First Website Flip!

After months of fine tuning the EbookReadGuide site, I finally sold it for a cool $16K. This is my first sale and I really got lucky. Just to recap, I got the site back in December of 2009 and the first buyer actually backed out and I had a second chance to buy the site. I guess you can say I was destined to own the site.

I've learned a lot in terms of SEO and how to market the site. I own most of that to the original owner who taught me wordpress and a few things about article marketing.

My next project is to bring another site (My iPad News) I recent bought and ride the iPad wave. The niche will be very competitive, but I'm confident that I can make another successful flip!

The take away from my experience is to write good money articles and starting pointing relevant links at it. This was the most important thing that I've learned through the process and I intend to use the same techniques for other sites.

Checking If Site Is Banned By Google

Sometimes a website can be banned due to using blackhat strategies which violate Google's policy. Before bidding on a site, you should check whether it's been banned because you can't participate in there adsense program. To check a site, just entered the url at IwebTool.

If a site is relatively new, then perhaps it hasn't been indexed by Google, but if the site is established, then it will show up on the results.

You can still buy sites that are banned, but it limits your earnings potential as most search engine traffic is from Google. Other options include using other pay per click (PPC) advertising/publishing sites (e.g. Adbrite).

It will also be tough to resell the site if it's been banned, so make sure you research before buying a site with page rank of 0.

Does Commenting On Blogs Improve Traffic?

Google seems like to blogs and ping them more often than 'normal' websites. That's why it's important to comment on blogs (ideally w/ high PR) that are focused on your niche. Many blogs allow html tags within the comment, so use it wisely! Also keep in mind that some blogs are no-follow or that the link will not count in google's eyes, so make sure it's a do-follow blog. One way to do it is highlight the text and then right click to view the source. Anyway is to get Firefox's free nodofollow add-on and start commenting to increase traffic today and ranking!

3 Way Link Exchange

We all have heard of link exchanges, but what is the best way to do it? One of the simplest forms of exchange is asking someone else's site to exchange links (2-way link) to your site. This has worked in the past, but google has caught up to the scheme and the latest exchange idea is called 3-way link exchange. How does it work you ask? The best way to think about it is to assume that you have two websites (one w/o a page rank (site1) and the other a high page rank (site2)). The idea is to get links to your site1 site by leveraging your site2 site. Let's say you want to exchange site1 links with another site (site3). With 3-way, you would link site2 to site 3 and then site 3 in return would link to site1. Sounds complicated? It's really not if you think about the real purpose behind the shell game. The idea is to fool google so that it can't determine the relationship between the sites and make it seem like the links are natural (i.e. result appear to be 1-way links). Right now, I'm negotiating with someone (PR4) to link to my PR2 site (Ebook Reader Guide) and see if that will improve my page ranking. Try it out yourself!

Kindle Covers and Cases

One of the best articles on the Ebook Reader Guide site is an article by the original owner on Kindle accessories and continues to perform well after the holidays. If you are one of the lucky individuals who received an Amazon Kindle for Christmas, then make sure you protect it with a cool Kindle cover!

You don't have to spend much and at minimum get a screen protector which only cost a few dollars. Depending on how and where (e.g. at home/office/traveling, etc) you use your Kindle, you should consider get a nice protective cover or case. They come in variety of colors and some are even hand made! For a top list of Kindle covers check out this link: Top Kindle Covers and Cases!

Exciting Times for the Ereader Market

Ebook Reader Guide site has been performing pretty well during the Xmas rush and continues to provide decent flow of customers who bought the Amazon Kindle. Most of the traffic are people looking for Kindle accessories (e.g. Kindle covers and cases).

I've also been trying to keep up with posting a few times a week. It's a lot of reading to prepare for an article, but it's getting easier. What keeps me going is the thought of providing useful information for those interested in the eReader. The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) this week has provided a glimpse the competition. This year could define who controls the market going forward and everyone is eager for Apple to enter the market with an eReader/tablet (rumored to be named iSlate). Exciting times!

HOT New Niche - Ebook Readers

I've just completed another transaction by investing in the hot e-book reader niche. The Ebook Reader Guide blog is a wordpress blog and since I am a newbie on this platform, the original owner was very helpful during the whole transfer process. I would say it's the best experience by far!

I was the 2nd highest bidder on the original auction, but the 1st bidder failed to follow through, so my gain (or loss)! Only time will tell. As for revenue, I'm optimistic on the remaining X-mas days and don't expect much traffic after the holidays. My hope is to hold it until next X-mas and cash in on the hot ebook reader market.