Getting traffic and all that jazz

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   apricotposted 15 years ago

   Hello there anyone who has the time to read this,
   
   I need some help on getting traffic, RSS, SEO, backtracking and any other random terms that I just threw in and are completely meaningless to me - before you direct me to such and such a hub, can I just say that I studied a whole load of them yesterday and after two and a half hours my head was fizzing. 
   Not that they weren't well written but I really need something step by step- no 1, sit down and switch on the computer - well perhaps not quite as basic as that but you see what I mean.  If there  is anything like that out there could someone direct me to it and if not, does anyone fancy writing it? 
   I shall go back and check the ones I read yesterday anyway as it might be that I was having an off day and couldn't understand basic English but all the same, any dummy-friendly advice would be very welcome,
   thanks!

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      Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      Sorry I apricot but I had to laugh at this one - you spent 2 1/2 hours and were still confused?
      
      I've been doing this for 2 years - it took me a year to understand keywords - another 6 months to understand a buying keyword.
      
      Unfortunately all the get rich quick merchants make it appear that this is all quick and easy to learn. It is not - I've been a computer professional for over 10 years, I have several degrees - I am not stupid - but making money online isn't something you will teach yourself in a weekend!
      
      It is definitly worth learning though!

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   lrohnerposted 15 years ago

   Apricot - The first rule of hubbing is write what you know about and write it well. Be sure to fix any typos, misspelling or grammar issues. Make the hub aesthetically pleasing through strategic use of pictures, photos, etc.
   
   The second rule of hubbing (if you are here to make some $$$) is to learn about keywords and how to research them.
   
   Let's say you write the BEST HUB in the WHOLE WORLD on pink pterydactyls and you rank #1 on Google, Yahoo and Bing for the keyword "pink pterydactyls". You walk around patting yourself on the back for a job well done. And then a strange thing happens... No one (except for some curious hubbers who aren't going to click on your ads) comes to read your hub. You get no visitors because no one gives a rat's butt about pink pterydactyls.
   
   So you do some basic keyword research and you find out that there are 10,000 people searching for "purple pterydactyls" each and every month. So you go back to the hub tool and write the BEST HUB in the WHOLE WORLD on "purple pterydactyls". You publish and wait for the rush of traffic, but the traffic never comes. Why, you ask? Because there are 10,000,000 articles and websites out there that Google respects that have all written about purple pterydactyls! You don't stand a chance of ever seeing the first page of Google.
   
   So you do a bit more keyword research and you say "Aha!". (Yup. That's right. Go ahead and say it...) You find out that "blue pterydactyls" has 10 gazillion people searching for the keyword every month and there are only 10,000 articles written about them, and some of the ones on Googles first page are pretty weak.
   
   So....back to the drawing board. You write the BEST HUB in the WHOLE WORLD on "blue pterydactyls". You publish it and wait, biting your nails until AT LAST! It reaches Google's first page! No, wait! It's in the #1 spot! Woo hoo!
   
   So, you watch your traffic climb every day and you see click after click on your ads. At the end of the week you check your Adsense account and find out you've made a whopping total of.............twenty-six cents?  What the........?
   
   That's because even though there was little publisher competition for the term and lots of traffic, there aren't many advertisers selling blue pterydactyls. If there aren't many advertisers bidding against each other, that means they're not paying a whole lot. And if they pay a pittance to place an ad, you'll only make a small percentage of that pittance when someone clicks on the ad.
   
   Make sense?
   
   Go here: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
   
   Find keywords that have good traffic (1,000+ per month -- make sure to change "Match" from "Broad" to "Exact"), relatively low or weak competition (on top of the keyword tool, Google the results and see what comes up), and a decent CPC ($1.00 or more).
   
   Learn keywords first and the other stuff second. Let me know if you need more help.

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      Flightkeeperposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Very nice summing up Irohner! Apricot, it's true what she says. Ain't life a heck?
      
      Also look at Helen Cater's hub on explaining Keyword Tools, her writing style made me understand it too.

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      prettydarkhorseposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      thanks so much for this information, and flightkeeper thanks for telling about ms helen, will check it out too..

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      apricotposted 15 years agoin reply to this

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         lrohnerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         You're welcome.

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      assemberposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Thats the best piece I've read about this for a while
      
      
      
      

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      rebekahELLEposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      this is helpful thank you for making it clearer. I was excited yesterday. I had my first .83 click. I had to look at it a couple of times. it's so helpful to have people who willingly help here in the forums.

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         lrohnerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         That must have really felt wonderful! Now keep it up!

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   Helen Caterposted 15 years ago

   Apricot I know how you must feel, and I know you will do great because you are tackling these things early on. Read, read, read is my best advice, and finding those simple to follow guides is tough when you don't understand the simplest of things. Thanks guys for pointing out my hubs as being helpful, I am honoured. I tried to explain in the simplest terms, but take one day at a time, and you will leatn something valuable from every hub.

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   Jane@CMposted 15 years ago

   I'm still learning after 4 months.  I listen carefully to those in the know like lrohner and other hubbers.
   
   Keep at it, take a break when you need to.  There is always helpful people around here, a ton of well written articles on keywords, SEO, and backlinks.  It takes time to read them, but they are well worth the read.  Just do a search

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   gracenotesposted 15 years ago

   Apricot,
   Don't feel too badly.  I am in the same boat.
   
   I was a librarian for many years, and you would think I, of all people, would understand everything about keywords, because, really, they are the foundation of various forms of database searching.
   
   But, what I learned over many years, is that the context sometimes is key.  As a librarian, I understood the difference between keywords and text words, and how important that is, but for all practical purposes, they don't carry the same distinction when you speak of searching the web.
   
   When I go back to have lunch with some of my colleagues, they don't have the foggiest notion what I mean when I spout terms like "keyword density" or "long-tail keywords." (Frankly, "long-tail" keywords still are a mystery to me!)
   
   Take time to learn the nomenclature; I know you will get it, but I really believe the learning curve is steep.  Good luck!

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      Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Long tail keywords are probably better called keyword phrases - if a keyword is blue widgets a long-tail is : "blue widget hallowean costumes for kids"

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         rebekahELLEposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         ahh, thank you.

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   Blogging Erikaposted 15 years ago

   The first step is to write good content!  All that SEO stuff is just the icing on the cake.  The cake is the most important part!  (It's also the hardest work, which is part of why people get so focused on SEO projects.)
   
   When you're ready to dip your toes in, pick ONE thing.  Start with ONE of the acronyms or methods that's confusing you.  Google "What is X" and read the articles.  Dig deep, ask questions, and don't get distracted by other stuff.
   
   It's like the difference between saying "Teach me American history" and saying "Who is Rosa Parks, and why was she important?"  It's a big field, so break it down and focus.
   
   You can do this!

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   Flightkeeperposted 15 years ago

   Rebekah, didn't that first substantial click feel like you won a million dollars?

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      rebekahELLEposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      yes, it did!! and it was right after HP had sent out that email with the video about making top 100, it was like a million dollars.

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