David Fiske A subtle blend of affiliate marketing and web development

December 2006 Archives

31/12/06 - Last Post For 2006. Welcome 2007.

The year ends with the following statistics:

1500 visitors with a 0.33% conversion.

£43.39 revenue with a £130.25 cost. Therefore I need to raise £86.86 to break even.

£456.61 left before I can afford some promotion. More

29/12/06 - New Ajax Menu on David Fiske

Just a quick note to let you know that the menu on this site has now been changed to an Ajax tab based menu.

The clunky, old CSS files has been removed which saves about 4KB per page. Not a terrific saving but the tabs are much easier for me to update!

29/12/06 - Wordtracker Keyword Research

I am not sure if you have ever come across Wordtracker before but I have used it once before.

It consists of comprehensive databases of search terms. That is it.

However, the real power is what can be done with those keywords. More

28/12/06 - Progress Report Four

It is nice to take a step back and see what we have achieved in life!

So here is report number four.

Compare Sat Nav is coming along in leaps and bounds. CompareSatNav.com has recently been registered by myself to add to the portfolio of domain names that this site uses ( www.comparesatnav.co.uk, www.comparesatnav.com and www.satnavreviews.co.uk ). More

28/12/06 - Price Update 28/12

The new prices were uploaded at 1245hrs today.

Changes have been made to 20 out of 22 retailers - primarily due to the January sales.

The product count has dropped from 414 systems to 408. More

27/12/06 - Traffic Explosion

This may be a slight misrepresentation on my part!

Before I go any further, I hope everyone had a nice Christmas break. I can now firmly say that the revenue I have earned so far is attributable to the festive rush in the week prior to Christmas.

I have just checked my stats after several days of not checking - and something quite interesting has happened. More

23/12/06 - Merry Christmas

Firstly, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. 'Tis the season to be jolly (apparently) so enjoy the time off work.

Secondly, all the best for the new year. As far as I am concerned, 2007 is the start of a long task of making Compare Sat Nav a household name. Whilst I have not had any sales for a few days, I will not let that slow me down.

At the moment, the first few sales appeared to be from Christmas shoppers. As we all know, online ordering closed for Christmas on or around 22nd December 2006 - hence why there has been a slowdown. I imagine there to be a slight upturn in commissions in January 2007 as more people start looking for bargains in the January sales. More

22/12/06 - Specifications Comparison Entry

I have created a randomly generating entry page to the side-by-side satellite navigation specifications page.

As I have 414 products in my database as of today, the factorial equates to infinity combinations. Just imagine coding that into static pages!

The solution is to create a page that changes regularly - well every time it is visited. More

22/12/06 - Alexa Ranking

I thought I would add a live Alexa graph to this site:



It compares www.davidfiske.com to www.comparesatnav.co.uk and www.dbfcs.co.uk More

22/12/06 - Analysing the Statistics

I have a couple of graphs I would like to share. Okay, not very exciting but bear with me!

Stats By Hour (Dec 06)



Stats By Day (Dec 06)

More

22/12/06 - Sat Nav Price Update 22/12

Compare Sat Nav prices have just been updated.

This time, 11 retailers remained static with their prices. 11 saw changes, mainly an increase in prices due to the slowdown of the post-Christmas rush.

Approximately 30 new prices were introduced with the lowest price increase at £0.02! More

21/12/06 - New Books Have Arrived

You may remember I said that I had ordered two new books: Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day and Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy Every Time.

They have arrived in all their glory! More

21/12/06 - Understanding Your Limits

Important lesson in internet marketing. Well, not so much marketing but more so working for yourself.

If you are working by yourself to get something decent earning you an income, you have to remember how precious your time is.

The reason I say this is that sometimes you have to remember to not go over the top when creating your site.

I had an email from Play.com saying their January sale has started today (21st December 2006). More

21/12/06 - Researching Niches

I have covered researching niches in some detail in the early lectures.

However, I wanted to let you know of a free email service that suggests topics to you - every day!

I have been registered with them for about 2 months and they do have some good suggestions. More

20/12/06 - The Money Is In The List

I have an email address I use for spam messages. If I sign up for freebies on the Internet or sign up to download documents, I use this email address.

After 3 days, I had 1,000 emails. There is no way I am reading 1,000 emails so I selected all and deleted.

Most emails that I get are from Internet marketers. The ones that claim not to be guru's just very knowledgeable. They obviously cannot be that knowledgeable if several send exactly the same messages as each other.

These messages invariably contain 'My friend [insert name] has just released a new product'. I don't know about you but that is a sure fire way of getting me to press delete on the keyboard.

Mind you, some of these are interesting reads. I usually sign up for freebies and 99% of the time never buy the e-product (usually priced at $79, $97, or $997). I have bought two e-books before and felt ripped off. You pay $97 for a document that tells you to buy another $200 worth of materials. Why? I paid $97 for the information! More

20/12/06 - Enlarged Images Tutorial

Pop up boxes are dead.

They have been for a while. Replaced now with Ajax based creations and DHTML popups.

At the request of a few visitors, here is a tutorial on implementing Lightbox JS 2. More

20/12/06 - Domain Name Appraisal

This follows on from the other day where I presented a selection of tools to find out how much your website or blog was worth.

Okay, the value they come up may be pie in the sky but it's nice when someone tells you that you and your work are worth a bit of money!

I have stumbled across a domain name valuation tool. Again, it may not be 100% accurate but you never know until you sell the name.

I am not interested in selling any of my names but in the interest of science (?), I have valued three names. More

20/12/06 - Christmas Price Comparison Updates

Due to commitments (okay, Christmas!), updating prices on Compare Sat Nav will be a bit haphazard for the festive period.

Updates will be made on:

• Friday 22nd December 2006
• Thursday 28th December 2006
• Tuesday 2nd January 2007

The only problem I can see with this is that some retailers are starting their January sales on Christmas Day. Others on Boxing Day. More

20/12/06 - Project Statistics Feed

I have now added the following project feed to the top of every page here:



The reason in doing so is to be transparent in the project progress. More

19/12/06 - Return of the Google AdSense Ads

Most of the heavy duty coding has been completed so I have replaced the Google AdSense ads.

Sometimes it is a lot easier to work with the web design process without the risk of clicking on your own ads (which could result in account closure).

I thought I would post a screenshot with this post: More

19/12/06 - A Lesson On Affiliate Marketing

I was reading Multiple Streams of Internet Income: How Ordinary People Make Extraordinary Money Online last night and something was mentioned that intrigued me:

Let the merchant get on with their job, you focus on yours.

So what does this mean? More

19/12/06 - Change To Google AdSense Terms

Google have clarified their position on using images with Google AdSense.

Certain Internet Marketers have profited from telling people to put small pictures around their ads. However, the Google AdSense team have now said that this is no longer acceptable under their terms of usage. This means that if you continue to do this, your Google AdSense account could be suspended.

I would love to name names and give you URLs but I shall not. Instead I will show you pictures! More

19/12/06 - New Domain Name

To prevent the possibility of cybersquatters, I have invested in www.comparesatnav.com

I will be using it purely as a forwarding name, as is www.satnavreviews.co.uk

This should become active in the next 24 hours. More

18/12/06 - Another Small Investment Ready For The Next Phase

I have just placed an order with Amazon for two new books.

These books are about SEO and copywriting and so should help with developing Compare Sat Nav dramatically.

More

18/12/06 - Progress Report Three

It is just about time to do another Progress Report.

In summary, Compare Sat Nav has nearly been completed from a design perspective, and is now awaiting content.

However, I do need to create a robust set of goals for the remainder of this year. More

18/12/06 - Rolling Out The Ajax Navigation

Some of you have been in contact letting me know that only half my site uses the new Ajax menu.

This is a problem I am fully aware of and it should be sorted by the end of today.

The new menu looks significantly better than the old menu though it does have one problem - it has no memory. More

18/12/06 - Sat Nav Price Update

Today was the first Monday I start price checking. It took 2 hours to go through 22 retailers.

I have allocated Monday morning to do this each week.

At the moment, I do not have enough time myself to update prices daily so I have decided a week should be fine. I do not expect prices to change dramatically during the week. More

17/12/06 - A Move To Ajax Navigation

It has been a very busy day indeed!

Finding out my existing navigation was browser specific was a little disheartening. However, I would like to introduce you to a new solution:



Let me explain more. More

17/12/06 - Navigation Bar Browser Compatibility Issues

Thank you to Adrian who today informed me there was a glitch with Internet Explorer 6.

As I use Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer 7, I thought all was well when it worked in both.

Obviously not!

But this has a knock on effect. More

17/12/06 - How Much Is Your Blog or Website Worth?

Not so much to do with Compare Sat Nav - OK, nothing to do with it!

Have you ever wondered how much your website is worth? More

17/12/06 - Side-By-Side Comparison

Price Tapestry is a script that allows me to upload CSV and XML feeds and it converts them into MySQL database entries. It then provides an interface for someone to search for the cheapest price for particular products.

What it cannot do is compare product features. After all, the only product data that it can extract is from the XML or CSV file and that is usually restricted to product name, product price, product price and retailer name.

Hence, I have spent the last two days building a feature comparison. More

16/12/06 - Google AdSense Ads Removed

I have removed the Google AdSense ads as a trial to see whether that will affect the overall number of sales.

I stress that this is a trial only!

The benefits are that the site designs are now identical and that more people are directed off the static content pages and onto the price comparison feature.

Will I put the ads back on? More

16/12/06 - The Power of Website Statistics

You may remember back in Lecture 6, I mentioned adding statistics gathering software to www.davidfiske.com

At the moment, it is delivering some decent statistics but there is nothing that really interests me there.

However, the statistics on Compare Sat Nav do excite me.

Why? More

14/12/06 - The Importance Of Content Matching Ads

Let's assume you have signed up to some affiliate networks. I am currently using:

• Affiliate Future
• Commission Junction
• Deal Group Media (DGM) - used to be known as UK Affiliates
• Tradedoubler

Let's also assume you have some content of some sort.

How do you go about maximising the amount of revenue these ads earn you? More

14/12/06 - Menu Has Been Re-Built

The menu has now been rebuilt and all the advertisers have been added.

I have just had news that one more, well known high street retailer is coming on board so those links should be up tonight.

I am now moving on to add more functionality as everything has very much centred around the Price Tapestry script. before I do, I will post a few more lectures on the logic of using a price comparison PHP script, SEO woes and so forth.

At this point, I would appriciate suggestions on what you would like me to cover in more depth. More

14/12/06 - Compare Sat Nav Navigation

I must admit that there have been a lot of changes on Compare Sat Nav recently.

More advertisers have been added (I am currently on 19 retailers) and there is one more to be added.

The last couple of advertisers I added sell systems that most of the others do not so I need to update the menu as these have not yet been added to the navigation.

I also changed the navigation yesterday. On an 800 x 600 browser setting, the bottom of the menu was chopped off! That is not very good in all honesty! More

14/12/06 - Multiple Streams of Internet Income Book

As you may have gathered, I don't usually recommend products. Or at least, I only recommend those that are good and credible.

There are so many guides and books available that it is often difficult to select the right ones. A lot of people are writing drivel about making money yet provide no credible and logical content for the reader to act upon. In fact, these products usually recommend more guides to buy at additional cost (and usually profit to the author).

This recommendation is different. More

14/12/06 - Merchandise and Freebies

I am not sure about you but I love freebies!

I also like to feel proud about sites I have created, and especially successful ones.

Most of my sites have text based logos so it is nice to have a vector based image in the logo of Compare Sat Nav.

So here is what I am going to do with the first £500 of revenue. More

13/12/06 - Satellite Navigation First Sale!

Not so long ago I reported that the Google AdSense ads were earning me money (albeit pennies last time I checked).

Now, I have received commission from one of the retailers listed on the site.

How much? More

12/12/06 - Listed In Google In 9 Days

I have just checked Compare Sat Nav's statistics and whilst the visitor count is not terrifically high (104 visitors in 9 days), I have made it into Google.

I am already receiving visitors from other search engines which is great for a 9 day old incomplete site!

The web is slow at updating so I cannot be certain how many sites link to mine or how Compare Sat Nav got into Google.

I presume it is working on it constantly plus blogging the URL here! More

12/12/06 - Website Legal Issues

In the age that we live in, legal action has become more prevalent.

So it is only right that you stay one step ahead of any lawsuits by complying with the law.

There are three types of document you will need to make a website sound: More

11/12/06 - Snap Website Previews

I have stumbled across a site called Snap and they offer a free piece of Ajax code that lets your visitors preview a link before they click.

You can download this code (Snap Preview Anywhere) at http://www.snap.com/about/spa1A.php More

11/12/06 - Ajax Suggestion Tutorial

I said in a previous post that it would be great if the site could suggest sat nav systems to the visitor when they type in the search bar.

So, if they start typing "To" for TomTom, they would be presented with a list of various TomTom models.

Ajax is the new JavaScript and has come back with a vengeance! More

11/12/06 - Price Tapestry Script

Your niche site should be a very specialised and individual site. It should not try and be the jack of all trades but should be a concise set of information, offers, adverts and sticky features.

I highly recommend a price checking script called Price Tapestry for use on your site.

It is PHP based and is very flexible. More

11/12/06 - SEO Tips and Advice

This is basically a summary of what I have explained in the past few lectures together with some fresh advice.

It covers SEO, Google AdSense and good web design skills. More

11/12/06 - Website Visitor Psychology

I love tweaking my sites. The fun of it is making little changes and watching the effects.

Not all changes are good though. Most websites change regularly. For example, Yahoo Mail is launching a new website interface for it's webmail users. I have tried it and quickly reverted back to the old interface. Why?

People are afraid of change.

This is a big consideration when you build a website. You need to get it structurally sound before you start building else you run the risk of losing visitors - and search engines. More

11/12/06 - Screenshot 4

It is useful at this point to put the fourth screenshot alongside the third to see the differences.

Despite they are of different pages and there has been a colour change, there are other significant changes. More

10/12/06 - Revisiting The Project Aims

Lecture 3 outlines some aims for this project including:

1. Create a website using no links from existing websites
2. Create a relevant, and perhaps topical, website that will appeal to people primarily in the UK
3. Document every step in the process
4. Actively encourage fresh link building to both http://www.davidfiske.com and the test site (to be named later)
5. Create passive income revenue streams for the site
6. Set a target for passive income!

As I said in the last lecture, these need to be looked at again. More

10/12/06 - A Natural Pause In Website Development

It is now the end of a very exciting week. Compare Sat Nav has been developed and despite not yet having all the web feeds installed and not all the content I want, it is presentable to the public.

So what happens next? More

09/12/06 - Website Intergration Has Begun

Just a quick note to let you know that the price comparison feature has now been linked up.

The menu options are still a bit haphazard but that should be sorted soon as I start to add content to the site.

Take a look at the main site at http://www.comparesatnav.co.uk and then look at http://dbfcs.co.uk/shop/sat_nav/

Why not try and spot the difference?! More

09/12/06 - Satellite Navigation Logo

I told you it would happen!

I have changed the logo and colour scheme.

Since the site is built using a CSS file, changing the colours and layout is relatively easy as changes made to this file are made throughout the site.

So what does the new logo look like? More

08/12/06 - Technical Aspects

I am not entirely sure who I am writing for, so let me clarify who I think you are.

You are interested in making money on the Internet. You have very little time available to develop a website so you need to know shortcuts. You need to know what works and what doesn't t avoid wasting precious time.

I would like to think you know a bit about PHP and MySQL. Not so much an 'expert' in it, but you understand what makes it tick and you know how to do things like install scripts on your web server, customise them, etc.

I shall soon be revealing some in depth details about what software I use, etc. That is the kind of information you need. However, you also need a demonstration of what it can do so that is why I am holding back. More

08/12/06 - Revenue Earning Has Started!

Believe it or not, whilst I am working on the site, there have already been clicks on adverts and as a result, I am currently sitting on a grand total of:

10 PENCE!!!

Not enough to cover the £40 set up fees (so all I need to earn to break even is £20 per year as the hosting and domain name are registered for two years) More

07/12/06 - Sitemap Generator

I have just taken a look at DBFCS and realised I have forgotten to create a sitemap for existing content.

Seeing as I have two price comparison script already on there (UK Price Comparison Search and Gift Finder)with over 100,000 products, that is quite a few URL's that could be added!

The best way to generate a sitemap is by using Audit My PC's free online tool.

This produces an XML sitemap that you can save to your computer and then upload to your server. More

07/12/06 - Link Exchange

If you want to exchange links with me, it is very simple.

Add the following hyperlink structure to your website, contact me to tell me where you have added it and get a reciprocal link below.

The code to use when linking to davidfiske.com is:

<a href="http://davidfiske.com" title="David Fiske Internet Consultant - Build A Profitable Website">David Fiske Internet Consultant - Build A Profitable Website</a>

This produces: David Fiske Internet Consultant - Build A Profitable Website

Please add a link to Compare Sat Nav Systems using the following code:

<a href="http://www.comparesatnav.co.uk" title="Compare Satellite Navigation Systems">Compare Sat Nav Systems</a>

This produces: Compare Sat Nav Systems

Please add a link to Sat Nav Reviews using the following code:

<a href="http://www.satnavreviews.co.uk" title="Satellite Navigation Reviews">Satellite Navigation Reviews</a>

This produces: Satellite Navigation Reviews

Note: Only sites with good quality information on them will be listed. No offensive sites will be listed nor any for medication, drugs, etc. I reserve the right to reject any link exchange. More

07/12/06 - Screenshot 3

The site has progressed further now.

I am still working on the search comparison and that is not yet linked to anything else.

Also, because it is hosted on the DBFCS server, it means that it will be included in the Google Sitemap that is created for DBFCS. This will help get www.comparesatnav.co.uk into the search engines quicker as it will be linked to from DBFCS.

My original aim was not to link to it from DBFCS but due to the hosting solution, this is now not possible.

However, to anyone who thinks this is an unfair advantage, I run a link exchange from this site so if you want to have a link here (www.davidfiske.com is in Google by the way!), visit the link exchange page. More

06/12/06 - Even More Problems!

A few things have happened since I last posted a lecture.

Firstly, I have installed the price comparison software and that works great. The only problem is with the CSV and XML feeds from affiliate networks.

They are inconsistent so I am having to create my own product feed.

The problem with this, besides being time consuming, is that it is no longer a simple download procedure I need to follow to update the prices. I now need to manually check all the prices. More

05/12/06 - Site Locations

I have stumbled upon my first problem.

I am using some price comparison software but it has n inherent security so I need password protection enabled on my server.

So, rather than pay £10 just for this, I have chosen to host it over at DBFCS. All the rest of the site at www.comparesatnav.co.uk will stay put. More

04/12/06 - Screenshot 2

This is the result after a day of work on the site. It is far from finished but is starting to look good.

This does not yet resemble the plan drawn out but should do soon.

Taken at 16:55. More

04/12/06 - Screenshot 1

Taken 4th December 2006 at 11:50 am.

Status: No development started. Planning has begun. More

04/12/06 - Progress Report Two

It is about time for another progress report.

The domain names have been registered as has the website hosting.

The website plan has been created and so to have the features. More

04/12/06 - Compare Sat Nav Site Plan

I always start a site with a plan. A basic, very rough, line drawing of the site I intend to build.

I sketch out blocks of content and use these to code the site.

Pictures come afterwards. So essentially, I create a text based site and fill it up as I progress. More

04/12/06 - Site Layout

My aim is to get www.comparesatnav.co.uk up and running very soon. Hopefully by the end of the week, perhaps the end of next, but definitely by Christmas.

So what am I going to have on the site?

To get the niche searches, I need product information on every satellite navigation system available in the UK at the moment. So I need to firstly have an index of all the satellite navigation systems available and then for each of these, I need a product information page.

I need a price comparison feature so I will need XML or CSV product feeds from retailers. There are usually free on most affiliate networks though only some retailers offer these. More

04/12/06 - To Adsense or Not? That Is the Question!

A major question in developing a design is whether to include Google Adsense or not.

The reasons to include Google Adsense are simple. They can create an instant revenue stream for the site as well as update themselves automatically.

So why would I not want Google Adsense? More

04/12/06 - Comfortable? Let Us Begin!

The names www.comparesatnav.co.uk and www.satnavreviews.co.uk have been registered and are now ready to work on.

The most important lesson here is plan before you work.

What is the point of doing lots of work now to find out we have to start all over again when we get half way through.

There are several stages to building a money making website: More

04/12/06 - Niche Guides

Thank you to everyone who has contacted me requesting more information on niches.

Whilst this site covers niches in some detail, it is aimed at people who are willing to put some effort in to learning and researching.

However, there are some commercial guides out there that can help you with developing niche websites. More

01/12/06 - Logo Development

This website has no logo. Well, that is not strictly true.

The pink jigsaw is more or less the logo. Why is it a missing jigsaw piece and why is it pink?

I think the pink works well alongside grey and white. There are loads of blue and green sites but very few pink. Plus bright pink is memorable. I don't think you can forget this site quickly.

The missing jigsaw piece is supposed to represent "putting it all together". This website is hopefully the mechanism for putting all your efforts together and creating a site.

So what about Compare Sat Nav then? What should the logo look like? More

01/12/06 - Revenue Analysis

I have purchased web hosting and a domain name. So how much potential is there for a sat nav website?

I created a spreadsheet with all the potential advertisers that I could use. The list is not comprehensive but is adequate for a quick analysis.

The image below shows a screenshot of the spreadsheet. I have blurred the commission as I am not sure whether there is a restriction on this information (I know Google Adsense do not allow their users to display particular financial information). More