Building a Profitable Website While Learning Internet Marketing and SEO: a Case Study

It certainly would have been an attention-grabber if that headline read, "Internet Superstar Does it Again! Builds Wildly Profitable Website in Less than a Year."

That's not this Blog. That isn't me. And I'm not aiming for that headline.

Instead, I am working on an idea I've had for years and am finally in a position to dedicate time to it. And I want to track and measure how to increase my site traffic from 0 Visitors to 25,000 Vistors per month - without giving away the name of the website or distorting the reason people would visit that site.

If You Build It They Will Come

No they won't. There is so much more that goes into making a site successful:

• Buying a domain name at the right price.
• Hosting the domain at the right host.
• Using the most appropriate technology to build a functional, aesthetically pleasing site at the right price.
• Writing good content for your intended audience - which means, knowing something about who your Customer or Client is.
• Setting your site up with proper tags, titles, links and other SEO tasks.
• Cultivating relationships with your site Visitors.
• Advertising your site. Knowing where and how to market your content.
• Establishing and maintaining an email newsletter.
• Using social media, if appropriate and using it appropriately.
• Reviewing and analysing your progress, or lack thereof.
• And several more keys to a successful website...

My primary interest lies in the review and analysis of the strategies and tactics used to answer questions like these:

1. Are the number of site visitors increasing? Why or why not?
2. What are the most popular pages of the site?
3. How long do my Visitors stay on the site or do they land, look and bounce?
4. How much engagement am I getting and on what topics?

The answers to those questions will shape the content strategy and inform decisions I make about changing or tweaking the site.

Domain Name and Website Goals

1. Increase Site Visitors from 0 to 25,000 within 8 months.
2. Monetize the site at 25,000 Visitors using either an ad network like Google Ads or an Affiliate Network.
3. Sell the Domain Name at a profit within 24 months.

Upfront Disclosure: I own the website.

That said, I am certain if I don't deliver good value to my Visitors, meeting my goals will be extremely difficult. And my domain name exit strategy will be a failure.

Why Tell Anyone the Secret to Your Success or the Reasons for your Failure?

Why not? There are fewer more satifying and gratifying things in life than pointing someone in the right direction, save keeping someone from making a huge mistake.

Also, there's this: I am not an "internet success." I need all the help I can get. I think I'm more likely to find help if I'm helping as well. Whether I succeed or fail, the information is still valuable.

I don't think this will be easy but...

In a previous life I was a web developer, so I have some skills.

I got in at a time when most people hadn't even heard of "the web." And, after working with a few Clients, I built several websites - some for Clients and others for my own businesses.

SEO was something I learned at a time when there was very little competition online in the market spaces I was in. My business had an edge by virtue of the fact that it had a web presence. And I enjoyed some success as a result, but I would not consider myself an "internet success."

This SEO Case Study is really more of a Challenge.

Can I learn and successfully apply the internet marketing skillsets of today's world wide web? What about all of that social media marketing? And then there is Affiliate Marketing and Niche site development. Challenge accepted!

Giving Back to the Next Person

I've already learned a ton from people who are doing the exact same thing I am trying to do. They graciously share online.

Some people have courses on SEO; others have blogs like this one that don't have a pay wall. Some publish newsletters at regular intervals.

Some people share on Twitter, Facebook or Domain Name Forums. Many are having fun, building websites or courses and earning a good living. I'll share who I am paying attention to.

I'll show you what works and doesn't work and the most likely reason for that outcome.

And if I can inspire you to follow your dream and take action, perhaps you'll share your successes with others too.

Thanks for reading.

• Val