The $500 site project - update
As some of you might remember, I posted a few days ago that I had quit playing MMORPGs and was planning to start a site to fill up my newly gained time, and find out how hard it would be to start from scratch today with a minimal budget and limited time.
I've been doing a bit of planning, and have finally decided to go with a small network rather than a single site. Below is the basic outline of my current plan. Some details are omitted, of course, since I have nothing to gain by giving away marketing strategies.
Sites:
-main site (hybrid, includes blog, tgp, and some other things)
-4 blogs
-1 toplist
-1 fake tgp
Numbers aren't set in stone, of course. What works gets scaled up, what doesn't work gets killed off.
The hybrid site will be the hub of the network. It's intended to gain bookmarkers and SE rankings. Content will be high quality, being surfer friendly is the main goal. Will be a great timesink with few noticeable results in the first 6 months. Replaces World of Warcraft
The blogs are intended to bring SE traffic and quality traded traffic into the network. Each will, at the start, get 2 high quality posts a week. Results in the first few months aren't likely, after that the search engines should start picking up some posts. These replace Eve Online.
The toplist is intended to distribute traffic through the network and exchange some stale traffic for fresh traffic. Replaces LOTRO (did I mention yet that I used to be a complete gaming addict?)
The fake TGP is intended to bring fresh low quality traded traffic into the network, and maybe make some sales from sponsor galleries. Once I find a design that gets decent prod, it will get a few thousand bought hits a day to keep volume up.
Since it has so far been way more fun than I expected, I might cheat a little and add some extra budget, as well as some of my own traffic. I'll make sure to stay within reasonable limits of what someone who was completely new in this industry could do, though.
I'll give another update when everything's up and running
I've been doing a bit of planning, and have finally decided to go with a small network rather than a single site. Below is the basic outline of my current plan. Some details are omitted, of course, since I have nothing to gain by giving away marketing strategies.
Sites:
-main site (hybrid, includes blog, tgp, and some other things)
-4 blogs
-1 toplist
-1 fake tgp
Numbers aren't set in stone, of course. What works gets scaled up, what doesn't work gets killed off.
The hybrid site will be the hub of the network. It's intended to gain bookmarkers and SE rankings. Content will be high quality, being surfer friendly is the main goal. Will be a great timesink with few noticeable results in the first 6 months. Replaces World of Warcraft
The blogs are intended to bring SE traffic and quality traded traffic into the network. Each will, at the start, get 2 high quality posts a week. Results in the first few months aren't likely, after that the search engines should start picking up some posts. These replace Eve Online.
The toplist is intended to distribute traffic through the network and exchange some stale traffic for fresh traffic. Replaces LOTRO (did I mention yet that I used to be a complete gaming addict?)
The fake TGP is intended to bring fresh low quality traded traffic into the network, and maybe make some sales from sponsor galleries. Once I find a design that gets decent prod, it will get a few thousand bought hits a day to keep volume up.
Since it has so far been way more fun than I expected, I might cheat a little and add some extra budget, as well as some of my own traffic. I'll make sure to stay within reasonable limits of what someone who was completely new in this industry could do, though.
I'll give another update when everything's up and running
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