“Make Money Online” is Not the Only Keyword Out There
Posted on April 21, 2007 by
Adie 
SEO 
33 Comments
So I know everybody who visits my blog is most likely a reader of John Chow dot com as well and have been following his blogging experiment over the past few months. I have seen so many mini John Chow sites pop up over the last few months it’s insane - not that there’s anything wrong with seeing that something works and trying to emulate it. There is, however, a distinct difference between copying one or two ideas of a successful individual and re-creating every single one of them stride for stride.
What I’m referring to specifically here is the whole “make money online” keyword thing. I won’t link to any specific blogs because all of them seem to be good in nature, and I don’t want to seem like a jerk. But almost all of them follow the characteristics of 1) a blog about blogging 2) a journal of how their blog about blogging will lead them to financial freedom. Like I said, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with this, it just irks me a little bit to see so many people copying what John is doing either not knowing or ignoring the fact that their chance at success is little to none.
So you want to do like John and create a blog that teaches others how to “make money online” - that’s fine. I admit the final push that led me to start this blog was seeing John’s success. The problem I have is when people start duplicating what people like John do word for word without stopping to think why or actually weighing the pros and cons. Yes I took a page from the John Chow playbook and started doing reader blog reviews. There’s nothing wrong with taking an idea that works and implementing it. But if all you are doing is re-creating someone else’s success stride for stride, word for word, you’re destined to fail. In this case I’m talking about the people trying to do the same as John by ranking in the SERPs for “make money online”.
Let me ask you guys a question, what is the probability that any of these new “Make Money Online with John Doe” websites will successfully rank for the keyword phrase “make money online”? Slim to none. John was able to do it fairly easily by leveraging his tens of thousands of readers to skyrocket him to the top of the SERPs for “make money online” (although its relevancy has been questioned by some, but that’s for another post). This in turn led a ton of his readers to target the same keyword phrase. Why can’t they recreate John’s success with this particular keyword phrase?
1) The bulk of John’s readers (at least the ones who come to his blog for advice and not just entertainment) don’t have tens of thousands of readers to leverage.
2) When John started to optimize for “make money online” it was a moderately well-searched keyword, but there was still a managable amount of competition. Now that John has posted this SEO experiment there are so many people trying to rank for this phrase it’s crazy.
3) Most of these people have just seen how easy it was for John to rank for this phrase by just putting up a little incentive for his readers to linkbomb him. Most of them don’t know that for the non-celebrity SEO is much more difficult and much more expensive.
Can some of these people actually rank well for “make money online”? I’m sure they can. But be realistic. Unless your blog is getting a few thousand uniques per day at least then there’s no way you’ll rank for a competitive term (especially this one as the competition has skyrocketed now) without investing a hell of a lot of time and money. Anyone can rank for any phrase, but it costs.
I’m really not trying to rain on anyone’s parade here because I think it’s great that so many people are trying to break into the internet as a money-making medium. But you have to take lessons such as the “make money online” experiment and apply them to your own ventures. Just because John linkbombed his way to the top of the SERPs for one keyword doesn’t mean you have to try to do the same. Take his method and apply it to a different keyword. Revolutionary, right? You’ll see much better results. And who knows, you might actually learn to make a living online.
Use Aaron’s Keyword Suggestion Tool to get you started.
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Amen to that.
Took the WORD right outta my mouth.
So, I’ve had a question about anchor text. Is it the whole anchor text that helps rank for SERPs, or can part of it help?
For example, when I get a link to WalletRehab.com with the anchor text “Wallet Rehab - Ways to save money,” does it help my SERP when people search “ways to save money?”
If you have the anchor text “ways to save money” then yes it will help your SERPs for “ways to save money”. If you want to rank on page 1, however, you have to have more links (roughly) than the guys currently on page 1 for “ways to save money”.
You are right, I used to imitate “make money online” for a lil while till I realized that I gota be original. Either or I’m getting god enough traffic with my PR 3 site.
god enough traffic i mean
Unfortunately, this is the story of the “make money online” industry (not pointing a figure at John…his approach to almost everything he does is rather unique… i.e., “evil”… which actually boils down to his sense of personal style and charisma).
Most people who look to make money online don’t seem to have an original idea in their heads. But I think it’s got more to do with the fact that they just don’t understand how important it is to sort through what’s there and to get the good stuff out.
Yes, in general, it must be said that sites about making money online are more likely to make money for you than many other topics. But that’s only because so many folks are desperate to learn how to do it. BUT unless you bring a really unique style or some previously uncorked information to the table, no one will really care what you have to say. Yes, some newbies will listen for a short while, but then they’ll find out who the real movers and shakers are in this niche and they’ll leave you in the dust. You can’t grow a business that way.
Better to ask yourself the question that I ask myself before EVERY SINGLE undertaking: “What can I offer that’s not already being offered? What do I know something about and have an interest in? If others are already doing this topic, what can I do that’s better, more unique, more stylish or more complete?” If I can’t give a substantive, constructive answer to those questions, then it’s time to move on to another idea.
This has been something I’ve wanted to write about as well, kudos for doing it first, Matt. Great post.
“John was able to do it fairly easily by leveraging his tens of thousands of readers to skyrocket him to the top of the SERPs for “make money online†(although its relevancy has been questioned by some, but that’s for another post)”
Now this is another post I would love to read. Personally, I do have some qualms about John ranking for the term when his blog is not as relevant as other first page results out there.
Yeah, this keyword of make money online has really gotten out of hand. I remember when it first happened and a lot of blogs switched there title bars and stuff.
The “get rich quick” thinking applies to everything in life. I’m afraid John Chow and his eventual successors will keep the ball rolling on the keyword bandwagons.
[...] Coddington writes about how “Make Money Online†is not the only keyword out there. While his article mainly revolves around John Chow’s SERPs manipulation, the main point is [...]
very good post Matt. Ive noticed that a lot recently whilst reading blogs. Im sure ‘making money online’is a term that brings in a lot of traffic but so many blogs are trying to get top for the search phrase that its become saturated.
i think there is way too many blogs about making money from bloggers who arent actually making money. Its the blind leading the blind. I think that a lot of great information can come from bloggers who blog about their blog journey etc but i also think that they are promoting a lot of spammish type advertising methods. This whole review me for a link exchange and the technorati fave exchange etc - theyre just get rich quick type schemes. I think that encouraging bloggers to link bomb their way to the top of the search rankings isnt such a great thing anyways.
again, great post Matt. :)
Kevin (Great domain btw)
How are the Technorati Fave Exchange or even the Review Me for a Linkback scheme ’spammish type advertising methods’? I hardly think that they are ‘get rich quick type schemes’ as well.
Or am I missing something here?
Good post and it also bothered me for about a second, til I realized that this is the way the world works and why let the little guys bother you? We all know less than 1% make it, and the ones who do make it - more credit to them. It applies to everything:
Didn’t every basketball player try to imitate Michael Jordan regardless of their skill level?
Doesn’t every peewee league football QB try to imitate Michael Vick’s running style?
Doesn’t every new startup think they are the next Apple?
[...] phrase “make money online.” Matt from NetBusinessBlog shows you that not only is it not the only keyword out there, but choosing it anyway will lead you [...]
I literally put up the keyword “make money online” about two weeks before john chow….and i think he stole it out of spite;)
but now the keyword has been diluted but im not sure what other keyword to use. any help?
You are dead on about the exponential proliferation of “making money” blogs. Most of them suck. I have been at this blog thing for three months and I read John Chow, NBB and a few others. I have used different ideas from different sites while trying to find what works for me. I am currently trying a “link bomb” experiment for the phrase “best hot dogs.”
I am not a techie, but I do have a pretty good understanding of “how things work” if it is explained clearly. This probably puts me at a disadvantage in this game, but that’s life.
One thing that I did glean from all the quality sites is the three things that you need for a successful blog are Content, Content and Content. I write about what I know; hopefully folks will want to read it. If I started a “make money online” site I’d soon be exposed.
In the future, I may do a “How I made money online” article, but I’ll be speaking from experience. Until then NBB, John Chow and the rest can compete for the “make money” crowd.
[...] “Make Money Online†is Not the Only Keyword Out There - Matt Coddington reminds some bloggers that there are other search terms besides ‘making money online’. [...]
Great Post! Amen Brother!
Fred
heh they all think they could be John Chow’s serps on “make money online” or they are just not smart enough to build site for seo and that’s just a slogan
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It is amazing that you are able to see that make money online blog don’t work so early. It is also a cert now that it don’t work.
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I like idea of your posting…..You can review and evaluate other people web/blog… to be more better…thanks…
Say what u want, people will still think it is
Keyword ranking is a much more exact and detailed science then it was years agao. Generic phrases such as make money online don’t do much for targeted traffic.
You have to zero in on exactly what your site offers and use these targeted keywords as anchor text along with quality content.
If only we already succeed making money using our own experience then we are qualified to write something about make online money..
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quite true. the competition’s quite intense now, and that keyword’s quite saturated already. still, i guess that won’t stop many people. :)
I agree, there are plenty of others niche keywords which you can target rather than make money online.
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