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    • Link Building
  • Tools
    • Tutorials
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Category: Money Site Creation

Building websites that makes money is what got me so interested in the online space. Within this category I share the exact strategies, tools etc that I use to make money from my sites.
Money Site Creation

How to Create an Epic Product Review

After many years of getting content created, I have had my team work on getting a great outline on what we expect in our review articles when we send them to our writers. There are many ways that you can create the articles, however, this format is one that I use with my sites as it’s one I see that has had great results in both ranking and click through rate.

The following steps will outline a more in-depth the process of creating a stellar review and getting the results you would expect from including them on your website and other online platforms:

Choosing a Niche and Keyword Research

Clients that approach us already know their niche and what products and topics their website and business will be focused on; however, they may have not already completed the keyword research that is needed to come up with the right titles and reviews for their websites.

When choosing which product to review, it is important to fully understand the niche that you will be covering. Keyword research will help to streamline search engine optimization (SEO) and bring in more targeted results, which, in turn, generate improved profits.

Keyword research helps to build up a list of relevant and important topics for the niche. When using a keyword research tool or program, it is likely that you will be presented with an extensive selection of potential keywords that could lead to generating increased traffic and sales. However, you want to narrow down this massive list to a select few keywords that are highly targeted to the particular niche to be presented. It is these keywords that will provide more inherent value for the website and drive more traffic to your website.

When narrowing down the list of keywords, you need to determine how competitive the niche keyword phrases are and narrow down the intended audience; this can be done based on the client or audience and the location in which they feel is more relevant for their rankings.

Once the list has been narrowed down, it can then be customized to more specific metrics. Keywords we select will have over 500 monthly searches and are under 30% competition. The keywords used should be able to generate more sales and should be optimized to rank higher in searches. This is an effective way to determine which products are most the in-demand and the best to be reviewing. If you are looking for some great keyword research tools to help with this process, please read our in-depth review that we did here.

Choosing the Products to Review

Once the keywords are acquired, there will be a greater idea of what products will need to be reviewed. Once the title has been generated, it is then the time to conduct some thorough research online to discover some of the best coffee makers there are currently available.

Amazon, for example, has countless assorted products to choose from and they already include a lot of the relevant information that will be needed to complete the article. However, it is never recommended to write a review based solely on the information provided on the Amazon link.

Instead, do some research, check other reputable sites, including the manufacturer’s sites, to acquire additional information that may prove to be useful in the product review article.

It is best to limit your reviews to the products that have received the most reviews and most stars. It is easier to find information for these products as well as user-generated testimonials highlighting the specific pros and cons of each—remember that very few products are perfect for everyone.

All the information gathered through the research process will then help create a more convincing, compelling, and accurate review with trusted and reliable information the reader can count on when making a final purchasing decision.

Hiring a Writer

Once you have determined the niche, the keywords, and the title for the review, it is time to find a writer that is up to the task of completing the article. If you missed my article on the best places to hire writers, you can find that here. Take into consideration the type of review that will be written, the purpose the review will serve, and what you want the review to ultimately accomplish.

For the example article of the Best Drip Coffeemakers for At Home Brewing, we are looking for a knowledgeable writer who understands the importance of keyword use and SEO and will be able to research a product thoroughly to dissect its value and key features. The review should be compelling and able to better position the website to be higher up on the go-to list of similar niche websites and it should also attract and entice visitors to visit the page, click on the links, and discover other products and services that the website has to offer.

Providing a Template

Providing the writer with a template is a good starting point for the article process so they are sure to touch on each element that is needed to create a well-rounded and complete review article. You can review the template we send to our writers here. For our coffeemaker review, we want to make sure to include all relevant information including the price range, key features of the product, and any pros and cons that there may be. The content should also be in a readable format that is easy to skim.

[thrive_link color=’green’ link=’https://docs.google.com/document/d/19kIAe9mPUul7kIIXGxcDXexrVTUpOZJ9z8pMN9wfv4U/edit?usp=sharing’ target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ align=’aligncenter’]Download the Template We Send to Our Writers![/thrive_link]

Long paragraphs will most likely be skipped over by a reader. Rather, smaller paragraphs, tables, and bullet points with appropriate headings and subheadings are an easier and more straightforward way to complete an article. It provides an easy-to-read format that can be quickly read by the potential customer and provides a clear and valuable comparison of each product that they can keep going back to without having to search within a wall of text for the information.

The following is an example of a good template to follow when completing a review article. It includes a breakdown of each section that should be included and provides an easy to read format and layout that will appeal to a reader interested in the product.

Example Template

Provide a Brief Introduction

As with traditional-style newspapers, the introduction should immediately grab the reader’s attention so they continue to read—headlines sell. The tone should be more conversational, as if you were talking to a friend, and provide valuable information that answers the initial question of the article. For the coffee maker reviews, we are looking for the best coffee makers for home brewing and we are using the article to present this information in a meaningful and valuable way.

  • Begin by creating a connection with the readers
  • Show understanding of the problem
  • Provide a viable solution

Introduce the Product

Next, you will be introducing the products. For this review article, we provided a link, image, and relevant information of the product in the beginning so the reader knows exactly what was being discussed. We then go on to discuss a few more elements including:

  • Who makes this product
  • Use bullet points to discuss the key features
  • Explain the purpose of the product
  • Share any pros or cons associated with the product

Describe the Results

In the first paragraph of each reviewed product, it is recommended to describe the product in detail and describe the results you will achieve from using the product. The paragraph should be short but include all relevant information pertaining to the product that you may not be able to find just through the key features and pros and cons.

Testimonials

Testimonials will typically include the pros and cons of the product and why the user would or would not recommend the product. However, it is best not to be too negative and instead provide a solution to a con or a feature that may help overcome this small downfall.

A helpful review will generally include a small list of pros and cons that include three to five bullet points each.

The following is a representation of how the customer reviews are displayed on Amazon. It provides a mix of one to 5-star feedback that can be used to better determine the product’s pros and cons. It can be used in addition to other research from other reliable sources.

Buying Advice

Buying advice can be included following the product reviews or at the beginning to accompany the introduction. If it is placed at the beginning, then the reader will have a better idea of what they should be looking for regarding the products. Likewise, if it is placed at the end, it will provide a refresher and a reminder of what they already read.

Conclusion

For the conclusion, you should write one to two final paragraphs that summarize the content of the product review article.

The summary should be a brief retelling of what was discussed and explain why the review article will help make buying decisions easier. Finally, the second concluding paragraph can include a recommendation section in which a product is recommended based on the reviews.

Other Relevant Information

As you can see from the example article, the format includes the introduction and buying advice, the introduction of each product including relevant information, the name, and the link where it can be found along with general and useful information. We then go into the bullet points of key features and then the pros and cons that can be expected from each product.

The format is repeated for each of the products being reviewed. A good review article will provide between three and five different product reviews to provide the reader with a plethora of information to help with their purchasing decision

A Call to Action

A call to action (CTA) is a brief statement at the end of a product review article that engages the reader and invites them to do something. Key phrases can be used for this including:

  • Find out More
  • Visit our site today
  • Contact us for more information
  • Click here for more buying options

The CTA will entice the reader to engage in a specific action as directed by the writer of the content and will make a compelling and creative addition to your content. Keep in mind the placement, the design, and the copy of what the CTA says.

There doesn’t have to be only one CTA per article. They can be strategically placed within the article to persuade the reader to continue for more information. In review articles, for example, you can include a “Click Here” CTA that will lead the reader to other information about the product or will provide them with the link they can use to purchase the product that is being discussed.

The design of the CTA should be appealing to the reader and can even be colorful to draw their attention to it. Finally, it should be noticeable on the page and stand apart from the other text.

The text of the CTA should be brief, straightforward, clearly written, and concise. Do not be afraid to be bold and compelling here; you want results and improved sales on the products you are marketing. Make the CTA stand out and serve its purpose.

Receiving the Completed Article

Once the writer completes the article and sends it back for review, the content can be edited and then upgraded, if needed, using MarketMuse.

MarketMuse is a content planning tool that helps content marketers and content creators maximize the value of the articles they are writing. The article is pasted into the box, the keywords are typed in and the title is included. Once all this information is entered, the content is analyzed to see what changes or improvements need to be made and offers ways in which the content can be upgraded to make it a more thorough and informative piece that will do better in searches.

MarketMuse offers three scores for the content. Under Content Analyzer, you will see the Content Depth Score, Average Content Score Target, and Best Content Score Target. Next to that information, you will find the approximate word count of the content, the average word count target, and the best word count target.

The Content Score will stack the content we have provided against other content that includes related information and will then be able to identify and provide topics that will be the most relevant to the page for the site and the competitors.

It will also be able to show how similar content ranks on search engines and the average word count and content score the other sites have generated. It provides a foundation on which can be built and improved on to produce higher quality content.

Steps to Improve Content on MarketMuse

  1. Enter the focus topic for the content

For this review article, we were targeted in on coffeemakers so that is what I will put in the space provided

  1. Next, enter the title of the article you will be analyzing

Best Coffee Makers for At Home Brewing

  1. Paste the content of your article in its entirety in the space provided under the Content Window
  2. Click on Analyze next to the focus topic box on the top right
  3. Wait for the information to generate including all scores, related topics, mentions, target, and competitor information
  4. Finally, use this information to plug in changes to improve the article and its content score. You can simulate the change to the score under the related topics box by clicking on the blue box with the + symbol next to the related topics
  5. For even more ideas on what you can include to improve the score, click on the lightbulb image, and it will provide you with several other keywords. Keep in mind, however, that some of them may not actually be related to the content you are creating, they are just offering suggestions
  6. Complete the article and the improvements and analyze the content one last time to be sure that your score is above and beyond the Best Content Score Target

How to Publish the Article

  • After the article has been written, edited, and plugged for improvements, it is now time to begin the publishing process. To publish the content to the client’s site, you will have to have access to their login information. Once you are able to sign in, you will then see the Dashboard.

  • Once into the dashboard, hover over the Posts icon and then click Add New to input the new article that will be published.

  • After clicking Add New, you can then upload the post. The Post Title or Post Heading should also be added in the red marked area and then you can place the content.

  • The heading options will then be provided so you can select the proper heading to use for the content and then follow up by clicking on Paragraph as you can see in the example below.

  • During the publishing process, you are also able to edit the content, add all appropriate headings and subheadings, include images or media, and then input all the SEO Information as shown below:

  • Next, choose the appropriate category for the post, add any relevant tags, and the featured image
  • Finally, you can post the content as Draft by clicking on Save Draft or you can go ahead and publish the post right away after review by uploading the post as Publish by clicking on the Publish Button. You will then be able to view the post to see what the final product looks like after it is published.

Choosing Images

Knowing what kind of images to include and where to get them from can pose a challenge. When looking for images, make sure that they are relevant to the content you are publishing are of superior quality, original, and will appeal to your target audience.

The images for a product review will be of the actual products so the reader will have a better idea of the style and look of the product they are about to purchase. In the case of our Coffeemaker review, other relevant images could include a cup of coffee, a travel mug of coffee, or anything related to the at-home brewing process.

Avoid lower quality images that cannot be correctly sized or appear too blurry. These types of images can actually detract from the quality of the writing. High-resolution images are best and will make an impressive and professional appearance on the site.

Just as you would include a CTA at the end of the product review, the images should also invite a call to action. The image of a steaming cup of coffee may be enough to inspire the reader to crave that cup of coffee, making it more likely that they will read on to learn about the coffeemaker options they can purchase for their own home.

Conclusion

Writing a compelling and informative product review article, while time-consuming, can lead to greater success online in terms of attracting the target market, improving search engine results, and increasing sales generation and traffic.

Hopefully, this article helped highlight the various steps involved in the process from start to finish.

It is never advisable to underestimate the results that can be achieved by writing a detailed product review article. Even statistically speaking, a consumer is less likely to purchase a product if they are unable to read reviews on the item. Reviews are especially practical for online and other web-based sources because the consumer cannot try the product before purchasing. They are relying solely on the information being provided and the reviews.

Readers will look first at the product ratings for various items and will most likely ignore any products that are rated below three stars. They will then click on the product with the higher ratings to learn more about it and then begin to compare the available reviews.

Therefore, a product review article definitely is an essential tool to include in your arsenal when it comes to improving sales, generating traffic, and seeing continued success within your niche.

If there anything you think I missed that should be included in the review post I would love to hear about it!

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Jon April 16, 2018 0 Comments
Money Site Creation

The Value of Content Upgrades

Most posts on the internet teach you how to create articles, but none really tell you how to take an existing article and turn it into a top ranking article on that topic. We have worked over the last few year to bring you this tutorial by running different tools and monitoring the success and the outcome from those tools. Today we will show you the tools that we believe are the best (and the ones our team uses) in order to get the most predictable outcome.

When we create sites and get content created we never really think too much about going back and fixing or changing the articles. We let it sit and hope it ranks well. Over the last few months, I have had my team at ContentRefined take some older sites, run it through MarketMuse, adjust the content and see how it does. The results have been great! I have found that sometimes if you have an article that’s not really moving in rankings, you add a bit more content and input some of the words Marketmuse suggests, you should be able to find your rankings improve over the next few weeks.

As always, whenever I find something really good, I love to share it with my audience so that they know how to do it too.

How Do We Do Content Upgrades?

There are several tools available that can help successfully upgrade content and provide more valuable and in-depth information. MarketMuse is one viable tool that is easy to use and provides you with a starting off point for what needs to be done.

Steps for Using MarketMuse

Step One: Sign into your MarketMuse account with your credentials and you will then be taken to the dashboard where you will see the Content Analyzer tab.

Step Two: Find the article that needs to be upgraded and copy and paste it into the box labeled Content. Type in the title of the article and then go above that and type in the focus for the content that MarketMuse will be analyzing.

When finished, click Analyze so that it can generate your results. The results will show several factors including the Content Depth Score, the Average Content Score Target, and the Best Content Score Target.

It is important that after the content upgrade, it is far beyond the Best Content Score Target. Otherwise more work will need to be done to get it to the place it needs to be for better results.

  • Remember, you are most likely going to have to increase the word count of the existing article to be sure that it is on the level it needs to be to compete with the other sites.

Step Three: Review the results and then thoroughly read the article from beginning to end. Pay attention to the quality of the writing, how valuable the information contained in the article is, and then look for basic grammar, sentence structure, and word choice.

  • The right-hand side of the report offers you related topics and keywords that you can plug into the article to improve the score. It also shows how many times that particular keyword was mentioned in the article.

Do not use keywords as fillers or try to place them where they do not belong. The keywords being used should make sense, fall into line with the article, and not clutter it up with unnecessary words and filler.

Step Four: After filling in some relevant keywords as described above, you can then begin to take a closer look at missing words and missing subjects. You will be able to see if there are any relevant topics or information that should be included that the previous writer of the article may have left out.

Step Five: Begin adding to the word count by covering the missing topics. Even adding just a small paragraph with four sentences to discuss a missing subject can help raise the content score of the article.

Step Six: Run the article through MarketMuse one more time to see what your revised score is after making all the edits, improvements, and additions, and you are ready to send it off.

MarketMuse is just one useful tool that can successfully help you upgrade the article. Another useful tool when working on content upgrades is Cognitive SEO.

REMEMBER – This isn’t about stuffing keywords but about adding valuable/useful topics to the article to help it meet the searchers intent.

What is CognitiveSEO?

CognitiveSEO is another online tool that is designed to help people manage their SEO programs and it has an easy to use and well-designed interface.

Much like MarketMuse, Cognitive SEO will also analyze the content and track the site when comparing it to competitors. It will help provide you with a better idea on why your website and content may not be ranking as high as it should be and why your competitors are rising above you in the ranks.

How to Use CognitiveSEO

CognitiveSEO will be able to provide you with the SEO tools you need to help improve and increase your traffic.

Step One: To get started, you will first need to sign in with the proper credentials on the sign in screen.

Step Two: Open the Keyword Tool and Content Assistant and then copy a keyword you have on your spreadsheet and paste it into the keyword tool and content assistant.

Step Three: You will then copy CognitiveSEO Keyword Difficulty and the Average Content Performance to a Google sheet. Then open the article URL in the first column of your Google sheet and copy the title to the title bar and then copy the article content and click Check Score.

Step Four: You are then able to copy the metrics that CognitiveSEO provides you back to your Google spreadsheet and then repeat the steps for the other keywords until you have eliminated all of your Check Score credits.

MarketMuse Versus CognitiveSEO

Each one of these useful tools provide you with what you need to upgrade an article so it rises in the ranks and does better than previously. Each program has different offerings to help with the process and it is up to the user to decide which one is more beneficial for what they are trying to accomplish.

MarketMuse and CognitiveSEO both offer insights into potential improvements that should be made. MarketMuse ranks high when it comes to ease of use, customer support, and overall cost.

MarketMuse helps the user improve search engine rankings with more on-site effort than it does with link building.

MarketMuse also utilizes an easy to read scoring system. When scoring content, it will provide a different color to share with the user regarding the score. Red is bad, yellow is okay but offers room for further improvement, and green is good and is aimed at raising the score as high as it can possibly get without using invaluable or filler content.

It also offers several related topics and keywords that you can use to add content to the article. This can be achieved by adding keywords into the current article and also by adding in an additional content section to cover a keyword or topic that had been missed previously.

CognitiveSEO is another tool that is useful in upgrading content. However, it is not strong when it comes to keyword research. Instead, they are more focused on link building that will help enhance the overall value of the site.

CognitiveSEO offers a wide range of backlink analysis tools to help with link building and the interface was designed to be easy to use. They also offer different SEO management tools to help track the current campaign and any progress that is being made.

CognitiveSEO is also helpful when it comes to tracking your competition and managing the smaller and more delicate details of SEO.

Therefore, you must decide if you want to focus more on keyword research while upgrading your content or would you find increased success if the focus shifted more toward creating stronger backlink tracking and analysis.

Case Study

As usual, we don’t suggest things without testing the results ourselves first. We had a site that was doing pretty good with traffic and was sitting on the second page/bottom of first page for a lot of quality keywords. So instead of getting a new article creating towards that keyword, we already took an article that was working and ranking well and just improved the content. We were then able to get many of those keywords into the top 3 spots of Google. Also, to be completely transparent, we pointed 10 Use My PBN posts from Lightningrank to those pages as well.

We are now currently executing this strategy amongst many of my other money sites and the return in value has been fantastic.

The Importance of SEO

Whichever program you choose, SEO will always remain an vital component when it comes to website traffic and ranking and the success of your site.

SEO is what attracts potential clients to your website and this is done through the use of important and relevant keywords and phrases that are able to rank highly in search engines. There is a lot of competition so it is important that you rise above and improve your scores.

Organic SEO is an investment that each company should make for some very specific reasons:

  1. SEO techniques are always going to work. Data will be pulled from organic traffic from Google recently and all the techniques you use will remain the same and will work to help you improve traffic and gain a better position.
  2. SEO is cost-effective and, in regard to online marketing and advertising, it is a smart step to take to provide a good ROI. SEO will always remain relevant when it comes to the online presence you have established and continue to maintain
  3. More and more people are beginning to check online reviews before making purchases and this number will only increase as the age of digital technology grows. It is important that SEO is used so your site is easier to find during a search so that your own customer base can increase
  4. Content is key when it comes to online marketing. If you are not able to offer high-quality and valuable content, then you will lose your audience. Upgrading the content is just one way you can refresh the content and be sure that it remains relevant and reliable. You want them to find your site for the answers, rather than your competitor’s sites.
  5. Finally, stay above your competition. Upgrading your content is a viable way to stay above the competition and rank higher. You will find greater success in the online marketing world if you have a solid SEO strategy in place. Do not find yourself stuck with little to no organic keyword data and traffic.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, the world of content marketing online is extremely competitive and upgrading your content is just the first line of defense when it comes to conquering the competition and being able to provide valuable, relevant, and fresh content for your audience.

Utilizing the right SEO tools when upgrading your content can lead to an easier and better way to track data for you or your competitors, can help build your SEO rankings in several different ways, can help improve the traffic going to your site, and can also help to improve your website. If you are interested in having a hands off approach to this, we offer this service through Content Refined. If you are interested you can book a call with our team and we would be happy to discuss your needs!

If you test this out I would love to know how your results went!

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Jon April 9, 2018 0 Comments
Money Site Creation

How to Make a Website That Makes You Money

In 2017 my team and I will each start and build a website that will make enough money to cover the cost of our mortgage and will show you everything we do here so you can join us! This page will grow into a MONSTER free course on how to make a website that makes you money! We will provide you with everything you need to build a website! Whether you are looking at how to start a blog or how to build a website for your business this detailed tutorial and support community will help! Want to Participate in a FREE Community to Build or Grow a Website That Makes you Money in 2017?

  • Step 1 – Signup Here
  • Step 2 – Join the Facebook Group HERE
  • Step 3 – See module #1 below and follow the Step by Step Video

If you think there are others that would benefit from participating in this challenge, PLEASE SHARE!   In this free training on how to make a website you will…

  1. Have access to videos/tutorials where you can build a website in 15 minutes (but that is just the start)
  2. See NO affiliate link to HostGator, BlueHost or other CRAPPY hosts that just pay a huge commission!
    1. NOTE – Other training that recommends Bluehost or HostGator is almost always only doing this because of how much $ the affiliate commission is and NOT because it is the best hosting solution for you!
  3. Get advanced training on all the aspects you need to be successful!
  4. Month by Month PLAN to achieve results!

 

Sections of Training

  • Module 1 – How to Select and Validate a Topic in 4 Steps
  • Module 2 – How to Make a Website (in under 5 minutes – seriously set a 5 minute timer for part 1 of this section!)
  • Module 3 – How to Grow Your Website (Easy Option and Advanced Option – Still Coming!)

 

Module 1 – How to Select and Validate a Topic in 4 Steps

“Do what you love BUT follow the money” Business Brilliant

Objective – Identify the topic and “blue-ocean” for your website topic Step 1 –Write Down a List of Problems/Passions/Knowledge Areas/Fears you have. If you are struggling to identify some of these aspects, look at your Internet History and your Amazon Shopping history. Pick 1-2 that jump out at you and continue working through the next modules until you have validated your idea. Expect this process to take a couple of iterations!

  • Personal Example –My case study “idea” (which still needs to be validated) is wanting to build a website around one of my staff’s passions… Nails and cool nail designs

Step 2 –Identify Similar Sites – In this step, find a list of sites that are along the lines of what you want to create.

 Step 3 –Define Your Blue Ocean – This step helps you define your unique “angle” where you combine 2-3 sites that show what your website will be about. In the book, “Made To Stick,” the authors talk about how pitching Hollywood movie ideas is done. For example, “think jaws in space” was for the movie, Aliens.

  • My Case Study Example – The site will be a combination of a beauty blogger, amazon associate site and consumer reports site specifically focused on the topic of nails.  

  Identifying the potential gap in the market was the central theme of the book Blue Ocean Strategy, in it the authors discussed case studies where entrepreneurs identified the under-served intersection of 2 existing markets. This strategy was described in the offline world but is just as applicable online. Step 4 (Optional) – Validate your idea with keyword research – At this point we don’t want you to spend TOO much time doing keyword research. It is more important to have a topic and blue ocean strategy then it is to have identified the “perfect” keyword but we do need to verify that people are also interested in the topic. If your goal is to build a website for profit then doing some basic keyword research will verify that there is a market.

  • Step 1 – use Ferzy (great free trial and easy to use!) to identify some potential keywords. We are looking to see keywords related to our topic with over 500 and ideally over 1,000 searches with SEO difficulty (a measure of how hard it will be to rank in Google) for

  • Step 2 – Identify some competitors and use SEMRush to verify that they are generating over 5,000 monthly visitors and the estimated cost of traffic which is just a measure of how valuable the traffic is is over $1,000. We don’t want to build a site in a space where no one has been able to be succesful and so seeing that both the keywords get some decent traffic AND there are succesful other sites in the space is a great sign we have a niche worth pursuing.

  Now that you have an idea of what your focus area is going to be it is time to identify a domain!  

Module 2 – How to make a website:

Over the last few years, I have been making websites, starting blogs from scratch and running them. I have come across different problems (Joomla, HTML, Shopify) and have had to find solutions on my own and systematize the process to maximize the chances of blogging success. I have decided to write this post to give beginners a fast, easy-to-follow guide to starting a website or blog, without having to learn HTML or waste your time reading long, boring tutorials. This step-by-step guide with videos will allow you how to setup a good site and get off on the right foot as well as avoid making expensive mistakes. Today, I am going to be taking you from start to end on creating a website which will work for your business and grow your online presence. The goal of this post is to not only help you grow your business but to do it the right way. I have had lots of experience and I’ve seen many people make mistakes when starting their blogs. I am here to help you so that does not happen. Take the time and read this post thoroughly. By the end, I hope you are confident in your ability to create a successful site. I am going to walk you through the entire process, one step at a time, so you get it right the first time. This is super easy for anyone to do. The process:

  1. Pick out and register your website address
  2. Getting started with WordPress
  3. Get your website online to be viewed by visitors on the internet

WordPress is used by millions of people all over the world including some of the biggest companies such as Forbes, Sony, Mashable, and many famous celebrities. You can easily grow your website using WordPress and in time, gain thousands of visitors. Why use WordPress?

  1. Highly Customizable
  2. Designed for everyone, not just developers
  3. Hundreds of themes and plugins to make your website the best
  4. It’s FREE for everyone to use.
  5. Safe and Secure

Before we get started with WordPress, we will have to pick out and register a website address (domain name).

Step 1: Pick out and register your website address

Choosing a domain name can be difficult, there is a lot to keep in mind; [thrive_toggles_group”][thrive_toggles title=”1. Easy to Remember, type and pronounce ” no=”1/3″] Don’t pick a domain that has lots of different symbols. You want something that people will remember; something that is brandable. [/thrive_toggles][thrive_toggles title=”2. Trustworthy ” no=”2/3″] Domain extensions like “.com”, “.org” or “.net” are the most popular, with “.com” being the one most people think of first. Try to avoid crazy or questionable extensions.[/thrive_toggles][thrive_toggles title=”3. Unique and Descriptive ” no=”3/3″] Choose brandable over generic. You want a name that reflects who you are and what you care about. [/thrive_toggles][/thrive_toggles_group]

For finding a domain name – I recommend a very cool free tool from Shopify and their NameGenerator.

Here you can go to the site, enter a query that suits your business and it will generate ideas for you to use as a website domain.

What is Web Hosting and Why Do You Need it?

Web Hosting is the service that keeps your site available for all to see. It displays and stores all the files, images and content that your site has. You need a web host in order to use your own domain name and allow your visitors to access the site or blog. There are hundreds of different web hosting providers. They all offer you a similar service (domain + hosting) with a similar price, but after many years of experimenting and creating hundreds of sites, I definitely recommend using SiteGround as your web hosting provider. Once you have a set domain name for your site in mind, head to SiteGround to officially get started.

NOTE – I Highly recommend not using BlueHost or HostGator… these 2 hosts are most commonly recommended but the reason they are so prominently recommended is because of their affiliate commissions! They offer up to $200 affiliate commissions so be wary of those recommendations!

SiteGround support is great, price/value is the best and it is the EASIEST to get a site setup with! You can have a domain bought, account created and WordPress installed in under 5 minutes. Trust me… set a timer here for 5 min and go through the next steps!

  • Go To SiteGround Click Here

The first thing you will have to do is choose a blog hosting plan. There is three to choose from…

  • StartUp
  • GrowBig
  • GoGeek

The StartUp plan is the best choice for one site, especially if you are new to website building however the other available options are good to if you want to have more then one site.

After choosing a plan, click “Get Started”. If you found a domain that interests you on NameGenerator then you can insert it and click “Register a New Domain”.

If you already have a domain and you are just looking to create a website you can click “I already have a Domain” and proceed. Once you have chosen your plan and found a name you like that’s available, you’ll need to register it by putting in your contact and billing information.

At Checkout, I recommend adding the Domain Privacy service so you know you are protected and all of your information is not posted to a public database.

The other Extra Services are not necessary.

Complete your registration and go to your email to verify your account and get started with the link.  You will also get an email that shares your login information, including an Admin URL. Software Installation will automatically create a WordPress site for you and have it installed. All of  your details are here, and your website is set. Login to your ‘Admin URL’ and get started. If you forget this URL, it’s simply www.yourblog.com/wp-admin (where “yourblog” is your domain name).

  • This is the easiest way to go. You are now done and WordPress is installed in no time at all! No need to worry about a download and having to find it in your files.

Did you do it? Were you able to setup your site in under 5 minutes?  

Step 2: Getting Started with WordPress

Congratulations! You have now set up your website and it is live on the internet. You have set up your site all on your own. As you can see, it was easy and straightforward to create a website from scratch.   You will first reach your WordPress dashboard in your web browser where you will have a toolbar on the left with lots of different options such as posts, pages, comments, appearance, plugins and settings. All of these will be useful and I will tell you how they work.

Step 3: General Site Set up

Here is a video walkthrough we had created to help you see over our shoulder as we setup a brand new website…

Before you start adding content to your new site, you will want to create the infrastructure for your site in “General Settings”. In General Settings you will need to:

  1. Site Title: Enter the Title you want your site to be called (usually similar to the domain name).
  2. Tagline: Enter the tagline you want for your site (note this is usually not the same as it was in this case)
  3. Site Address (URL): 99% of the time keep this the same as WordPress Address URL
  4. Email Address: Contact email address; used for admin purposes
  5. Choose Site Language

Be sure to SAVE CHANGES before leaving General Settings to move onto the next step of building your site.  

Configuring your URL Structure

No one wants an ugly URL but sometimes WordPress will have a default that sets it so when you create a new Page or Post, the URL will include the date as well as the name of the post (http://mynailguru.com/2017/07/26/sample-post/). A much better way is to use: http://mynailguru.com/sample-post/. See the difference? One is filled with irrelevant date information and the other one is short, clean and neat. In order to change your links to a more cleaner look, click on the Settings > Permalinks and use the following settings:  

Step 4: Choosing a theme and logo for your blog

After installing WordPress, it comes with a default theme. From the dashboard, hover over the home icon at the top-left of the page and click view website. This is what your WordPress website looks like straight out of the box. We are going to transform this in the next steps.

Theme

Now you have to install your website theme. Your theme is the design of your website. I recommend using  ThriveThemes (or you can use the WordPress free themes) and getting the entire Thrive Membership. It has great themes and easy-to-use plugins to make your blog awesome. It is a very useful tool and can be the only paid tool you get for your site. Many of the tools that come with the membership will be invaluable to help grow your site/business! Again you can use a free theme but if you have the budget I strongly recommend getting setup with a ThriveThemes membership to access their awesome tool kit!

Here you will also find the Themes templates you can download and try different ones depending on the style you are aiming for. You may also use a free WordPress theme for your personal website. I recommend the Thrive templates because they work very well and look nice on all types of sites.

After downloading a theme you can add a “New Theme” on WordPress (Appearance > Themes) and choose the file to upload from your downloads. Click “Activate”, and it is ready to go.

I used the Thrive Theme “Luxe”. Now I am going to activate my theme and start making changes to Customize it. Simply click Appearance > Customize for these next steps.

Here you can change your font, the size, the colors of your site, the tag and many other things I will introduce. You can also change the background of your site to a color or pattern.

For an example, I will pick a pattern. Colors > Background pattern. “Save & Publish”.

Logo

You will need a custom logo created for your website. I recommend using Fiverr to get a good logo created for as cheap as $5. On Fiverr there are many prices and people to choose from that will accommodate to what you are looking for. I bought my logo off of Fiverr and they also provided me with 4 different logo options to choose from for my site.

To add your logo to your site, go to your Thrive Dashboard. Here, in “General Settings”, you can upload your logo and choose its position. Be sure to “Save All Changes” at the bottom before viewing your site.

 

In my Thrive settings here, I chose the “Side Of Menu” as my logo position but the “Top Of Menu” is a great location too. This is what my header looked like after uploading the picture and saving all changes.

Now I want to make it bigger. To do this, I am going to go back to Appearance > Customize > Header, and change the logo width to make it bigger. “Save & Publish”.

The theme is all setup and you have a logo. Now you are ready to start adding content and making it your own.

Step 5: Site Set up – Customizing & Adding Content

In this section, I will show you…

  • How to create a Page and Post
  • How to create a Menu for your site
  • How to write a post inside WordPress
  • How to add images, links and format text
  • Some quick tips and tricks for writing great content

Creating Pages (Pages > Add New)

In this video walkthrough and section we will show you how to create a new page!

  1. Title Area: This is where you write the title of your post.
  2. Content Area: This is where the body text of your post goes. Here, you can type or paste your content.
  3. Standard Editing Tools: Here are options like bold, italic, lists, paragraphs, and headlines.
  4. Publishing Tools: You can save your draft or publish your content live by using the Publishing tools on the far right menu of the page. You can even schedule the page to be published later – or make the page private so only certain people can see it.
  5. Featured Image: You can select an image to be the header of your content on your page or post.

First of all, we need to set up our Front Page so it is a static page.

  To do this go to “Pages” and “Add New”.

You can name this page anything you want; something like ‘Home’ is fine. And click “Publish”.

Now go to Appearance > Customize > Static Front Page. Here we’re setting up our front page’s static to the front page we just created. Under “Front Page”, select ‘Home’ or whatever you named your page previously then click on “Save & Publish”.

These are the Pages I have created for my site.

You can start with creating a title for your Page and then add content when you are ready. With these pages we want to make a menu to be seen at the top of the site. Appearance > Menus. 

Name it anything you would like and then click “Create Menu”. Then you will chose the pages you want to be seen in the menu. For mine, I clicked “Select All”, to have Home, About, and Blog.

 

Now your menu will appear at the top of your site like this.

This menu consists of different Pages. There are also Posts you can create that will be in a Page. So for my Blog page I can create different Posts to be published on that page. 

Creating a Post (Posts > Add New)

Creating a post is the same process as creating a page. It is just the location of your content that is different. Your Posts are seen on a Page which you can choose and will see as you scroll down. A Page is on its own, visible in the menu bar (if you wish), and a post is the content that can be added to a page.

Once published, your new post can be found in the “All Posts” section of the “Posts” tab, so you can edit it at any time.

To add them to your Blog Page, go to Settings > Reading and select Blog for “Post Page”. Save Changes. Now, each time a new “Post” is created and published, it will appear on the Blog page.

Writers

Many people choose to write their own articles for their sites or personal blogs. Because I have so much on the go and many sites I am working on, I get my articles written for me. If you are also interested in doing this, I recommend using UpWork. On UpWork you will be able to post a job and find many qualified and talented writers from all over the world who will write for you while staying on a budget. I have been using UpWork for over 10 years and have come across lots of talent that has really helped my sites and grow my business.

Adding Headings

Headings help you structure your content and make it easier for people to read. Headings are best to add for titles and for each of your main points.

To add a heading, scroll up to “Paragraph” drop-down menu. Select the heading you’d like to use. Note that the “Heading 1” is usually reserved for the post’s title and the others are all different sizes you can choose from for the body of your content.

Adding Images

To add an image to a post as a header, click “Set a Featured Image” on the right side of your screen, select or upload your image, and update post.    

Before: Plain and Boring.

After: Something to look at.

  You can also add an image to your post. Click the “Add Media” button under the Title of the post. Tip: Before you click “Add Media”, be sure you’ve left your cursor inside of your blog post where you want the image to show up. Otherwise, you’ll have to move it later on.

Next, click the “Upload Files” tab on the screen that pops up, then click “Select Files”.

Once you’ve found the file, double click it and WordPress will upload it automatically.

When the upload is finished, make sure the image you want is selected, then click the “Insert into post” button to add the image to the post you’re writing.

 

Adding a Link

To add a link to another website, highlight the word or phrase you want to link and click on the link icon in the toolbar.

You can paste the URL you want to link or search for it. In this case I will simply link to Google. I will type it in the box and the word will be linked so when it is clicked the person will be brought to that page.

Adding Widgets

If you are interested in adding a sidebar menu to your new site, go to Appearance > Widgets. Here you will have many options to choose from depending on what you would like your viewers to see. There are “Available Widgets” that can be dragged over and put in “Main Sidebar” (or you can create Footers if you wish). On my site, I decided to put Search and Recent Posts for now. I will also be adding a photo of myself (Image) and a summarized biography (Text).   Your site is looking great by now and hopefully, you’re feeling good up to this point. We have covered the basics and you can stop here if you are happy with your site. I will go a bit more into detail now in terms of what else can be added to your site to make it the best one out there. ADVANCED

Add Plugins

To add plugins simply click “Plugins” and “Add New” and Search. The Plugins I always add are

  • Analytics
  • Contact Form 7
  • Advanced tip- use Thrive Content Builder to make it look even better.

Analytics In order to use the Analytics plugin effectively, you will first have to sign your site up for analytics, and once you have the tracking ID, download this plugin and insert the tracking ID.

Install Now > Ok > Activate

Add a Contact Form

To add a contact form to your site you will need to add a new plugin. For this, search Contact Form 7. All contact form plugins are similar so it really does not matter what one you use however I am most familiar with this one.

“Install Now” and “Activate”.

You will now notice a Contact section in your sidebar.

Click it and open the contact form.

Here you are going to copy the shortcode and paste it into the page you want the Contact Form to appear on your site. “Update” changes.

Paste into Page text where you want it to appear. (Contact Page)

Thrive Architect Plugin

Thrive Architect (formely known as Thrive Content Builder) is a great tool to help build a site and make it look good. After you download it from your Thrive Member Dashboard simply go to Plugins > Add New > Upload File and select it from your computer files.

“Activate Plugin”

Now, when you view your site, there will be another option to edit the page in the top bar called “Edit with Thrive Content Builder”. When you click this, you will stay on the page but be able to edit it from there.

Add a Favicon

Adding a favicon is simple. Before you do it on WordPress, find an image you want to use (Clipart looks best) and save it so it is easily accessible.

Now in Appearance > Customize, you are going to go to the “Site Identity” section.

 

Under “Site Icon” you are going to “Select Image” and upload and crop the image of your choice. It will show you what your Favicon will look like. When you are happy with it, click “Save & Publish”.

This is how mine turned out:    And there you have it! Your site is done and it looks amazing. You can add more content and change your settings any time you want. Play around with what you have just learned and make your new website exactly how you want it.  

MODULES STILL TO COME (WITH A TEASER OF SOME OF THE INFO I WILL COVER)…

  • Content Creation
    • How to build a content plan
    • How to create GREAT content systematically
  • Monetization Strategies
  • Ongoing Promotion Strategies
    • Weekly printable checklist/tracking sheet

Enter your text here...

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Jon September 4, 2017 42 Comments
Money Site Creation

The Easiest Keyword Research Strategy for New or Big Sites

We have all been there… needing to get more articles created for our sites and not having a clue where to turn. It can be frustrating trying to squeeze more juice out of a keyword research method you have already used extensively. Whether you are looking to create a sitemap for a site or find another unique keyword for a huge site typical keyword research strategies can struggle to have you come up with a MASSIVE list of keywords/content ideas! (more…)

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Jon May 18, 2017 6 Comments
Money Site Creation

2 Hacks to Improve Your Site Speed Substantially & Special (FREE) Offer to Monitor Your Websites Speed

We all know page speed is important but for the most part the best in class process for having a fast site is something like this…

  • Step 1 – Signup for a premium FAST Host (like WPEngine)
  • Step 2 – Setup your site optimizing for speed
  • Step 3 – Run a few tests and get a warm-fuzzy feeling everything is good
  • Step 4 – Never look at it again (even though you continue to make changes to your sites that could impact the sites speed)

Clearly although this is good and better then not thinking about site speed at all it leaves even your most important sites vulnerable to becoming slow.

So what is the solution?

What Gets Measured Gets Improved

Now for the first time you can measure and track your websites speed!

Shane Labs a friend I have worked with on a couple projects (developer for LE) built a very cool tool that continually checks and tracks your sites speed logging it and sending you reports. This tool is paid but I convinced him to give it to the AuthorityWebsiteIncome audience for free (lifetime) if you signup in the next few days – Claim your FREE spot here! (paid service offered lifetime free for the next 3 days)

[thrive_link color=’blue’ link=’https://websiteincome.com/click/mach-metrics’ target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ align=’aligncenter’]Limited Time FREE – Start Monitoring Your Sites[/thrive_link]

(Typically cost $29+/month but for the next 3 days AWI readers get LIFETIME FREE if they signup!)

So as promised…

2 FAST Tip To Speed Up Your Website!

I’m about to show you how I found out I had a problem that brought my page speed down by 2 seconds, using a couple quick tips that you can implement yourself – in less time than it’ll take to read this post.

But first, why does site speed matter!

If I were to ask you if you’d prefer your website to be fast or slow, of course you’d choose fast. But I think many people underestimate how important speed is. Studies have shown that there is an undeniable correlation between load time and earnings on your website. Here’s why:

  • 47% of visitors expect a website to load in 2 seconds or less
  • 80% of those that abandoned due to a slow site will never return
  • Every additional 1-second delay lowers conversions by 7%, results in 11% less page views, and decreases customer satisfaction by 17%

And that’s not even including the effect page speed has on your SEO – Google has admitted that slow sites rank lower. All of these reasons are why when Shane Labs told me he had a tracking tool that solved the problem of never going back and checking your sites speeds I cared.

I’m a firm believer in analytics (you can’t improve what you’re not measuring) so tracking page speed is important. And that’s where I had failed before. In the past I had run an ad-hoc speed test on my site using Pingdom, or Google Page Speed insights. I’d see a decent score, and call it a day.

But I’d neglect to measure again later. And after several versions of wordpress later, a few theme changes, and some third party plugins, my site was slow (I’m sorry for all of you that had to wait while AuthorityWebsiteIncome loaded – its still not amazing).

Shane set me up with a MachMetrics account to start periodically measuring site speed, just to see how bad it was. He said he’s seen worse, but I was pretty embarrassed:

(each line is a phase of the page load, the blue line is when it is completely loaded)

About an average of 5.5 seconds, yet sometimes as bad as 9 seconds! And why was it so inconsistent? I deferred to Shane’s expertise for some tips. He suggested a few best practices, I implemented, and look what happened:

See the difference? Me neither. I was frustrated, but also intrigued – had I not been measuring I would have just assumed all was fine.

Next my Superstar Server Admin / WP Developer took a stab at it. We sent him over access to our MachMetrics account and he was able to see some areas of improvement instantly. Take a look at how the results changed after our second attempt:

There we go! Averaging about 3 seconds now (for doc loaded), 2 seconds shaved off. Let’s take a look at what happened in more detail:

Can you spot the biggest change? Yup – the number of resources. Cut in half from 118 down to 55. But how did over 50 files get removed without changing the appearance of the site?

My Server Admin / WP Developer explained 2 biggest changes:

  1. He installed the Autoptimize wordpress plugin and customized it to work with CDN. This automatically combines and compresses all your CSS and JS files, along with minifying your HTML and
  2. He removed some old retargeting pixels we were no longer using. These are notorious for making tons of requests.

Take a look at a side by side comparison of how the site used to load, versus now:

And what’s even better is I know these changes are improving things for all visitors regardless of where they are located, including both desktop and mobile users:

But here’s a disclaimer – this may not work on your site. Why? Because every site is different, and with so many factors affecting page load times, speed optimization can be more of a trial and error approach than an exact science.

The ability to test and monitor is why I’m excited that I was able to work out a deal with Shane so that AuthorityWebsiteIncome readers get a special offer. Normally MachMetrics starts as a 30 day free trial before you have to upgrade, but he’s giving my readers something special: if you sign up through this link, within the next 3 days, he’ll keep your account active even after the trial ends. (FREE FOR LIFE!)

Yup – that’s special just for us. After your trial ends you’ll still be able to utilize 3 daily checks in your account. That’s your url checked every day across the US, Europe, and Japan. Or 3 different urls checked every 24 hours. Or both mobile and desktop versions of your homepage analyzed daily. Stop wondering how your site is performing and let an automated process do your homework for you.

He’s only offering this to us, for the next 3 days. Take advantage of it now: MachMetrics Special Signup

Another Example of These 2 Changes by My Server Admin / WP Developer…

I was lucky and some of the optimizations from this situation I was able to apply to another of my sites (LE – the project Shane was actually the developer for (not the WP site)). The results were even more dramatic here – check out this almost 40% improvement here:

 

Shane Labs a friend I have worked with on a couple projects (developer for LE) built a very cool tool that continually checks and tracks your sites speed logging it and sending you reports. This tool is paid but I convinced him to give it to the AuthorityWebsiteIncome audience for free (lifetime) if you signup in the next few days – Claim your FREE spot here! (paid service offered lifetime free for the next 3 days)

[thrive_link color=’blue’ link=’https://websiteincome.com/click/mach-metrics’ target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ align=’aligncenter’]Limited Time FREE – Start Monitoring Your Sites[/thrive_link]

(Typically cost $29+/month but for the next 3 days AWI readers get LIFETIME FREE if they signup!)

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Jon April 23, 2017 1 Comment
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