Cargo Cult Websites
Okay, so this post has been sitting here for a few days and I can’t take it any longer…
So it's hard to rank an info site for buying keywords.
It's
not hard to rank an info site for buying keywords.
Does the opposite effect ecommerce sites? As in, do they have a tougher time ranking for informational keywords?
No.
Now that I have that out of the way.... In [size=+2]
practice [/size] it's very hard to consistently rank info sites for buying terms *and* to rank ecommerce sites for popular info terms.
You basically explained why it's difficult in your post. Too many people talk about info sites, aff sites, ecommerce sites
when they should be thinking about "Insurance website", "Pet website", "Medical website".
The difference is how Google
looks at your
niches. What is the easiest way for Google to find an ecommerce site? Just look for thin content that is mostly duplicated (in tone if not outright text) across many other websites. Even ecomm sites with 10,000 pages are usually made up of manufacturing written sales content that is often just slightly changed by the site owner. Most of their "fresh" content has been whipped up by a Internet marketing person to the drum beat of, "Google loves new content" and "how much $$ for 400 words?". Now, add in a bunch of iffy links and you have ID’d most ecomm sites.
Yes, Google loves new content, but what they
really love is content with new ideas. New idea content will support link and social building campaigns without raising alarm bells at Google. You don't need an ecommerce site that sells golf accessories - you need a website that helps *people* become better golfers (gophers anyone?) or helps them look informed or cool to their bosses or potential clients on a golf outing.
Your website helps *people* - You just happen to sell golf products.
Cargo cult websites
Too many people see a nice ecomm site and think, "Heck, it's only 50 pages and I can get the product for the same price - I will RULE them with my L337 skillz!" I have done this myself. The problem with just looking at a website and copying what *appears* they have done is one that smacks of a
cargo cult mentality. After WWII some islanders built fake runways, fake guard towers and fake airplanes on the ground. They fully expected clothing, food and other modern conveniences to just drop out of the sky - and why not? They watched the allies build an infrastructure and wondrous things were parachuted in… like manna from heaven.
I think all too often we just copy what we can see – the website, images, products, backlinks, social profiles etc… But, we miss something critical, *value*. The allied air drops didn’t happen because things were built.
The air drops happened because the islands were valuable. The infrastructure was created to handle the air drops which were coming regardless of the runways and towers.
So how does this fit with an ecommerce or info site:
Allied air drops = valuable customers
The islands = websites
The islanders = us, the website owners
I posted about a website with *amazing* content (it gave me tons of ideas) here:
http://www.wickedfire.com/traffic-content/172930-becoming-expert-your-product.html
He has a valuable island with regular air drops, but he’s not selling. If that man would begin selling wind chimes on his site he would probably kill it. The competition could just shut down. Why? Because he comes across as *the* authority on wind chimes. He is the reason that manna comes from heaven and I think this is my point:
Be the reason and then it doesn’t matter if your site is ecommerce or informational because the air drops will come.
