Based on my experience of building http://ww2db.com , I was invited to write a guest column describing my strategies on building, marketing, and monetizing the website. The first part of my column has been published today! The link is here:
http://www.seopher.com/articles/how_to_build_a_niche_site__episode_1_content
Please show me some support by visiting, Digging, Stumbling, etc.! Of course, comments, positive or negative, are welcomed. Thanks!
Hey guys, the second installment on SEO has been posted today:
http://www.seopher.com/articles/how_to_build_a_niche_site__episode_2_seo
Part 3: Building Links
Nice stuff, I have often thought about building a simple website for one of my hobbies. Always thought it would be way too complicated but maybe it isnt after all.
Building a website is easy.
You don’t need any HTML or php or other skills if you get the right software. Look at WebEasy http://www.v-com.com/product/Web_Easy_Pro_Home.html for affordable software anyone can use, unlike Dreamweaver, which is good but requires training, and everything Microsoft produces, which is univesally crap.
The problems are in administering a website and in doing things that don’t seem too obvious, a lot of them to do with stopping people doing things to your site (a particular problem with some forum software) and, essentially, using it as a server for their own purposes or doing other things that’ll blow your bandwidth allocation. WWIIIC uses vBulletin which is harder to damage than some of the open source stuff like phpBB, but even vBulletin is vulnerable.
SEO is all very well, but there’s a lot of hocus pocus about it. One thing is for sure: anyone who sells software that guarantees top SEO rankings is selling something that won’t give you those rankings. You need to be on top of how the search engines work and a range of other things, many of which are closely guarded secrets, and set up each site accordingly.
Monetising is the same as SEO.
One thing you’ll notice about a lot SEO software is that they just follow the old mail order system of huge volumes of text promising the world if you send them money. If you send them money, you won’t make anything from anything they send you.
I’m not saying don’t do it, but just think about it and work out where your target audience is. Set up a good site on, say, Vampire planes and put a few posts on sites like this and aircraft sites and you’ll get all the traffic you’re likely to get, in time. Set up a site like that and rely on SEO software with rubbish like keywords and other outdated bullshit and you’ll get bugger all traffic, ever.
Wise words mate. I will continue to think about it then.
Don’t think about it.
Do it.
The risks are statistically unlikely, although bloody unpleasant if yout get unlucky, like getting mesothelioma without working with asbestos. They’re not likely for most people. On the net, they’re highly unlikely unless you’re a site that captures useful data like credit cards.
Just go into it with your eyes open and take suitable defensive steps. Everything you need to know is on the internet, about five million times. Google, and ye shall find. 
Definitely. HTML skills help, but like you said, content is what’s important, not technical skills. Don’t underestimate the time required, though. Since I started http://ww2db.com , I’ve consistently spent 10 to 15 hours working on the website on a weekly basis, no joke.
No, it’s not, actually.
Monetizing refers to how a website owner leverages visitor numbers to help sponsors market things. For example, WW2DB.com runs campaigns for book publishers several times a year for a cost, because book publishers know WW2DB attracts a certain niche market that they want to advertise to.
SEO, on the other hand, refers to ways you tweak your website so that it is better presented by search engines. For example, my SEO tweaks put my article for the Battle of Iwo Jima on the first page of Google. That page alone brings in a nice chunk of new visitors into WW2DB on a daily basis. That’s the result of careful SEO work, and that SEO work alone does not bring in money.
Successful SEO may lead to monetization, if that’s what a web site owner is after. Perhaps that’s what you’re referring to.
I agree with you that SEO “experts” is probably not worth the money though. This is a general statement, as I know for a fact that there are really effect SEO experts out there. Average joe-schmoes like us can’t afford the real good ones, though 
Yeah, don’t bother paying money for the SEO software. They’re definitely junk.
What hobby might that be, Firefly? Well, regardless of what it is, I probably wouldn’t mind giving you some pointers or even spending some time working with you to help you build it up. Let me know whenever you decide to venture on that project…
What I meant was that, like SEO, there’s a lot of crap talked about monetizing websites by people trying to sell you something that isn’t much good or who are trying to get you into their network to help them make money.
I know that some people have made millions out of monetizing websites, and a lot have done quite well, and lot more say they’ve done brilliantly but one wonders. Many made their money from websites set up for the specific purpose of monetizing them, as distinct from websites like WWIIIC which are based on an interest group and don’t have the same scope to monetize as, say, a website set up to compare home loans which can attract direct (not Google etc) advertising from lenders and perhaps others allied with that field like builders, who are used to paying high advertising rates. It gets steadily harder to make the sort of money that was made earlier on the internet as people like Google get wise to the ways they’re being exploited by people who set up sites just to make money from them.
Trying to make money out of AdSense etc at a cent or three a click just doesn’t work unless you’ve got the huge volume of the professional monetizers. Different if you’ve got really profitable ads. Many of those professional monetizers ought to be banned from the internet when all they do is set up those stupid directories etc for the sole purpose of monetizing a largely useless site that most of us just click out of as soon as we get in.
Monetizing a small site made a lot more sense ten years ago when bandwidth was relatively expensive and the income helped cover the cost of running the site, but hosting costs very little now and a lot of ads pay very little so it’s not much of a benefit for a lot of small sites and often not worth putting the effort into.
Some good stuff you said, Rising Sun, agree with it all, especially those who spring up link empires overnight, make a few hundred or thousand dollars before Google catches them, and then disappear to enjoy their wealth. Not too shabby. One thing you’re missing is the fun of it. Take my site for example, I enjoy building it a heck of a lot, otherwise I won’t be able to spend 1-2 hours on it on a daily basis. Monetizing it puts the cherry on top, but even if I go without it, I still have the rest of the sundae, which isn’t half bad
So, I definitely agree with you. Don’t build a site for the sake of monetizing it. Treat it as a bonus. A potentially big bonus, yes, but if you want to build a site, do something you and your readers will enjoy. And I hope you guys are enjoying WW2DB
Oh and don’t let all this discourage, you, Firefly! I’m still interested in finding out what ideas you have, and perhaps lend you a hand building (and maybe monetizing!) your future hobby on the web.
Thanks for the advice mate. I have several interests, my ambition isnt large and I would be doing it mainly for the pleasure I would receive from it.
Anyway, if I ever do get around to it I will definately be up for some more advice.
Cheers…