Hi,
It's been a bit more than a week since I've been a member here and I have enjoyed participating in discussions (a bit too much I may add). So, it was no big deal when I finally hit 100 posts today.
Rather than just posting 100 boobs - which I have -
I decided to go a step further and try and share what I've learnt so far in my endeavors. This is going to be a long one, so I suggest you'd get yourself a beer or two and go through it.
About my business
I primarily operate a website development company. But my main source of income is building either static or wordpress based minisites for clients on a large scale. I was one of the first people to launch such a service back in 2007 when not everyone was doing it.
My primarily clientele came through a landing page I setup and some PPC traffic. Fortunately, the very same clientele has stuck on and over the years me and my team have built hundreds of these websites.
Suddenly, everyone and their mother's started jumping the bandwagon and now every tom, dick and harry has a similar service to offer.
Other than these, I also dabble in offline production and manufacturing opportunities in order to diversify my business interests and also to retain a positive cashflow from as many avenues as possible.
Nonetheless, building these websites over the years has given me a very wise and acceptable approach to what works best and what doesn't on wordpress and minisites.
This article will be more about MANAGING multiple sites, rather than building them and since most owners who overwhelm themselves with multiple domains have little to no idea of what is to be done, this should come across as a little help.
I will be going through various aspects in the below article and hopefully, some of you can make good with the information provided.
1. Virtual Assistants
If you're serious about managing multiple web properties. At some point of time, you're going to need the help of a virtual assistant! There are multiple online outlets that you can make use of. I don't have the links handy at the moment, but should you need some outlet, send me a PM and I will provide you with the links that I have used.
Preferably, hire a VA who knows what he's doing when it comes to SEO. Blaze him with SEO Jargons and see how he reacts. The guy needs to be flawless when it comes to onsite SEO, at the very least.
2. Writers
Please don't confuse yourself between a VA and a writer. Allow a VA to be just a VA who "manages" your websites. While a writer's only job is to email you the content that you ask him to.
The VA's job is to research keywords and provide your writer with what to write next, the writer's job is to take in the instructions and churn beautiful LSI content that helps you rank. Period.
I never hire full time writers, except for those who work in my office. They tend to easily fall off the mark, if they don't see you glaring at them all day.
The Hiring Process
This is where most people get confused. They hire someone and something and then are entirely at loss for a minimum of one month. I wrote this on another forum and thought I'd post it here for WF members' benefit.
The reason I feel that it's not optimum to hire full time writers unless you have an office that works out for you is because things get redundant with them and there's a very high chance that they'll skip town in no time. Primarily because working full time from home lacks the discipline that an office environment can provide you with.
Whereas, VAs are secretaries who have to answer a lot of questions and are paid monthly via escrow, all the while reporting to a mother company, so there's less chance of them failboating.
Here are some tips that you may find useful
1. Try hiring near your home.
Preferably in the same state, or atleast the same country. This will give them a sense of discipline and fear of ownership and they will work diligently.
2. Start by testing them and their work.
And once you're done - Test them again. The bottomline is that - this is the INTERNET. Over the course of years of online hiring, I have come across many companies or middle men under the guise of Individuals. What this means for you is that you'll probably end up with articles coming from different writers for every job you assign. This will lead you to seeing an unbelievable rise and fall in the quality of those articles. Hence, even if you're on the umpteenth project with the writer, ensure that your VA proofreads them before submission.
3. Communicate.
Message back and forth and try to see how they answer those message. If the answer is in some kiddish or Mixed language, chances are your articles will be the same. Still if your articles are OKAY - move on, because you're dealing with a company.
4. Ask for Unique Samples
Considering the majority of articles available via eZine websites. There are many "writers" who merely copy paste these in a word file, add their name and send it over to you as a Sample. Ask to be shown Unique samples, that are found nowhere else on the internet. Better YET, provide them with a relevant topic and ask them to whip up a 150-200 word sample for you to scrutinize.
5. Cell Phone Numbers are important
Once you hire a writer, be prepared to be laced with excuses that range from deaths to accidents to God knows what else. I am not saying that these may not be true. I am not even saying that you shouldn't sympathize. But if these are redundant, skip shop.
When I hire a VA to work for me, I ensure that he possesses all of the below quality -
1. Flawless command over English and an impressive vocabulary.
So that you don't waste time trying to make out what he's saying. Also important for him to proofread articles from your writers before they go live. Incase you notice a linquist discrepancy in any part of your content on any of your website, you will have neck to grapple!
2. Good onsite SEO skills.
This is important. And needs to be thoroughly tested before hiring.
3. Great research skills.
The kid shouldn't be a homeschooled idiot, but rather a sharp individual with a flair for working and someone who keeps himself abreast of the various happenings. So if Google dances, you should expect an email from him.
This is also important for him to research various link building offers scattered around the internet and select the best of the best for you to chose from.
4. Creativity.
The guy should be creative with his ideas and not bound to one or more of the SEO blogs he reads.
Now comes the management part!
Let's take an example on where we're building 5 sites on the Home Insurance niche.
You begin by getting the site setup, either by you or by an outsourced service.
You then tap into your writer's resource and hire 5 writers to write 1 article a day for 6 days a week on. One writer per website.
Ensure that all articles are emailed to you and CCed to your VA.
Now his job will be as follows.
These five sites will be under the scrutiny of 1 VA. Yes, you read that right. It's just one Single VA.
1. Researching the best possible keywords for the sites. Carving out Post titles for the same and also mentioning the primary and secondary longtails to be included within the post. This email reaches your writers.
2. Retrieve finished articles from writers, make the post, at the same time add a relevant image with "alt text", meta description, unique page titles.
3. Ping this article from multiple resources.
4. 5 out of those articles go straight to the website. The sixth article is used in a third party web 2.0 property - which again is created by your VA.
6. Suggest link building methods. Scout the internet and forums for various link building packages. Alternatively, if you're paranoid you can select packages that you like, copy them to a Document editor, strip all the contact info, export it as a PDF and email them to him to chose from.
6a. Analyze reports sent by these LinkBuilders and provide you with the outcome and the success rates.
6b. Analyze SERP jumps after the campaign has run it's course.
7. Perform top notch Onsite SE Optimization for your website.
8. Reply to comments, pay heed on the website's mailboxes.
9. Adjust your banners and ad campaigns for the best possible CPC.
10. Generate ranking results, your SERP listings, the rise and fall and intimate you timely.
To the infographic freaks, allow me to demonstrate my leet photoshop skillz!
Basically, VAs are in place Take care of your admin work - Anybody who has ever tried running a business for themselves understand that there is a huge amount of admin involved. Most of it requires little thought or knowledge but unfortunately needs to be done and can take up a huge amount of time and energy.
Most people tend to confuse them with full time link builders and/or writers. Hire them as assistants and make full use of the Freelance world.
The end result will be a noticable increase in Productivity. And more chances of scaling and actually achieving things.
There goes my 100th post! Comments, Suggestions, Feedback, Criticisim welcome!
Have fun!
It's been a bit more than a week since I've been a member here and I have enjoyed participating in discussions (a bit too much I may add). So, it was no big deal when I finally hit 100 posts today.
Rather than just posting 100 boobs - which I have -
I decided to go a step further and try and share what I've learnt so far in my endeavors. This is going to be a long one, so I suggest you'd get yourself a beer or two and go through it.
About my business
I primarily operate a website development company. But my main source of income is building either static or wordpress based minisites for clients on a large scale. I was one of the first people to launch such a service back in 2007 when not everyone was doing it.
My primarily clientele came through a landing page I setup and some PPC traffic. Fortunately, the very same clientele has stuck on and over the years me and my team have built hundreds of these websites.
Suddenly, everyone and their mother's started jumping the bandwagon and now every tom, dick and harry has a similar service to offer.
Other than these, I also dabble in offline production and manufacturing opportunities in order to diversify my business interests and also to retain a positive cashflow from as many avenues as possible.
Nonetheless, building these websites over the years has given me a very wise and acceptable approach to what works best and what doesn't on wordpress and minisites.
This article will be more about MANAGING multiple sites, rather than building them and since most owners who overwhelm themselves with multiple domains have little to no idea of what is to be done, this should come across as a little help.
I will be going through various aspects in the below article and hopefully, some of you can make good with the information provided.
1. Virtual Assistants
If you're serious about managing multiple web properties. At some point of time, you're going to need the help of a virtual assistant! There are multiple online outlets that you can make use of. I don't have the links handy at the moment, but should you need some outlet, send me a PM and I will provide you with the links that I have used.
Preferably, hire a VA who knows what he's doing when it comes to SEO. Blaze him with SEO Jargons and see how he reacts. The guy needs to be flawless when it comes to onsite SEO, at the very least.
2. Writers
Please don't confuse yourself between a VA and a writer. Allow a VA to be just a VA who "manages" your websites. While a writer's only job is to email you the content that you ask him to.
The VA's job is to research keywords and provide your writer with what to write next, the writer's job is to take in the instructions and churn beautiful LSI content that helps you rank. Period.
I never hire full time writers, except for those who work in my office. They tend to easily fall off the mark, if they don't see you glaring at them all day.
The Hiring Process
This is where most people get confused. They hire someone and something and then are entirely at loss for a minimum of one month. I wrote this on another forum and thought I'd post it here for WF members' benefit.
The reason I feel that it's not optimum to hire full time writers unless you have an office that works out for you is because things get redundant with them and there's a very high chance that they'll skip town in no time. Primarily because working full time from home lacks the discipline that an office environment can provide you with.
Whereas, VAs are secretaries who have to answer a lot of questions and are paid monthly via escrow, all the while reporting to a mother company, so there's less chance of them failboating.
Here are some tips that you may find useful
1. Try hiring near your home.
Preferably in the same state, or atleast the same country. This will give them a sense of discipline and fear of ownership and they will work diligently.
2. Start by testing them and their work.
And once you're done - Test them again. The bottomline is that - this is the INTERNET. Over the course of years of online hiring, I have come across many companies or middle men under the guise of Individuals. What this means for you is that you'll probably end up with articles coming from different writers for every job you assign. This will lead you to seeing an unbelievable rise and fall in the quality of those articles. Hence, even if you're on the umpteenth project with the writer, ensure that your VA proofreads them before submission.
3. Communicate.
Message back and forth and try to see how they answer those message. If the answer is in some kiddish or Mixed language, chances are your articles will be the same. Still if your articles are OKAY - move on, because you're dealing with a company.
4. Ask for Unique Samples
Considering the majority of articles available via eZine websites. There are many "writers" who merely copy paste these in a word file, add their name and send it over to you as a Sample. Ask to be shown Unique samples, that are found nowhere else on the internet. Better YET, provide them with a relevant topic and ask them to whip up a 150-200 word sample for you to scrutinize.
5. Cell Phone Numbers are important
Once you hire a writer, be prepared to be laced with excuses that range from deaths to accidents to God knows what else. I am not saying that these may not be true. I am not even saying that you shouldn't sympathize. But if these are redundant, skip shop.
When I hire a VA to work for me, I ensure that he possesses all of the below quality -
1. Flawless command over English and an impressive vocabulary.
So that you don't waste time trying to make out what he's saying. Also important for him to proofread articles from your writers before they go live. Incase you notice a linquist discrepancy in any part of your content on any of your website, you will have neck to grapple!
2. Good onsite SEO skills.
This is important. And needs to be thoroughly tested before hiring.
3. Great research skills.
The kid shouldn't be a homeschooled idiot, but rather a sharp individual with a flair for working and someone who keeps himself abreast of the various happenings. So if Google dances, you should expect an email from him.
This is also important for him to research various link building offers scattered around the internet and select the best of the best for you to chose from.
4. Creativity.
The guy should be creative with his ideas and not bound to one or more of the SEO blogs he reads.
Now comes the management part!
Let's take an example on where we're building 5 sites on the Home Insurance niche.
You begin by getting the site setup, either by you or by an outsourced service.
You then tap into your writer's resource and hire 5 writers to write 1 article a day for 6 days a week on. One writer per website.
Ensure that all articles are emailed to you and CCed to your VA.
Now his job will be as follows.
These five sites will be under the scrutiny of 1 VA. Yes, you read that right. It's just one Single VA.
1. Researching the best possible keywords for the sites. Carving out Post titles for the same and also mentioning the primary and secondary longtails to be included within the post. This email reaches your writers.
2. Retrieve finished articles from writers, make the post, at the same time add a relevant image with "alt text", meta description, unique page titles.
3. Ping this article from multiple resources.
4. 5 out of those articles go straight to the website. The sixth article is used in a third party web 2.0 property - which again is created by your VA.
6. Suggest link building methods. Scout the internet and forums for various link building packages. Alternatively, if you're paranoid you can select packages that you like, copy them to a Document editor, strip all the contact info, export it as a PDF and email them to him to chose from.
6a. Analyze reports sent by these LinkBuilders and provide you with the outcome and the success rates.
6b. Analyze SERP jumps after the campaign has run it's course.
7. Perform top notch Onsite SE Optimization for your website.
8. Reply to comments, pay heed on the website's mailboxes.
9. Adjust your banners and ad campaigns for the best possible CPC.
10. Generate ranking results, your SERP listings, the rise and fall and intimate you timely.
To the infographic freaks, allow me to demonstrate my leet photoshop skillz!
Basically, VAs are in place Take care of your admin work - Anybody who has ever tried running a business for themselves understand that there is a huge amount of admin involved. Most of it requires little thought or knowledge but unfortunately needs to be done and can take up a huge amount of time and energy.
Most people tend to confuse them with full time link builders and/or writers. Hire them as assistants and make full use of the Freelance world.
The end result will be a noticable increase in Productivity. And more chances of scaling and actually achieving things.
There goes my 100th post! Comments, Suggestions, Feedback, Criticisim welcome!
Have fun!
