Welcome

What Is So Great About This Blog?

The only chance this blog has of succeeding is to be different then the 100's of other 'How To Make Money Online' blogs.

What makes this blog different:

• This blog is about a website. It discusses and analyzes the creation, maintenance, and performance of howthiswebsitemakesmoney.com.
• All claims are backed up by actual data. You will not see claims like: 'post comments because it increases traffic'. This blog will show, by using actual data, how much traffic posting comments has brought to howthiswebsitemakesmoney.com.
• There are no false claims of how I made 1000's of dollars a day using a secret system. With this blog, lies and exaggerated claims are impossible because howthiswebsitemakesmoney.com reveals all of its stats.
• Being a webmaster is not always a sunny day. This blog discusses the real trials and tribulations of being a webmaster. If this blog/website are doing poorly then you will see traces of tears in the posts.
• This blog has no advertising or selling of any kind. It is simply information and entertainment. The website howthiswebsitemakesmoney.com does all the money making, not this blog.
• Most blogs expect you to follow their advice on the assumption that they are an authority on the subject. This blog expects you to look at the data and decide for yourself.

All Posts Are Written With The Following in Mind:

• Honesty.
• Mix information with entertainment.
• The visitors time is valuable. Provide clear and original content.
• No claims without data to support it.
• One day this blog and the website it discusses will be successful.

Enjoy!

A couple months ago I stated that I was not going to create my own backlinks.  That I would wait till others backlink to me.  I was not going to shame myself by tooting my own horn, by begging for backlinks.  I was going to wait patiently until others backlink to me – let the website speak for itself.  But guess what – nobody has backlinked to me.  Four months have passed since this website went live and in that time no backlinks.  Nobody has been impressed enough to link to this site.  Surprised?  So am I.

So with a paper bag on my head I must admit defeat.  If I want backlinks then I will have to create them myself.  Climb to the rooftop of the tallest building and shout, “look at me!”.  How humiliating.

How to Create Backlinks – Article Submission

Article submission is the easiest way to create quality one way backlinks.  I signed up on ezinearticles.com and wrote 3 articles.  In each article I summarize one of the pages on this website. 

My method is simple.  I read a page from this website and then close the window.  Then I open my word processor and rewrite what I just read.  Same main points but new words.  The article version is shorter and more to the point.  The articles need to be at least 250 words.  My articles tend to be around 400 words and take about 30 minutes to write.  It is easy to do because it is not new material.  Just a summary of key points from this website.   At the end of the article I place one link to this site and one link specifically to the page being summarized.

The backlinks from this method are great because they are one way backlinks.  They link to you with out you having to link back to them – Google loves that.  Also, when you create the backlink you can use the keywords of your choosing for the anchor text.  This is good because Google uses the anchor text of a backlink to figure out what your page is about.

Get Your New Webpages Indexed Faster

Besides backlinks, another advantage of articles submission is that you can get your own webpages indexed faster by Google.  Normally for this website it takes up to a week before a new page is indexed by Google.  But if I create an article and backlink to the new page then the page gets indexed in under a day.  Here is how it works:   

1. I create a new page on my website
2. I write an article summarizing the new page
3. At the bottom of the article I link to the new page
4. My article gets published. Since ezinearticles.com is a popular site Google indexes the article within a hour.
5. While indexing the article Google notices the link to my new page. Google discovers that the page is not indexed yet.
6. My new page gets flagged by Google for immediate indexing

Besides getting backlinks creating articles is a great way to get new pages indexed.  For an example of one of the articles and the backlink have a look at my article Do Guest Posts on Other Blogs Really Bring Traffic.

How to Create Backlinks – Guest Posts

Guest posts are harder then article posts.  Creating articles is easy because unless you really screw up and do not follow the rules your article will be published.  Guest posts are much more difficult because they have a very selective gatekeeper – the blog owner.  It is up to their discretion whether your post gets published.  If he stubbed his toe just before reading your email requesting a guest post and therefore in a bad mood you could be denied just because his toe hurts.

You spend a few hours creating the perfect guest post specifically designed for a specific blog.  You send it to the blog owner and wait.  A few days later you get a rejection email.  ‘Sorry, but at this time I am not taking guest posts’, translation: your post was denied.  Now you need to decide what to do with the post.  Do you put it on your own blog or do you alter it and submit to another blog?  Either way time is wasted and the post is tainted by the stench of rejection.

Fortunately this did not happen to me.  I created a guest post and submitted it.  Within a few days it was approved and published.

What a great backlink.  A one way backlink from a popular blog back to my website.  Does not get better then that.  It was a great success – a perfect backlink.  The only problem was that nobody agreed with my post.  Not a single comment agreed, even the blog owner stepped in and stated that he does not agree.  But that is just a technicality, not really important.  Nobody agrees, I am wrong, I do not know what I am talking about etc…but I got my backlink.  By the way, I still think I am right, everybody else is wrong. If you want to disagree with me then see my guest post Put Time Into Your Guest Posts.

Organic Search Traffic Is Improving

The first couple months this website had backlinks, but they were all natural backlinks.  I frequented forums and made comments on blogs.  I did this not to create backlinks but simply because I wanted to be involved in the forums and blogs.   The backlinks came naturally, they came as a result of me simply participating in my niche.

For the last month I have been actively generating backlinks via articles and guest posts.  Again I can only assume that this is why my organic search traffic is continuing to improve.  It is still a small number but improving.  It seams that backlinks do work.  It is humiliating and pride must be swallowed but creating backlinks is a must to improve your organic traffic.

Organic Traffic For This Website

Forget your pride, ignore your shame, humiliate yourself – create your own backlinks.  Go out there and brag about how great your are.  Because if you don’t then who, besides your mother, will?

A couple days ago I was surprised by an email.  In the email the person stated that he enjoyed the website – that is understandable.  But then the email got strange.  He concluded his email with a request for advice.  He asked me to advise him on how to generate more revenue and get more traffic to his website.

The guy missed the whole point of this website.  With my traffic and revenue stats fully disclosed this website clearly shows that I have no idea what I am doing.  Why would anybody want to seek advice from me?  It is like somebody showing up at the scene of a car accident and asking the stunned driver, “Can you please teach me how to drive”.

Why You Should Not Ask Me How To Making Money Online

I have mentioned it before, both on the website and in this blog, that I am completely new to making money online.  Four months ago I never heard the phrase ‘Search Engine Optimization’, or ‘Meta-Tags’.  I had no experience with CSS or Dreamweaver.  I had never made a single penny online.  I was as green as a freshly mowed lawn.  I still am.

I have been at it for four months.  I have learned some things.  Now I can read about website design techniques and adsense monetization and understand what is being discussed, but I still do not have a clue how to make money online.  I thought this fact was obvious.  The whole website is a testament to my ignorance.  Simply by viewing a few pages on the website you quickly discover that:

• I have worked for 365 hours. For my efforts I received $131 dollars. If I had spent that time working at McDonalds flipping burgers and cleaning out grease traps I would now have around $3300 dollars.
• I make 36 cents per hour. The lowest wages in the world are paid to garment workers in Bangladesh. They get paid 22 cent per hour. The second lowest wages in the world are in Cambodia, they get paid 33 cents. I have the honor of having the third lowest wage in the world at 36 cents. A Pakistani garment worker makes more then I do at 37 cents per hour.
• On average this website receives about 50 visitors a day. This has not changed for almost 3 months. No progress increasing my traffic. Commenting on forums, blogs, creating articles for backlinks. All for nothing. Traffic does not budge – 50 visitors a day.
• So far I have spent $491 on this website. The website software (Dreamweaver), domain name, hosting, voting script. Since I have only managed to make $131 dollars, I am running at a loss. Not only am I not making money online, I am paying money to do it.
• I have been promoting this blog for 3 months and wrote 26 well thought out posts. This has gained me around 25 subscribers. My condominium’s monthly newsletter has more subscribers and all it talks about the problem of people not cleaning up after their dogs.

All this information is clearly stated on the website.  Tables and pretty graphs are used to make the point obvious.  That is why I was so surprised that somebody would ask me for advice.  They seem to  not care that this website makes no money.  The only person who should be asking me for advice is a Bangladeshi garment worker.  I can help him make more money.

There are websites out there that claim they know how to make lots of money online.  The webmaster claims that they have discovered the secret of making money online.  They claim to be experts, to be rich, to know it all.  Of course they do not give any proof of their success except for a few pictures of big houses and fancy cars.  These are the websmasters that at least give the impression that they know what they are doing.  So I would expect people to send them emails asking for advice.  But to send me an email asking for advice is ridiculous.  There is nothing on this website that gives the impression that I know how to make money online. 

Maybe In The Future I Will Be Able to Give Advice

Am I bitter?  No.  Do I consider this website a failure?  No.  Do I spend my nights soaking the pillow with tears?  No.  I realize this is just the beginning.  Making money online is not easy.  It is a process that takes time.  The beginning is hard and bound to be full of failure.  Just like anything else.  Even Wayne Gretzky was a bad hockey player at some point.  Time, practice and persistence made him a great player.  Success comes with the passage of time.

So far the only thing this website teaches is that making money online is not easy at the beginning.  That everyday feels like a failure.  That progress does not come overnight. 

If you have a site and you are still learning and not making money then you can come to this website and see that it is normal.  Misery needs company.  It makes you feel better that this website is also doing poorly at the beginning.

What keeps me going is knowing that making money online is possible.  Other people are doing it.  I just need to find out how.  Until this websites starts making money then there is no point in asking me for help increasing the revenue for your site because I have no idea.

If you want to know what I have learned so far then visit the How Well Is This Website Doing section of the website.

Aristotle accomplished a lot in his ancient Greek life.  He can be credited as one of the founding fathers of western thought.  He studied and made observations about morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics.  In his free time he was a tutor of Alexander the Great.  A person like this is not common.  He has the ability to keep going and going – doing more and more.

How did he keep motivated?  What helped him get out of bed every morning and dive into his work?  Aristotle’s answer:

Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.

Goals.  Man needs to set goals for himself.  Without goals there is no meaning – there is nothing to strive for.

My Goal – Make Money Online Website

Who am I to doubt Aristotle.  I must set goals.  This website was started willy-nilly.  It was built with the intent of just seeing what happens. But that is not the right approach.  I need something to strive for.  If it helped Aristotle become one of the greatest thinkers of all time, I am sure setting goals will help this website.

The main keywords for this website are: make,money,online,website.  My goal is to be one of the top five results in Google search for the term ‘make money online website‘.  When somebody types ‘make money online website‘ into Google I want to see this website appear in one of the top 5 spots.  Currently for this term this website is nowhere to be seen.  I checked as far back as the 500th result.  No luck – not there.

Know The Enemy (the competition)

Before I tackle this goal I need to know who I am fighting against.  Who are in the top 5 spots now?  The best way to beat them is to know who they are.  What have they done to get there.  By studying who they are I can adjust my strategy to either mimic what they did to get there or find a weak spot in their approach.  Find something that they are missing, or not doing, or doing poorly.  Once I know how they got to where they are then I can do what they are doing and add a little more – that extra push that puts me above them.

The nice thing about the ‘make money online’ niche is that it is about revealing what you do.  So most of the blogs and website are about how they got to where they are at.  So it is only a matter of going through their website and finding out what strategies they recommend for online success. 

I am going to focus on two of the top 5 holders, because they have very different strategies.  And they are very good writers – they do a good job explaining how they got to the top.

A Brick and Mortar Website

The top spot is currently held by 2createawebsite.com.  It is a really good ‘Make Money Online’ website.  The owner is Lisa.  Her website made it to the top in what can be called the traditional approach – time, quality content, and persistence.  She started making money online in 1998 and has stuck with it.  By constantly adding content and maintaining a presence on the Internet she has made it to the top.  Hard work and time.  Posting on forums, answering questions by readers, making comments on other blogs.  By helping others her name became known.  Slowing, but steadily she gained readers.  10 years later, it is paying off.  Now she has inspirational youtube videos and tutorials, a busy forum and a popular blog.  She has become an trusted authority in the field.  Her opinion is respected.  She does not hide her identity and is completely honest about everything she has to say. 

Her website is a rock.  It is well designed, clear and well written.  Quality material, a great personality, and high ranking.  She does everything by the book and there is little chance that her ranking will fall.  Her website is like amazon, or ebay.  A trusted and quality site.  Exactly what Google likes.  Google rewards her by placing her website at the top.

Understand and Exploit

The website at spot 4 is makemoneyforbeginners.blogspot.com.  This website is almost the complete opposite of the one above.  It is not pretty.  No flashing graphics, logos or pull down menus.  Actually is it a basic free blogspot blog.  Simple design – black text against a white background.  His posts are extremely long, something that your ’suppose’ to not do.  The owner is Grizzly.  He does not reveal his true identity.  All that is known is that he lives somewhere in Northern Canada.  His blog is only 3 years old.  He does not participate in forums and does not do any Internet marketing.

But he is in the 4th spot.  He is doing something right.  With his completely non-traditional approach he has manged to make it to the top.  How does he do it?

Grizzly knows how Google works.  He can think like Google.  He does not care about having a great website, or people thinking of him as an authority.  All he cares about is making money online.  So he focuses specifically on Google and does whatever necessary to make money with it.  The best way to describe it is that he understands the underlying principle of Google and exploits it.  He focuses in on the fundamental principles of Google and does whatever necessary to make money.  He knows how to force Google to put him at the top.

The great part is that he does not keep it a secret.  If you read all his long well written posts, he reveals exactly how he does it.  You need to read a little between the lines – but it is there.  And his proof is not in words, but in results.  Do a search for ‘make money online’ and there he is – on the top.  He knows what he is doing.

How Am I Going To Get To The Top?

It is not going to be easy.  Both of the above examples are smart people.  Masters in their art.  They have completely different approaches, but both successful. 

My approach will be to learn from both.  Not to copy their approaches exactly, but to combine the two.  To mix the two approaches into a new hybrid approach.  Have a traditional website – brick and mortar, well built, organized and pleasing to the eye; patiently become a authority in the field and gain people’s trust.  But also not ignore what Grizzly has to say,  his approach is untraditional but cannot be dismissed.

Hopefully, by taking bits and pieces from the people at the top.  Combining it in a new way and creating something new, I can acheive my goal and become a member of the Top 5 club for ‘make money online website’.

To find out how this post will help me towards my goal please see post How to Make Money With Jesus.

In my twenties I really enjoyed reading.  Especially fiction.  One of my favorite activities was going to the book store and spending half a day there.  Browsing through the fiction section.  Looking at covers and skimming the back.  After a few hours of drinking my coffee and flipping through 20 books, I would pick one.  Pay the cashier and head home.

The next couple weeks were spent in a new world.  Early in the morning, before work, I would stop at the local coffee shop, order a large coffee and read.  An hour later, coffee gone, and 20 pages later my body and mind are ready for the day.  I could not imagine starting a day any other way.  Each chapter ends wanting more, and each chapter begins with promise of more to come.   I would wake up anticipating what will happen next, and then spend the day thinking about what had happened.

Everything was going great until I made a terrible mistake.  One that can never be undone.  An misstep that changed me forever.  I decided that I would try to write a story.  At first this does not seem like something horrible – what is the harm in trying?

The problem was not that I wanted to write a story, or that I tried.  The problem is that I purchased a book about how to write a book.  After reading the ‘how to book’ a bit of beauty left my soul forever.  I felt like a small kid who peeks around a dark corner in Disneyland and sees Micky Mouse without his mouse head.  Instead he sees a man with the head of the costume dangling from his hand and smoking a cigarette.  Mickey mouse will never be the same.

The ‘how to write’ book reduced fiction writing into a science.  It turned the author into somebody who’s job is to entertain me.  He has to create a story that I want to read.  Make strange and wacky characters, create unusual situations, build suspense.  Do what ever he can to interest the reader.

I use to think that an author was somebody who had a special connection to another world.  A world that only he has access to.  A world that he shows me with words.  I felt like I was peering at a privileged place.  I was not able to figure out why I enjoyed reading so much – I just assumed that it was magic.

But then the truth was revealed.  I was being played for a fool.  The author does not have a special connection to the universe.  He simply knows my weakness.  My need to be entertained.  The story does not come out of him through some special medium – he simple thinks to himself, “what can I do to make this character different, what can I do to surprise the reader.” 

So now when I read a fictional book the magic is gone.  When I come across some character with a odd trait I simply think, ‘great job Mr. Author at conjuring that up’, or when something unexpected happens in the story I think, ‘you must be really proud of your self for coming up with that twist’.  I use to think of an author as somebody who, late at night sits in his candle lit den, a quill in hand, putting to paper words sent to him from above.  Now I see him as a guy in a sweaty business suit, sitting in an office behind a computer, under florescent lighting, thinking, ‘what twist should I throw in now to keep the idiot reading.’  I had to stop reading fiction because it made me bitter. 

Warning To New Webmasters

Before I became a webmaster I was the innocent kid at Disneyland.  Mickey was a mouse that stood on two legs, magic mountain a place where the king and queen live. 

The Internet was a place where people exchanged ideas freely.  If someone had something to say they would create a website and tell the world.  Their only intent was to share.  To exchange ideas.

But now I know better.  Most websites are created to sell things.  Sites are optimized to get Google to notice them.  Words are chosen not because they tell the best story, or give the most accurate information, but because they bring the most visitors to the websites.  And the more visitors to the website, the more money is made.  Webmasters are spending a lot of their time figuring out where to place ads, how to best deceive the reader into clicking them.  They are constantly checking their stats, what page generates the most money, which page is under performing, what can be done to increase revenue.  Mickey Mouse is not baking chocolate chip cookies for Minnie Mouse – he is thinking about how the hell he is going to make next month’s rent.

Now when I arrive at a website, the first thing I notice is how it is being monetized.  Where are the ads?    What are they selling?  Why do they want me to click on that?  Are they telling me this because its true or because they are using keywords for Google’s sake?  I notice that a specific word is being used over and over again.  It is hard to read, but I know why they are doing it.  They want that page to be at the top of Google search results.

Members on forums are not simply being friendly by answering your questions and giving you advise.  They are hoping that you click on their signature link – visit their website – and buy whatever they are selling.  Like the guy who rings on your door, comes in and begins to vacuum your carpet.  He is not doing it because he wants you to have a dirt free floor, he is doing it hoping that you buy the vacuum. 

The Internet has turned from a place of wonder and mystery, into just another place to sell things.  So this is a word of warning to anybody wanting to become a webmaster.  Be prepared to loose your Internet innocence.  Be prepared to loose something that you will never get back.  Like my ability to sit in my favorite chair, sip on hot chocolate, and be taken away by a good tale.

Lets assume that you just started a site, or are planning to.  You are looking for advice and ideas.  The first instinct is to do a search on Google for your niche.  Click on the top results and have a look at what others are doing.

This website’s niche is making money online.  There are about 5 big players for this niche.  Websites and blogs that get thousands of visitors a day.  They are an outstanding success.  Make lots of money.  The Walmart, Mircrosoft, and Kellogs of the make money online niche.

All of them give advice on how to make money online.  They give tips about website design, what to sell, how to write, basically they answer the question: how to have a successful website.  They can do this because they have authority – their website is successful.  Do what they do, follow their advice.  It worked for them so it will work for you.

Wrong.

True – they know what they are doing.  They did all the right things.  The proof is their success.  If your goal is to have a website exactly like theirs then follow their advice.  Design it like their website, write like they write, post when they post.  Follow their advice and end up with a website very similar to theirs.  It will identical in all aspects except for one – the most important one.  Your website  will not be a success. 

The fundamental flaw in doing what the successful websites do is that you are setting yourself up to compete against the best.

Following Advice Of The Successful Leads To Failure

Lets say its the year 1300.  You live in a bustling medieval city.  And you are sick and tired of your day job – there is no point in plowing the local prince’s field.  You want to go into business for yourself.

You wander around town in your woolen tunic with hands clasped behind back, looking for business ideas.  You come across the city market.  Little stalls selling assortments of goods.  Mmmmm, maybe I should open up a stall.  But what would I sell, how will I sell it?  You look around for the busiest stall. 

Careful not to step in donkey shit, you make your way through the maze of stalls.  Most of them have one or two people haggling over trinkets.  No big money there.  Then suddenly you see it.  A stall with a lineup.  At least 20 people waiting in line, all of them happy and waiting eagerly to make a purchase.  The owner is gleaming as the money moves from the customer’s hand to his.  You have found a successful stall.  The sign above the stall reads, “Prowalkers – The best and biggest walking sticks in the city”.  The plan is to wait for the end of the day and seek advise from this great business man.

Hello, my name is Fergus.  I am tired of my day job.  I want to be successful like you.  What advise can you give me.  Being a kind and patient man the business man goes into a long lecture about what makes his business successful.    He tells you how to build the stall, how the merchandise should be arranged, how to advertise, and most importantly  – always smile at the customer and ask them to come back.  You thank the man for all the great advise.  Skipping home your main concern is whether to have the house re mudded or to buy a new apple cart once the silver coins start rolling in.

The next few weeks are busy.  Following the advise of the business man you set up your stall.  You are very pleased.  It looks almost identical.  The design is the same, the layout is exactly how he recommended.  He sells 9 foot tall walking sticks, you sell 9 foot tall walking sticks. 

Monday morning…the grand opening.  You wake up early and rush to the market, setup your stall, and wait eagerly for the masses.  The only worry is whether there will be enough room in front of the stall for all the hordes of people lining up.  Probably not.  But you console yourself by realizing that if they squish together then at least 30 people can stand in line.   The church bell dongs and the market opens.

By the end of the day you are in tears.  You sold only one walking stick and that was to the village idiot.  Weeks pass with little change.  Your stall receives very little traffic.  And the few that do visit already have a 9 foot tall walking stick.  Where did you get that you ask.  Proudly the man looks at his walking stick and replies, from Prowalkers of course.  He has been around for years, has the best walking sticks – everybody buys their sticks from him.

Two weeks later you are back in the fields digging up the princes potatoes. 

Do Not Follow The Successful

When your are starting off, it is very tempting to look at the successful site and do as they do.  This is a mistake.  By doing what they are doing, by following their advice, your site will be similar to theirs.  And that puts you at a major disadvantage.  Because then you have to compete against them.

The best way to use the successful sites is to try to find something that they are not doing.  Do something that they never mention.  Or best yet, do something that they recommend against doing.  Since everybody will follow the advice and not do it,  you will be the only one doing it.  While everybody is thinking about how to improve the horse carriage you will be creating the Model T.

The greatest opportunities and surprises are down paths least traveled.  Paths which start with a warning sign, “Danger, path unexplored – enter at own risk”.