that reason it is really more suitable for experienced web masters looking to test a new idea, than beginners looking to start.

Getting Traffic For a New Website

Free organic traffic takes months, and sometimes years to build. For sites that sell a product or service, then it is well worth considering getting the initial site traffic by paying for it.

How much you can/should pay depends on many factors, but usually most site owners will want to see a positive return. Meaning that they will want to pay less for the traffic than they make from the traffic.

Getting Traffic for Related Keywords

You may have a site on computers, and have targeted the term computers for your keyword. You also have several pages of reviews on various computer models that are linked to affiliate programs, and convert very well.

You may find that you can create a PPC campaign to drive traffic to these pages with two main benefits:

• You make more affiliate sales
• You get more site visitors.. Just give them a reason to return

In summary PPC traffic isn’t for everyone, but it does have its uses, and should not be dismissed out of hand. It does however require mastering a new skill, and is not really for beginners. However for experienced web masters it is well worth considering.

Useful Resources:

• SEO and PPC Training and Consulting
• Google Adwords, Yahoo publisher, Microsoft Adcenter

Although all website start small these sites are usually 1-10 pages and stay that way. Mini sites are favoured by affiliate marketers as they are quick to build and are excellent for product/idea testing.

* Quick to build * Can build multiple sites * Enables quick [...]]]> When looking at Niche websites you will undoubtably come across Mini Websites.

Although all website start small these sites are usually 1-10 pages and stay that way. Mini sites are favoured by affiliate marketers as they are quick to build and are excellent for product/idea testing.

Main Advantages

* Quick to build
* Can build multiple sites
* Enables quick test of market
* Very focused

Main Disadvantages

* Unlikely to rank well in search engines
* Usually required to use PPC as traffic source

References/Resources

The ebook the niche code goes into the concept in more detail. However before you go and buy the book you should know that it uses PPC as the main method of niche testing, and if you don’t feel comfortable with trying PPC then It is probably not for you.

Therefore:

Affiliate programs are an ideal way of monetizing your site as they are:

The php version numbers will change as the Wordpress version changes. You can check the latest versions here.

A number of hosting providers support what is know as 1 click install which make the install process a [...]]]> Hosting Wordpress

Wordpress can be hosted on almost all providers. The requirements are that the hosting package supports:

• PHP
• MYSQL

The php version numbers will change as the Wordpress version changes. You can check the latest versions here.

A number of hosting providers support what is know as 1 click install which make the install process a simple matter of filling in a form. I would recommend that you select a host that does were possible.

Otherwise you will need to do a manual install of Wordpress which is not very difficult as it simply involves downloading the wordpress files from Wordpress , uploading them to your web host and running the install script.

The first [...]]]> How to Manually Install Wordpress

Wordpress is a collection of PHP files which you must download and copy to your host. It stores all of the pages and posts you create in a MYSQL database which must already exist. So make sure you have already created it and a wordpress admin account before you start.

The first step is to download the Wordpress Zip files and extract them to a folder on your PC.

You then need to create a folder on you server (called wordpress or similar) to copy the files to.

If you remember that the htdocs directory is the root of the web server then just create the Wordpress directory there (see below).
nnnnn

Now open the wordpress folder and you will see a file called wp-config-sample.php. You need to edit this file and then rename it. So open the file in Wordpad (
Note notepad may not display the file correctly hence the use of wordpad) and change the database name and database user to match what you created in the MySQL configuration earlier.

In my case the database name was blogbase and the database user was wordpress and the password was password.

So my edited file looks like this

Once you have edited it save it as wp-config.php.

Note: make sure its not called wp-config.php.txt by mistake

Now you are ready to run the install which simply involves running a php script on the server.

So open a web browser and type:

http://locahost/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php

The install involves two simple steps at the end the you will be given a username and password that you can use to logon and configure your blog.

Make a note of the password!!

Here are the screenshots of the steps

Here is the summary page with the logon instructions

They consist of a web page with new content at the top ( ordered by date of entry latest on top) , and links to older content or other sites [...]]]> Understanding the Difference Between a Website and a Blog

Although Blogs can be difficult to define they are instantly recognizable as they all have a common form.

They consist of a web page with new content at the top ( ordered by date of entry latest on top) , and links to older content or other sites on the side.

They were originally intended as online journals which is why they are organised by date.

A traditional website is usually ordered by subject and not by date. In fact when you look at a web page on a standard website you have no idea of when it was created or by whom.

However a blog page uses the same underlying technology as a standard web page (HTML), and so in reality a blog page is also a web page and a blog is a website. I consider a blog to simply be a particular form of website.

In fact even before blogs, as we now know them, came into being many websites were being run as online journals, but the webmaster had to create the date based layout manually.

The term “weblog” was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997.

The short form, “blog,” was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase weblog in the sidebar of his Blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999–

Source Wikipedia

The creation of tools to enable non technical users to create a blog, and free hosting service led to the rapid expansion of Blogs from 100 in 1997 to over 20 million in 2005.

Because of the success and flexibility of the blogging platforms like Wordpress many webmasters are now starting to use the blogging plaforms as traditional websites by arranging the site content by subject and not by date.

So, in summary, a website can be used as a blog and a blog can be used as a website.

From a web master perspective all you need to do is to copy a little JavaScript code which Google provide and paste it onto the web pages. When someone opens the page Google will display [...]]]> Google Adsense allows Web masters to make money from their websites by allowing Google to display ads on their web pages.

From a web master perspective all you need to do is to copy a little JavaScript code which Google provide and paste it onto the web pages. When someone opens the page Google will display ads that relate to the web page content- so called context sensitive ads.

If someone clicks on an ad then Google charges the advertiser a click fee and splits it between Google and the Webmaster.

Without a doubt Google Adsense is the easiest way of making money from a website. Google Adsense offers a webmaster several unique advantages that affiliate programs don’t:

• Very easy to set up . You can include your Adsense code as part of your website template.
• Only one company to deal with – Google
• No longer need to spend hours trying to find matching affiliate programs.

Getting Involved with Adsense

To display Google ads you need to enroll in the Adsense program. This is simple matter of filling out a form online with your details, and your website details etc.

However before you are accepted Google will evaluate your website to ensure that your website is fit for its ads.

There is no need to get too concerned about the application. Google is basically looking for good content websites run by honest web masters. No tricks no cheating and you’ll be ok.

You can find the Google Policies here.