Complete: My First N1Way Website
Over the last couple of months I have been following the N1Way guide to put together several new websites, around 10 inf act, all are doing well so far and fitting in with the overall plan. You may remember that Mark over at N1Way Guide was kind enough to give away one of his Rank Spanker reports completely free on his website. This 'blueprint' contained full recommendations on a complete site structure including the niche itself, domain names, reviews and guides. I was lucky enough to snap up those domain names and build my first N1Way site and thanks to Mark, I had it completed a lot quicker than my other 9.
So without further a due, here is the site I completed first using N1Way and I wanted you to be able take a look for yourselves. The site was built around the niche of mallet putters.
The Domain Names
For this site I purchased the main TLD names which contained my main keyword phrase, Mallet Putters. The primary domain is MalletPutters.net, had .com being available then I would have purchased that instead. The remaining two are parked on top of the primary.
MALLETPUTTERS.NET (Primary Domain Name)
MALLETGOLFPUTTERS.COM
GOLFMALLETPUTTERS.COM
The Platform
I actually toyed with the idea of building this site with BANS, however the main reasons I chose not to were twofold:
- It takes that much longer to link everything together and create the review and guide excerpts.
- With all the changes which have come about with ePN I wanted to have full control over which affiliate program I used to monetize this site, unfortunately BANS only supports eBay at present.
For the reasons above I chose to go with WordPress which has a plugin for pretty much every big affiliate program out there including eBay (phpBay), Amazon (phpZon), Overstock (phpOStock), Adsense (All In One Adsense) and many more.
The Theme
There are literally thousands of themes out there which you could use to build a WordPress affiliate website but for me non of them compare to Arthemia which has a version you can download completely free. I have been using Arthemia for a while now but the version I used on this site has been customized by Mark over at TNSB. The main reasons I have chosen to use this theme are:
- It's professional and clean looking
- You can automatically create thumbnail images for reviews and guides, saving a lot of time in the site build process
- Mark created a custom field file which allows you to easily add in your phpBay shortcode without adding it directly into the html editor. This means that if I wanted to turn this site into an Amazon affiliate site in 6 months time, all I would need to do is edit one file and the whole site would be switched.
The Build Process & Cost
I took quite a long time over actually building this site due to the fact that I had a lot of other things going on which took priority but that said the site is now live. Overall it has taken me a total of approximately 12 hours to put this site together, the overall process looked something like this:
- Pull the RankSpanker information from Mark's site
- Purchase my domain names (Cost = $21.00 with discount codes)
- Add domains to my hosting account (Cost = $0.00)
- Outsource my content through textbroker (Cost = $184)
- Source my images
- Install WordPress
- Install & configure my main plugins (See below)
- Install & configure my custom WordPress theme
- Approve & add my content - reviews first and then guides
- Proof check the site for 404's etc
- Launch!
Total Cost = $206 - Expect to return this in the first 4 months!
The Plugin's
When I'm consutructing a new WordPress website I personally try to use as few plugins as possible, why? They are a potential risk to your website if they go wrong, you have to update them and the more you have the more likey they are to conflict with one another. Keeping this in mind, these are the plugins I decided to use:
- Askimet (A MUST!)
- All in One Adsense & YPN (OPTIONAL - Provides Another Monetization Method)
- All in One SEO (A MUST!)
- Contact Form 7 (OPTIONAL - Allows Multiple Contact Forms)
- Google XML Sitemaps (A MUST!)
- List Tags (OPTIONAL - Allows Another Navigation Method)
- phpBay Pro (OPTIONAL - Provides Another Monetization Method)
- phpZon (OPTIONAL - For reviews where eBay has no listings)
- Simple Post Template (A MUST!)
- WP Database Backup (A MUST!)
The Future
I have only recently launched this site and haven't had chance to do much work with it. But the next part of the process is the forward and backward marketing which will include:
- Finding authority sites to gain link juice from - And giving them to tools to link to me in the form of my 'Link Exchange' page
- Blog commenting on a selected network of quality/relevant blogs
- A small press release
- A small amount of article marketing to a handful of directories
Other than the above I will just be adding more reviews and guides over the next 3 months and leaving the site to 'settle in'.
Final Thoughts!
Remember this site only took me around 12 hours to put together and a total cost of $204, of course this cost increases if you don't own phpBay/Zon/Ostock etc but these are only one off fees. I will expect to make back my investment within the first 6 months, hopefully sooner (4 months).
I have a total of 10 of this style of site at various stages of the build process at present, but one thing I just want to emphasise is that they are not all eBay affiliate websites. Some are Amazon, some are OverStock, some are Adsense only and others are a mix. Even the sites built to be monetized with eBay can be switched in a moments notice to another program. As the great saying goes, don't put your eggs in one basket!
I would appreciate any questions or feedback which you have for me through the comment form below.
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Hi Ben,
Just thought I would pop by and have a visit and wow on the niche website concept.
The program sounds really easy to use and set up and whats more for such a low fee!! :D
Definitely sounds like a great concept and a really easy way to set up micro niche sites that can make money on auto pilot once marketed correctly. Imagine if you had 100 of them??
Thank you for the inspiration.
Kind Regards
Jacinta :D
(Fellow JT Masterclass)
The Ebay ads on all the “review pages” show,
“Error 404 – Not Found”.
@Remco B – My fault, a .htaccess problem which was easily resolved.
Thanks for spotting that :)
Ben,
This site looks amazing! It’s really great to get input from other who are using the N1WAY method. Thanks for sharing.
Rochelle
Great job, Ben!
I’m currently in the middle of building my first N1Way site. I just love the guide and still can’t believe how cheap it is. I’d like to show you my site when its finished.
Well done!
Olivia
@Olivia –
Thanks Olivia. I’d love to see it, send me an email or a support ticket and I’ll happily take a look at it.
Good luck with the rest of the site build.
Ben
@Rochelle – Thanks for the feedback, I actually built my first two Amazon sites using N1Way the other day and so far it’s going well. I’m building one using phpZon and one using ReviewAZON,
How are yours coming along?
Ben,
How are you liking ReviewAZON vs. phpZon?
So far, I’ve only had time to build sites using N1WAY, both are Amazon sites.
On one, I used just ReviewAZON, on the other, I combined ReviewAZON with phpZon. I used the former to display reviews and the latter to display multiple items of whatever the page is for.
So far, I’ve done almost no promotion for either site and the ReviewAZON-only site is doing pretty well. The combined site hasn’t had a sale yet, but is starting to get traffic. I haven’t decided yet which method I prefer. However, I worry about the possibility of a single item becoming obsolete on Amazon, should the seller decide to stop selling it, which is why I tried a combined approach.
Rochelle
Ben,
Thanks for the update on your N1Way site. I just finished my first one as well: http://www.raysguitarshop.com. I’d love any comments.
I wrote everything myself, but I’d love to explore outsourcing. Any advice on finding good product reviewers at textbroker?
-R. S.
@Rochelle – I’ve personally done exactly the same as you, I am using ReviewAZON to generate the reviews and I re-write or improve the description where possible. I then use phpZon to add multiple listings (4 usually) in the place of where the phpBay listings would usually be. In addition I write unique guides for my guide pages and link them into my reviews.
The phpZon only site is still built around the concept of N1Way but I am still adding the content and guides so I haven’t launched that site yet. I wanted to see how the two compared since the ReviewAZON only site has some DUP content and the phpZon site has NONE. I want to see how well they are indexed and how they perform.
With the reviews style of building sites I have found that because the visitors are so targeted to a particular product when they arrive on your site that the conversion is actually quite high. Essentially the 24 hour cookie isn’t a big deal at all.
Do you find that?
@R. S. – That’s a great looking site and you’ve obviously spent a lot of time writing the content which is great, you have more patience than me :).
Outsourcing is certainly easier as I’m sure you realize but it is of course expensive as an initial outlay, but the aim is obviously to make that back in a few months. I use one person over at textbroker whom I trust to do a good job.
Some tips:
1) Check their rejection rate/rejected articles to see how often their work is rejected. Ideally this should be 0 or as close to.
2) Try to opt for a writer (if you can afford it) who has a rating of 4 or above.
3) Look for a good amount of previous work i.e. more than 100 articles.
4) Look for a broad range of topics under expertise if you plan on using them a lot otherwise look for someone with expertise around your chosen niche.
With regards to your site I think it’s great, there are just a couple of things I would change/alter a little:
1) I would reduce the amount of listings you are displaying on your page to around 4/5 very specific listings which are OF that item.
2) Try and break up the review pages with some headings
3) Perhaps try and link your guide pages into your review pages.
I hope this helps :)
Ben
Ben,
Yes, I agree about the cookie not really being an issue on my ReviewAZON sites, well, at least the first one I made (the second one is too new to say at this time). Adding the customer reviews really seems to help with conversion.
A word of advice: I can’t remember where I saw this, but I read somewhere that Amazon doesn’t allow affiliates to alter descriptions of Amazon items. I do not use Amazon’s descriptions at all. Instead, I write my own for each item.
Rochelle
@Rochelle – Thanks for that Rochelle, usually I remove it and replace it but there have been a few instances where I may have added to it. Need to remember not to do that :)
Ben
Ben,
Great site. I am going to be building my first site soon. Glad for the information. How do you set up the All in One Adsense.. there are so many variations .. A little guidance would be helpful.. Thanks…
@Dave – Thanks for that. The All in One Adsense is more straightforward than you would think. I use the following options:
1) Network – Adsense
2) Adsense ID – Fill ONLY this field in out of all possible fields
3) Ad Type – Text & Image
4) Corner Style – Slightly rounded corners
5) Ad Format – 468×60
6) Color Options – Set with Hex code
7) Number of Ads to Show Per Page – 1
8 ) Number of Ads to Show Per Post – 1
9) Ad Positioning – Bottom Center (This places them just above the phpBay/Zon Ads
10) Add space between ad and blog text – 5px
11) Don’t Show On These Pages – Home page + Static pages
These are the basic settings I use but you can amend them to suit your needs. I hope this helps.
Ben
Ben and others,
Anybody putting up a Wp-review site to go along with their Reviewazon sites? Example: Ben would put use wp-reviews for “Best Putter review sites” or “Best Golf club review sites” and then rank his sites high (of course).
I put up a “best review sites” and then paid my textboker person about $2.50-$3.00 each to write a review for 25 different review sites with my niche. I have added a few comments myself here and there, but the site is ranking well, even better than the original site, and the traffic is good, and the adsense and affliates on the site itself is already good. This self promotion will be money well spent.
This is the first I’ve heard of ReviewAzon.
I’m new to Affiliate Marketing and I actually just launched my site(now waiting for it to be indexed in Google) and was accepted into EPN. http://www.opticalgamingmouse.com
To diversify and keep looking to the next level I’m curious as to a few things. You mentioned in your ReviewAzon 101 video that you can get a ReviewAzon page up in 10 minutes or so… now I know that doesn’t mean exactly how you want it to be or anything, but what I’m curious about is what you plan on doing for your next couple taht utilize ReviewAzon. Are you planning on making them hybrid sites of phpZon and ReviewAzon and following the N1WAY?
My general question I guess is do you follow the N1WAY, or something close to it, when creating your ReviewAzon site (or phpZon)? The reason I’m wondering is how do your pages end up ranking in the SERPS? If you put up a ReviewAzon site and devote some decent time to it say a few hours, can you expect decent ranking?
I’m at the point where I’m mapping out where I’ll be settling down within Affiliate marketing, currently with QCP kicking in just as I get my start, I’m not too sure what to expect with Ebay.
@Rochelle I see you followed the N1WAY as you said, are you using full-blown PHPBay? I like it!
I need your helI need some help with this stuff can you please email me. Thanks.
@Diane – It’s not something I’ve tried myself but it certainly sounds interesting and if it’s bringing you more traffic then it must be worth it.
@mark – If you shoot me a ticket in my support desk by clicking the ‘Contact’ link above, Mark, I’ll see what I can do :). It just helps me keep on top of all the emails.
@Ryan – Absolutely, there are a few ways you can use it but the main one I use is a method of creating the review pages with ReviewAZON, writing my own review/description and not using Amazon’s all of the time. In addition to that I will use uniquely written guides to add as further content which also link into the review pages.
It’s entirely possible to use phpZon with ReviewAZON, which is what I do, I actually don’t use eBay with it any more.
Re eBay: If you new to eBay then give it a shot, you’ll find the negative vibes will come mainly from those of us who have used eBay for a long time. I would recommend you try it and see how you go.
Ben
@Ryan,
I am using a little of this, a little of that. I really don’t have any pure phpBay Pro sites. I actually am really liking the combination of phpBay Pro and Reviewazon, as Ben is using. The two work beautifully together.
Rochelle
Thanks Ben.. I have submitted my ticket. Look forward to speaking with you.
@Ben – Thanks for the responses, that seriously helps my frame of mind in a big way. Keep moving on what I’m doing with Ebay but start another feeler into putting together a couple ReviewAzon and phpZon sites to get things started.
@Rochelle – The above comments apply to you as well, I really appreciate the input… its so nice to be able to talk to the people who have blazed the path for us newbies ahead of time and have experience(s) to share!
Ryan,
You are very welcome! Much luck to you, however you decide to proceed.
Rochelle
Great looking site, and great info here. I have created a couple BANS sites and a couple sites in WP using the N1Way method. I am trying to add in some other affiliate methods like Amazon and trying to use ReviewAzon. What are some tips you can give on creating a site using it? Do you have a sample site to look at? Is the biggest factor re-writing the description or are there some other things that are recommended to change? I still find my hardest hurdle is traffic. Thanks.
Ben,
I used Mark’s arthemia theme for my last site as well. I think it’s probably the cleanest looking site I’ve ever built but I’m not a coder either.
I’ll be interested in learning more of the specifics of PHPZon and ReviewAzon either separately or together.
I’ll be following for sure.
Jeff
@Jeff – I’ll try and cover both separately and together if I can. I aim to cover phpZon API as well at some point but I haven’t used that much myself yet so I wouldn’t be qualified to give a tutorial on the API version yet :).
Ben
I’ve been wondering why you don’t use both ebay and amazon listings on your sites. It seems everyone has only taken to using the ebay program. I’m confused as to why not both.
@Mark – It’s personal preference. With the new ePN QCP changes I only display eBay listings with eBay listings in an attempt to maintain a high quality score and so far it’s working. You will find people trying both, I did on one site and my EPC dropped dramatically. From eBay forum comments/blog posts etc ePN seem very focused on having their affiliates build sites which are specifically targeted to ePN and not split between two or several other affiliate programs at once.
Try it for yourself though, you may see different results to me and yo can report back :).
With regard to only using eBay, put simply, I don’t. eBay does make up a good chunk of the monetization methods of my affiliate sites (around 20%) but the remainder are Adsense, Clickbank, Amazon, Chitika, EJunkie, Overstock etc etc. I think this is probably the case with a lot of affiliates it’s just that the N1Way guide was written with an eBay ‘slant’ on it which is why the majority of the sites you’ll see are monetized with eBay.
I’ve built 10 sites similar to the one above and only 2 are eBay affiliate sites the remainder use phpZon, ReviewAZON, ShopZilla and a few others.
Thanks for stopping by
Ben :)
That’s a really nice looking site. It is great to see people putting so much effort into making their niche sites stand out. Thanks for sharing the level of detail with us in this post too!
You just might have re-ignited my love for bans/n1 way, as Ihave been focussing purely on amazon sites of late.
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