Hate to Say It. But I'm Losing Hope Here. A 10 Year WA member Still In the Red
I'm pretty frustrated to say this.. but I'm about ready to throw in the towel. I've thrown everything I've got at my site and the traffic hasn't budged. The site was launched in 2011 so it is an aged domain, almost 70 posts or original content, including a massive content push by me late last year into early this year...
The site did well around year 2-3, then fell off when it went dormant as life caught up to me. I've spent the last year putting countless hours into it, exhausting every SEO strategy I know and nothing. For a "well established" site, I'm only getting 10-15 visits a day, and only ~5-10 of those from organic.
At this point my site has been bleeding money for years, with my WA membership costing 300/yr... My theme is 200/yr (will likely be cancelling that first)....A few premium plugins to keep the site speed up.. And I am currently not making any income.
My site's been reviewed in Jay's hot seat twice, both times I've taken all of his advice to heart and the changes made no difference to my site's search performance.
I know as well as anyone that SEO is a marathon and not a sprint... But damn it am I tired and losing all steam.
I've put tons of work into generating unique, helpful diagrams and images, as I have a background in graphic design & photography. Work I don't see really any of my competition doing. Thought this might help but its netted 0 new traffic from any sources.
I was so determined to make this year the year I turn the site around...
Sorry to be a downer...
Recent Comments
78
Dev,
I really don't know how to say this without sounding harsh.
And I really don't want to kick someone while they're down.
I even note that you've worked as an "SEO analyst", whatever that means.
As others have alluded to everything points to the lack of content.
You talk of "massive push" towards the end of last year... eeermmm!! (not quite sure what to say to that).
Again this sounds harsh, I have on NUMEROUS occasions written more articles in ONE MONTH than you have in the past 10 years.
I'm going to go slightly against the grain here (and THIS is going to sound weird coming from someone who's probably written more than 10,000 articles in the last 12 years), but you DON'T actually need to write a lot to be successful.
Yes, you can publish once every six months, or add a block of front-loaded content and not update your site for a year or two.
BUT you certainly need to know what you're doing and have an ultra-focus on the subjects that PEOPLE WANT TO READ ABOUT (blogging for the "non-famous" is NEVER about writing what you want).
You've spoken about "keeping production high".
What do you mean by that?
I know various people have read just 3 or 4 of my WA blogs from this year and then PM'd to say they're getting more traffic from one or two articles than from the entire 100-200 they've written in the previous years.
So, the information to be successful is there, whether from the core training, or member-generated blogs.
For me, not everyone is going be successful at this.
Not everyone is cut out for this.
If you really, really want this (and you the abilities) you'll find a way.
I'd love to help you, but I somehow think we're on a different wavelength.
Sorry man.
Partha
I totally agree with you here. I think it is a lack of content. 67 posts in 10 years is really not enough at all, sorry to say.
I am with WA for a year and a half now, with 110 posts. Not a lot as well, but that is also because I am still following classes and learning a lot ,that takes time also.
But the thing is, I am making enough to pay for the subscription for WA, domain name, and once in a while to pay a writer for a blog post that I am not good at, something technical,etc..
And I have about a 120 visitors a day now and it is slowly growing still.
I really think that that is whats going on here, not enough blog posts? Content, content, content..
Sorry as well @Dev :-(
I've already said most of this in other comments...
The big push was from last November to about June. During that time I pumped out 1-2 articles a week, sometimes more, sometimes less, but the average was 2 1,500 word articles per week. On top of that I was designing custom images.
For reference, it used to take me 1-2 weeks to write up 1 1,000 word post. That was the pace I produced content in the early days of the site when it saw pretty solid success.
I put a minimum of 30 hours per week into my site in that 6 months.
Yes, I was employed as an SEO Analyst for 4 years at a major agency, working on hundreds if not thousands of client sites in that time. Not sure why you put it in quotes or are questioning that. Have you not heard of SEO jobs before?
Im glad you're able to produce that much content and that it is bringing you success.
67 is just whats currently there. Ive written a lot more than that in 10 years. Its pretty frustrating that's the only thing folks seem to be focusing on. Over time I've removed posts that added little to no value to the site, I've replaced some cornerstone posts into pages... oh and I ran 4 other websites that I also produced content for. When I revamped in November of last year I cut a lot of crap off of the website. My goal was to make every post on the site as strong as I could before starting to write new content. So a solid month was spent, revising, rewriting and in some cases, deleting.
But I get it. More content. Thanks.
Dev,
Firstly, there was no disrespect or anything malicious about me referring to the SEO Analyst work, and it was wrong of me to put that it quotation marks.
For that, I apologise.
It was simply that having worked in SEO I would have thought you would have put that knowledge to use (I know NOTHING about SEO, I simply know how to find underserved topics to write about and rank them at number one in Google pretty much every single time).
Plus, everyone works at their own speed, and I appreciate that.
Furthermore, I've seen you mention that you're not a writer several times in the comments section on this blog post.
From what I've seen in this thread alone, there's enough to convince me that you do have what it takes.
Look at your replies to others here.
You've written at least 2-3,000 words here.
And it's flowed efforllessly and been flawless.
Why?
Because something's ignited your fire and you're writing with passion and emotion.
That's the "Secret" (yes, I meant the quotation markes this time, LOL).
I often think that people confuse producing quality content with aiming for perfection.
For me, quality content is about finding what people want to read about, then producing content that answers their queries.
That's it.
It's a formula that's been proven to work time-and-time again.
You need to find the actual questions that people in your niche are asking and then answer them within your articles.
I have loads of WA blogs that allude to this.
Right, I'm going to show my ignorance here, so don't laugh at me too much.
No-one in your niche is really searching for queries like:
"Top 10 Guitar-Playing Tips For Beginners".
NO.
They are more likely searching for:
"Why Do I get Cramp in My Little Finger Whenever I Hit G Major?"
It is these types of articles that will produce an avalanche of traffic.
I've mentioned before that my aim for each of my websites is to have an AVERAGE of 600-700 visitors PER article published.
Some articles will bomb and produce 30-50 visitors a month, others will go into 5 figures per month.
But, the average PER article always remains the same.
I always look to find the ACTUAL questions that people in my niches are searching for.
I have written extensively about this at WA.
Your passion on this page alone cries out, don't waste it.
Partha
I'm not disagreeing with you, man. Thats why the amount I wrote in 6 months was such an accomplishment for me. I was able to tap into a side of me I hadn't discovered before and was able to produce much more content than when I first launched the site. I rode that wave for 6-7 months and added a ton of great new content, as well as revamped the old stuff...
Hi Dev, I just saw your message and I feel your pain. 😏
I hadn’t seen your website before, so I took a look and, not wanting to offend …. it looks a bit bland and boring.
Granted, I only looked on mobile, but that’s how Google is ranking sites these days.
The site needs more personality. It needs to be more ‘you’. Learning guitar is a very visual thing, but there is little visual content on it.
Also, the theme has absolutely nothing in common with your content. It needs to be much more ‘hip’ and ‘cool’.
That’s just the cosmetic side, but you have lots of competition, so you need to be better than most. Go take a look at the top ranking sites and see what they look like.
More important than any of this, you need to find out what people are searching for, not just what you want to write about.
How, what, when, where, why are the questions you need to be answering. Forget about making money, just focus on traffic, then once you’ve improved your traffic you can think about monetizing again.
Hope this helps,
Dave
Hi Deven,
I am really puzzled. Why have you chosen such an expensive theme? And why are you spending so much money on your website?
My philosophy is to not spend anything more than the WA subscription, the annual renewal cost of the website, and perhaps one or two low-cost services that give the most bang for the buck,
Spend additional money only when your site is earning enough to pay for systems to scale it up,
Partha once wrote that there are many ways to make money online. Blogging is just one of them. The WA program is based on writing content. Since we joined WA we made the decision to build our business in that way. So do the three posts a week that is the basis of the OEC and Bootcamp training.
It is not perfection and bells and whistles that make a difference. It is through connecting with your audience to help them make a buying decision that is key.
I am surprised that you have accepted meager progress for so long. My suggestion is to cut your losses and start anew. You need to get excited once again about your business. And be passionate about whatever you do.
Last year I wrote a 15-week blog series on WA about the lessons taught in the book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich. Even if you have read the book, I suggest checking out my posts as I link the lesson of each chapter to specific online business practices. Think & Grow Rich - Could Be Worth A Million Dollars To You! I hope you find your way. Nobody else can do that for you. You can do it as you are highly motivated.
Cheers.
Edwin
Hi Edwin,
Thanks for the feedback! The theme is really more of a suite of products than just a theme. It's also what I use for capturing leads, building opt ins, contact forms, etc. I think the entire suite is 10-12 different products. But I digress..
You are absolutely right. I only just signed up for this theme a little over a year ago. My hope was that I could rebuild the site, bring it into the 21st century and gain some revenue before the next billing cycle. Sort of an ass backwards motivation, really lol.
And believe me, it's not a matter of me accepting the meager performance. I don't want to make any more excuses. I had to prioritize additional jobs over working on the website and my decent performance that I once had fell off.
Frankly, your site sucks. It's untargeted and pure vanilla.
You arrive at the home page and it's bland and uninteresting with absolutely nothing to suck you further into the site.
Who is it for? acoustic, electric, rock, classical, country, flamenco, etc.
What sort of music do you teach?
Have you done your keyword research?
Is there a difference between learn guitar and learn acoustic guitar?
What you are doing is appealing to the broadest possible market and targetting nobody.
If you do a google search for learn ****** guitar you will note that the first five results are all video. I would have a video on the landing page.
It sounds as if it's a real passion for you but nobody would ever guess that.
Niche down and put some personality into the site!
Thanks. I've thought about narrowing down to just 1 genre to make the content more specific. My plan was to build out silos for each of the items you mentioned. You're right that I have a very broad topic. I agree I wouldn't even really call online guitar lessons a niche.
I am considering a rebrand since the site name is pretty broad as it is, as well. Little progress made on a name I like/direction, though.
Also, video is on my radar. I know it is best for the subject matter, I'm just not quite ready for it. Maybe Im overcomplicating or getting in my own head, but I do know that original video is the logical next step in leveling up the quality of my content.
I tried to make college students short on time my target audience, but I guess that's pretty abstract and not specific lol
Dev, I have many dormant sites, but am primarily here for the hosting, and will likely stay since I am also grandfathered at the low rate. I write those fees off on my taxes. I would lose the theme and go to a free one as others have said. If you choose to start a new site, do so, but you don't have to kill the old one, just lose the expensive theme! You never know what.migjt happen, so don't get rid of the old work!
Write like you are talking to a friend over coffee! Be affable and polite and if you haven't already, establish a brand which makes you recognizable. Many people may not like the Blog Dogs, but hey, they know.me because of them!
I'm primarily working with another member who is establishing a book promotion site for me! Dont give up, my friend, just reimagine!
Jeff
Hi Dev,
I feel you man, it's hard to let go of a site that really means a lot to you. Before you throw in the towel, check for these 2 VITAL technical signs: Google Index and Google Analytics.
1. Check to see how many posts are indexed in Google search by typing your website address like this site:examplesite.com and click search. It should show all your posts indexed in Google.
2. Now check your Google Analytics page to see if the organic traffic is coming from Google. In Analytics go to ACQUISITION and then go to ALL TRAFFIC and then select SOURCE/MEDIUM.
You should see both Google and Bing organic traffic.
If you have some or all posts indexed in Google plus you are getting Google organic traffic, don't quit. Start adding more frequent quality content.
However, if you see that you have a few posts indexed and you don't see Google/organic in your Analytics list, that's a bad sign. I would follow Kyle's recommendation and for sure start a new site. Hope this helps.
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Here is the problem Deven, 70 posts in 10 years. That is less than 1 post every 52 days. You cannot build a business online, posting content once every two months. Age of a domain is not a good thing, if the history indicates lack of content production.
I know that you have put forth the effort to revive your website in past months, and that is great. Sometimes that will work, sometimes it won't.
The reality is that Google wants consistent content and wants to know that there is someone active behind a website at all times. If you take year breaks, your authority suffers and subsequently your rankings will dwindle.
Sometimes you can jump back in the saddle, and revive your website, sometimes it is a dead end street and you would be better off investing that time in developing a new website.
What if you took your skill set that you have established up to this point and started something brand new, this time focusing on consistency and persistence. You should be able to create a website with 100+ posts in a year with some effort, and I know you would see some serious headway with your skill set during that time.
Thanks. I've thought about it. It's so hard to pull the plug on it, though, having spent thousands of dollars and hours on this site. I've rebuilt it 3 times, rebranding once. I just don't understand how after 6 months of consistent posting of quality content, how all of that content is being ranked below spam sites without any real content on them. It's true, I could have written more content in that time, but as I've said, I've put a lot of time into all the other facets of the site, as well. Revising old content, building and designing new images for posts, strengthening the internal link profile, adding more to my social profiles....
What you've just suggested is basically where I'm at. I desperately wanted to bring this site back. It was (sort of) my first site that I built when I first joined WA. I've seen it do well. And it did well back when I didn't know half as much about SEO and online marketing as I do now. I've applied all that knowledge to the site in the last several months and, yeah... Its pretty heartbreaking to just give up on the site, 10 years and probably $6K+ later, but I'm just about there. Maybe if my content was actually ranking above spam sites I'd have more motivation but it feels like a losing battle.
A wonderful advised Kyle
Kyle is giving great advice. Why not focus on more consistent quality content. You don't have to invest money for that, it just takes work and time. You don't need to put a lot of money into generating traffic. Even if you didn't scrap this website, make the content great!!