I have a section that’s called Deals Around Town where any visitor can submit any great deal or buy they see around town - like buy one get one free sales, 12-pack soda for $2.00, etc. To encourage guest submission, you don’t have to register to submit your deal. Just fill out the fields and submit. Once submitted, there is a ‘report this post’ link so that there is some community moderation for spam, or posts that are inappropriate - but some low life found the site and is spamming it to death. It’s seems automated, because it sends about 2 to 3 spam links each hour, 24/7. You know, the standard prescription medication, jewelery, and fake Rolex links.

I guess my next few days (or more) will be spent coming up with some type of captcha to add to the site, instead of adding content and building backlinks. As I mentioned above, I had a tight schedule. My plan is to bring my websites’ revenues (collectively) to a full time income within the next 14 months, which, by the way, has dropped to nearly zero for some reason. This is the first month of that plan. I probably should have left some time in my schedule to account for the unexpected. Anyway, its still very early in my revenue projections, so I am hopeful that I can get this spam problem solved quickly and get back on track.

Site 002 is centered around an interest of mine, here is how it evolved to what it is today.

First evolution
Niche site 002 first started out as a forum. I put a lot of time looking at the phpBB code to make a custom looking forum. I did a little SEO and people were visiting, but no one was joining…

Second Evolution
So, I decided to completely re-design the forum to a better looking, more web 2.0 looking design. I was really happy with the design… it had rounded corners and great images, but still, no one joining. I was getting visitors, so I treated the forum as a blog, just adding good content as posts, hoping at least a couple of people would register and join in the conversation. Visitors still were coming, and in fact increasing, but still… no one registering. As I would learn, forums are very hard to start from scratch and they are also very high maintenance. Forum spam is a daily battle. Since I was getting readers, I thought I would re-design the site again, this time taking more of a regular content-site approach, with readers also having the ability to easily submit their content, if they wished, without registering….

Third Evolution
Excited with a new direction of the site, I started to work on the site again. Since I am also a web developer in my day job, I decided I would design everything from the ground up. I designed and created a custom database design, a custom made authentication system for users to register and join, if they wanted additional priviledges as registered users, etc, etc… As you can imagine, this all takes quite a bit of time. By this time, over a year has passed since I first registered the domain and started working on this site, but I was still not finished with the custom coding and all. I had recently read about Wordpress being configured to work as a content site, so I did a little research, and decided this would be the direction to go, after all this was getting ridiculous. Over a year later, and still no complete web site.

Fourth Evolution
I have to say, I am impressed with the flexibility of Wordpress. I researched the Wordpress code, and in one weekend afternoon, I was able to make a custom Wordpress template to look just like my previous site. Sure, I had make a couple of concessions on the functionality, but that was a small sacrifice to finally have a working web site! Obviously, this was the way to go for me. I’m finding, with plug-ins, I can probably find the fuctionality that I wanted initially. If not, one can be made. But that can come later. For now, at least I have a functioning site. I have added some of my own content, and I’m starting to get some user generated content on the site as well.

Webservations and Lesson Learned
Use open source content management systems, and templates whenever possible - even if your a developer yourself. You will save a ton of time. After all, whole teams of programmers have made applications, like Wordoress, what they are today. You can always add custom tweaks and images to make the site look unique. Why re-invent the wheel if you can find one already made that will work. It sounds like a no-brainer, but it took me over a year, and a lot of work to learn that lesson.

On future sites, I will be experimenting with various formats, focusing on rapid development and great content.

Work offine
While its always easier to work online, connected the Internet, ready to upload your latest post or page at the click of a button - its just not always possible. Consider doing part of your work, or planning offline. I almost always carry a notepad and pen with me - that way I can work on my projects just about anywhere - waiting at the doctor’s office, on my lunch, waiting in line to pick up the kids from school, etc… I have hand written whole pages of content in my notebook. If you don’t like writing that much, make a detailed outline of your content which you can use when you are at your computer. You will be surprised at how fast you can pump out content with a detailed, well thought thorough outline. Having a notepad is also great for jotting down future ideas when they are fresh in your mind.

Use portable devices
If you are able to, get a lap top or PDA. Like the notebook, you can carry these devices just about anywhere, and thus you can work just about anywhere. Best of all, Internet access is usually available with a laptop or pda. If your portable device doesn’t have Internet access, at the very least, it is very simple to transfer your work to your main computer, and then upload.

Don’t spend too much time on a single page or post
I am guilty of this big time, and its something I have been working on. Now, I try to just write my articles/pages/posts from my outline without regards to how it sounds, or with too much attention to grammar. Then I go back and do a quick correction of wording and puctuation. Trying to make everything absolutely perfect can take a huge amount of time. I have re-designed whole sites just because I thought I could improve upon it just a little bit more when there was nothing wrong with the previous design. I’ll talk more specifically about this site in a future post.

If your too tired to work on your sites… don’t
It’s okay to work if your tired. If I did’t, I wouldn’t have anything done. I’m talking about when your completely exhausted, just give in and go to sleep - work on your site tomorrow. I have a day job and a part-time job on the evenings and weekends. Some days, I work 8 hours at my day job, then go strait to my part-time job and work another 4 to 5 hours or so - the whole time thinking about what I what to accomplish on my web sites when I get home. Then by the time I’m home, I’m just too tired to work on them. I have found when I’m that tired, its takes me about an hour to do what would normally take me 5 to 10 minutes when I am better rested.

Don’t take on too much at one time
Yeah, this is my problem also, and why I haven’t posted to this site since April. How much is too much to take on will, of course, vary from person to person - but for myself, it was two fairly large projects and this site. I have finally caught up for the most part and will now only work on one new project at a time until I can get that project into the maintanence phase. Once I reach that point, I can start a new project!

Look for future posts
With the time gained from this new ‘only one project at a time’ philosophy, I plan to start posting on a regualar basis, here at the virtualwebservations.com site… blogging about my progress, observations, and lessons learned along the way. The next few posts will be about specifics of the projects I have been working on for quite a while, and what I have leard from those experiences.

How so? Data shows that the conversion rate for advertisers are lower when the person clicking the ad thinks they are clicking a link to more content, rather than an ad. As a result, this de-values the price a link is worth to the advertiser, and thus means less revenue for the site publisher. You might have a higher click through ratio, but Google is looking is for results. Want some proof? Here is a quote from the Google Adwords site:

We are constantly analyzing data across our network, and if our data shows that a click is less likely to turn into business results (e.g. online sale, registration, phone call, newsletter sign-up), we may reduce the price you pay for that click. You may notice a reduction in the cost of clicks from content sites.

 This is what Google refers to as smart pricing,  and I would bet that the reduction is not going to come from Google’s share of the revenue… which leaves the publisher to take the hit. How many forum posts have you read where a publisher is averaging $20 or $30 a day, then BAM!… 5 or 10 bucks a day overnight? Sure, this could be some fluctuation in the market, but most likely, this is smart pricing in action. Now, even though the publisher is an important part of the adwords/adsense equation, can you really fault Google for protecting their source of revenue, which ultimately comes from the advertiser?

How should Adsense ads be displayed?

Google essentially tells you how they like ads displayed in their terms of service. They want the ads to appear as ads. This is why they DON’T want images bordering too close, and DO want titles like sponsored links. At the same time, you don’t want them to stick out like a neon sign in the middle of the night - they should match the look and feel of your site, while still being recognized as ads. Google doesn’t want you ads to stick out either, so they give you the capability of customizing the ad’s features, such as link colors, background colors, borders, rounded corners, etc… I personally don’t mind ads on a website, especially when they are related to the content that I am reading about. And yes, I have even purchased from some of them.

 Going against the stream

Just a caveat here… I am not an Adsense guru. In fact, most Adsense experts tell you blend in your adsense ads to look just like your links and content, so maybe there is something to that. My opinion is based off the Adsense terms of service, the Adwords site, many observations from various forums, and a little personal experience…

The search for help for Roxie

 Yep, that’s Roxie to the left. When she was just a very young pup, she got parvo before her immunization. If your not familiar with parvo, it has a mortality rate of about 50%. I was searching all over the net for others that have battled the illness and won, and what they did. There are plenty of content sites out there on dogs and parvo. Many sites I visited had links that looked like links to more content, but were acutally adsense ads. I was still doing research, so I wasn’t ready to buy anything, so I left the site to look for other ones that had better content. I did find some very good content out there, and did find a nutritional product (from an ad) that many had success with. Roxie racked up about $400 in bills and a couple of nights at the animal hospital, and I’m happy to report that she a very happy, healthy, and fiesty dog today.

Conclusion

With Google hiding their pay out percentage, and with smart pricing, its hard to tell exactly what works best. However, one thing to keep in mind is that Google wants what is best for the advertiser, because they are the ones paying out the money. If you were an advertiser with Google, wouldn’t you want the same thing? So, it stands to reason that better conversion rates for the advertiser means continued business with Google, which means more revenue for them. It also stands to reason that Google would want to reward the publisher that provides better conversion rates, or, it you want to view it in reverse, penalize the publisher - by reduced earnings - for low conversion rates. By the way… as a side note… pets are a good niche topic. People like to spend money on the pets.

 The case for dotMobi and mobile sites

Why design a dotMobi site when the mobile web is virtually unknown - and when those who do occasionally visit the mobile web, myself included, will often get a ‘page cannot displayed’ , or ‘file too large’ error? The answer to that seems to be in the .mobi top level domain itself. A .mobi top level domain name will let the mobile user know that this site will work on their mobile phone. Plus, there are some major players backing the .mobi top level domain, such as Ericsson, Google, GSM Association, Hutchison, Microsoft, Nokia, Orascom Telecom, Samsung, Syniverse, T-Mobile, Telefónica Móviles, TIM, Visa and Vodaphone - so expect to see a big marketing push for dotMobi.

 Need another reason? How about this…there are 4 mobile phones sold for every 1 computer. With that in mind, the potential growth… and monetization… is huge!

Of course, the real deciding factor on whether or not dotMobi sites will take off, will be the market place. If companies are willing to put out advertising dollars for mobile sites, the publishers and mobile content will appear. Then additionally, for the advertising dollars to keep flowing, the advertisers will need to see a return on investment. Whether or not this will happen remains to be seen, but there is some promising evidence… The appearance of mobile ad networks…

How to monetize a mobile site

The easiest way to make money off your mobile content is to use an ad network. There are two major front runners: Google and Admob.

Ok, we all are familiar with the Google Adsense program. Well, Google has unleashed Adsense for mobile. It works much the same way as the normal Adsense program.  The ads come in only two sizes, a single or double ad unit which looks very similar to the regular Adsense text ads. On a mobile site, you probably really woundn’t want more than a two ad unit anyhow, as space your space is so limited.

The mobile Adsense ads are contextual, just as regular adsense, and will show ads that are targeted to the content of your mobile site. If you already have an Adsense account, Adsense for mobile is already available to you - just log into your account, click on the Adsense Setup tab and you will see the Adsense for mobile option there.

 An alternative to adsense is Admob, which caters exclusively to the mobile market. Admob claims an impressive 2 billion mobile ads served each month! Their portfolio of advertisers is impressive as well, including companies such as MTV, Paramount, and JC Penney, to name a few.

Unlike Adsense for mobile, Admob offers graphical banner ads in addition to text link ads. Adding ads is also a snap. After you have signed up, just log in and just cut and paste code in the appropriate scripting language (PHP, ASP, etc…).

Of course, you DON’T have to have a .mobi domain to offer mobile content. Many sites use code to detect the user agent (browser) you are using to access the site. If a mobile browser is detected, the site delivers a trimmed down version of the site’s content to your mobile device. In fact, there are many plug-ins already available for popular bulletin board, CMS’s, and blog software that will auto-detect if you are accessing with a mobile device, and deliver alternate content customized for mobile devices.

Still, the mobile web is in its infancy. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Expect to see more about dotMobi in future posts!

Why not? Why would I say something like that? Wouldn’t that be ideal - to make your website perfect?

Yes, that would be ideal, but from personal experience - it’s just not possible to make a website, to standards that you would consider ‘perfect’, in a reasonable amount of time.

I have a site that is centered around one of my many interests - one that I am particularly fascinated with. And since this is one of my favorite past-times, I felt that I needed to have the perfect website for it. So, here I am - one annual domain name renewal later (plus some), with the site on its third re-design - still incomplete.

Although I do plan to monetize the site, probably with just some simple contextual ads, the niche has some very low paying keywords. My main motivation for the site is to enjoy it, and the user generated content and interaction, however, I am unable to do so.

Webservation and lesson learned:

Now, I’m not saying to skip taking the time to carefully plan your site and its design and just throw out some junk. If you are going to make a website, doesn’t matter if its just for fun, or as a money making venture - just make a decent looking, well planned site with good coding practices, and get it out on the web instead of striving for absolute perfection. Once you have the site published and are happy with the content and the direction of the site, you can always go back and make updates and additions to improve the site - and get it a little closer to ’perfection’. 

The bottom line is if a website is something you really enjoy and are passionate about, there will ALWAYS be something you want to improve and make better - which is not a bad thing. But if you wait until the site is perfect before you publish out on the web, it’s likely going to be a really, really long time before that will happen, if ever.

Current State of my project?

Truth be told, I would like to take my site and re-design it a 4th time, with more of a pure CSS design. However, I am taking my own advice and sticking with my current development plan, and I estimate I should have the site near completion in about another month. The design is very modular, so it would not be extremely difficult to adopt a pure CSS design at a later time as an update. My goal for now is to just get the site finished and start enjoying it.

 She has since scrapped the idea for her offline business for the time being, but I have decided to go ahead with the local site. The more I think about, the more I think that the site could be a decent source of revenue.

Before I explain why I think the site can do well, and how I plan to monetize it, allow me list some of the features that I plan for the site.

• Local news and weather feeds
• A free, full featured classified ad listing
• Local restaurant pages, with links to menus
• A ‘Deal Around Town’ section where locals can submit various bargains around town, such as a gas station with below average prices, or a great deal on Hot Pockets, etc… (I know I could use a good deal on gas)
• Articles of local interest, maybe with some guest contributors
• A bulletin board/discussion forum
• Since there is a large college student population here, I think a text book exchange/buy/sell page might go over well also

Now, I did check out the competion beforehand and found several other local sites, but they all seem to focus around a specific area, such as employment, news, or sports. I estimate on one site that focuses on employment only, a monthly revenue of about $800-$2000+, as estimated from their posting rates and postings listed. Other news sites in the area had some classifieds that charged anywhere from $10-$20/week for a listing.

 I think that my site will have a particular advantage over the competition, as my site offers the same basic services, plus more, for free -  which I can do cheaply and with minimal maintanence as a one person operation.

Since the services and classifieds are free, I plan to monetize the site with Adsense contextual ads on the classifed ad pages, and then sell some premium 125×125 ad placements, and possibly a banner at the top of the page. I expect, as on the other local sites, local businesses and maybe some local political candidates will be the market for the premium ads.

One thing I must note, I am probably in a perfect size town for this type of site (about 140,000 people + some near-by small towns). It’s small enough so that the content is relevant to everyone who might visit the site, yet big enough to have some decent, repetative traffic.

I’m really exited about developing this site…  so more updates to follow on its success (or failure ) in future posts.

The plan for my theme was to keep the default until I had some time to design my own, but the default was just a little too plain for me - so I did a little searching for some free themes, and found this one at wpthemesfree.com. There are literally thousands available out there. The only drawback to using a free theme is that other blogs will also be using the same exact theme. I still plan to design my own unique theme when some time avails itself, but until then, I’m pretty happy with this one.

To install WordPress, just follow the documentation when you download it. It really only takes about 5 minutes. Or my recommendation, if you don’t already have a hosting company, look for one that has Fantastico. You literally just click install and fill out a short form and your done! If you are in need of hosting, check out HostingZoom.com , I’ve been using them for about 2 years.

To install a new theme, just do a search for WordPress themes and download the one that you like. Usually it will be zipped when you download, so just extract the files and install the whole folder in the ../wp-content/themes/ folder on your web server. That’s it! You can then change the theme from your WordPress admin panel.