2 Page Site Making Money - who needs blogs?

[stephen todd]

Long before I started building blog sites I built a variety of static html and php sites - from 20 pages, to thousands of pages

I'm back to building static sites - 20 to 30 pages - as that's all that's needed to milk niche markets

Here's somebody doing the same:

If you've followed my blog for a while, it's likely you've heard me tout the benefits of focusing on razor-targeted keywords to increase the conversion rate of your web site.

To put it simply: keywords that make clear exactly what the searcher is looking for result in a much larger percentage of people buying something. For example, somebody looking for "dallas term life insurance quote" is probably much more likely to buy than somebody searching for "term life insurance." The first searcher is a buyer, the second is quite possibly just looking for information.

This has certainly been the case with a certain web site of mine that holds the number three spot in Google for the name of the product it ranks for. It doesn't get much traffic, but what it does with the traffic it does get is amazing! In fact, in August the site only received 154 unique visitors, but those 154 visitors resulted in 29 sales totaling $676.08 in affiliate income for me.

Twenty-nine sales from 154 visitors is an 18% conversion rate, which is truly excellent for a two-page affiliate web site.

[Nathan]

That is quite excellent!

[The Spotnik]

Indeed, tho it's quite different from blogging. Blogging about most topics is by nature not so razor-sharp, since, hopefully, you'll fill a lot of posts with different angles on the theme of the blog. A blog attracts a wider audience.

I don't see the point in comparing the two. They're completely different things.

For example, a site strictly aimed at the keywords "buy iphone online" is likely to get you much higher percentage of conversions on that product alone. A blog about iphones may get a wider audience and have potential to sell related products and benefit from viral effects.

[stephen todd]

Originally Posted by The Spotnik

Indeed, tho it's quite different from blogging. Blogging about most topics is by nature not so razor-sharp, since, hopefully, you'll fill a lot of posts with different angles on the theme of the blog. A blog attracts a wider audience.

I don't see the point in comparing the two. They're completely different things.

My only reason for building blog sites is to make money from them - i.e. making use of their advanced features such as RSS feeds

My thinking is now swinging back to static sites with an average of 20 pages that can be built quickly and easily to make money from small niches where a full scale SEO'd wordpress blog with tons of plugins and constant posting is not worth the effort, when a build it and forget it static site will do the job

[The Spotnik]

I totally agree that sometimes, depending on what your goals are, blogs are underachievers when looking at the reward/workload ratio.

[Nathan]

Of course some of us don't actually mind the work.

[stephen todd]

Originally Posted by The Spotnik

I totally agree that sometimes, depending on what your goals are, blogs are underachievers when looking at the reward/workload ratio.

Yes, that's exactly what I was trying to point out - that building a blog site complete with plugins that need constant upgrading, and constant posting to keep the site fresh, may be using a sledgehammer to crack a wallnut

[stephen todd]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Of course some of us don't actually mind the work.

It does of course depend on what you are trying to achieve

Some target markets may require a significant amount of effort - it's just that if you're picking off the easy targets, a blog may be overkill

[ishan]

Amazing results!

However, as you said, it's all about goals. Some people want much more than just money. Many blog for just limelight while many others have different goals. Of course, when it comes to "only making money" blogs are not that good!

[selfhelp]

I feel conflicted about this. Sometimes, it's just easier to use blog software rather than building a site from scratch. Also, you can "razor target" your blog just like you can a static site. Basically, I guess I'm saying there is no difference between a static site and a blog beyond how you decide to use them. It's just the delivery process that's different (and perhaps the fact that search engines seem to like blogs more than static sites). On another note, though, thanks for the tip about getting hyper-local with your site. It's a great idea, and I didn't realize how "hyper-local" you meant until you used the Dallas example.