Something quick and simple today. A food for thought post for you to decide if it could possibly be helpful to you.
I follow a lot of different blogs for different reasons. One of the reasons I may follow the progress of a website is if the owner proclaims that the site is highly successful. I’m particularly interested when the owner of a site says that their blog allowed them to quit their job and go full time.
A reader may never know if these claims are true. I came across such a blog a few months ago.
My method for following a blog? I simply add their RSS feed to my Apple Mail. Apple Mail allows me to put all of my emails and RSS feeds in to one place for reading. It’s very convenient and I can see everything with a glance.
I can quickly see when a new post has been added to any number of blogs without going to an online RSS reader. I can usually read the post within Apple Mail also. It’s simple and you know I like simple.
The most common recipe for success that I see for those blogs who proclaim success is the sheer amount of content they publish. The particular sites I’m watching publish new content almost everyday and even multiple times per day.
For now, let’s not even talk about SEO and other gibberish. These sites are simply pounding the internet daily with fresh new content.
I read a lot of bloggers who whine about not being able to get traffic to their site. I have a cure for what ails you. Publish more stuff.
I have experienced this myself. Over the last 2 years I have published some local community news websites. The more I published, the more traffic I received. No backlinking. No SEO wizardry. I just pounded Google with new content daily.
I remember when I started that I would be pumped to see my site get 30 visitors in a day. After 2 years of shoving local content down Google’s throat I would yawn at 15K – 20K visits per month. Keep in mind this was content about little Jimmy’s T-ball team winning the local recreation league championship. Not a huge demand for the search engines.
I want to highlight a site for you today that I have been watching for quite a while. Front Porch Ideas And More.
I do not recall how I found this site, but the owner made the claim that this site allowed them to earn enough to quit their corporate job. After watching the site for a few months, I have no reason to doubt them. They are animals when it comes to the amount of content they publish.
Mary & Dave publish almost everyday and sometimes, multiple times per day. I have absolutely no personal connection with them.
Personally, I don’t have a lot of interest in front porches, but these folks find a way to publish relevant content daily. They have exploited this niche in a way that I didn’t know was possible.
What I really like about the site is the fact that they have chronicled their progress from novice beginners to the powerhouse they have become. You can read about their journey here. They just experienced a single traffic day of 7000 visits.
There are times when you have to revert back to common sense and quit worrying about SEO structure, backlinks, keyword density & H1 tags.
If you and I stare at a STOP sign and then write a description of what we see, no doubt we are going to view it differently.
These folks have learned to stare at front porches and write everything you can possibly imagine about a front porch. They did it in such a way as to become a valuable resource to their readers.
My advice to myself and others…
Stop complaining and start writing.
If you write it, they will come.
** I wrote this article as a personal observation only. I have had no contact with the owners of Front Porch Ideas. I will be contacting them to make sure I have not made any errors.
I do know Dave and Mary and I can tell you that they are amazing people. Dave and Mary work as a team and they encourage others to be successful. I started my website because of them and it has changed my life. It is true, you must keep adding valuable content. I see my traffic go up everyday and that is great. More than that, I love working on my website and I know someday soon I will be able to quit my job too. Dave and Mary are a true inspiration, they are great role models as well.
I know Mary and Dave and they are, as described above, wonderful people. I met them through an internet marketing event about a year and a half ago.
Their website is a perfect example of how through research, persistence and hard work they have achieved success in their online business.
I am never comfortable being controversial however I can’t agree with what you have stated about publishing content being enough to make a website successful, especially if you are counting on Google for the website visitors. I don’t however disagree that consistent publishing is a very important part of the overall equation. Like any successful business online or off, there is a lot of hard work, required skills, and knowledge of your industry involved and I would never want to mislead anyone into thinking just publishing content is enough.
I would love to hear from Mary and/or Dave on what they attribute the success of their website to. How about asking them to guest blog for you and let them tell us themselves.
Enjoyed your website. You’ve got some great stuff going on here! Will add you to my own RSS feed and keep up with you in Google Reader.
All the best!
Leigha
@Donna, thanks for stopping by. No doubt you will achieve success if you follow in the footsteps of Mary & Dave.
@Leigha, there is no doubt that Mary & Dave’s content is based on strong SEO principals and keyword research. I have had an email with them stating that.
As I have followed their site over the last few months, I was blown away by the amount and consistency of their focused content.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Nothing wrong with being controversial BTW.
Find some of my SEO posts here on Bloggerlens and you will see that I’m definitely not all about content only.
I love the Front Porches website and have bookmarked it on my computer. Their pictures are always gorgeous and they have such incredibly helpful content. But, that’s just an example of how Dave & Mary are. They are two of the most selfless people I know. They work hard on their site but it is truly a labor of love.
I found your comment about the value of blogging to increase traffic very timely. I am considering starting a blog also for that reason. Does it make a difference which one to use?
Steve,
Dave and I are sp honored to be featured on your blog. Thank you very much! We appreciate your kind words about our website and accomplishments. Took lots of hard work and persistence the past couple years. Writing lots of great content is definitely one reason we’ve done well, but I know we all agree it’s based upon a lot more than that. Thanks for taking the time to write about us – what a fun surprise.
Thank you @Donna, @Claudette and @Leigha for taking the time to comment.
Wishing you the best, Steve…..Mary of Front-Porch-Ideas-and-More.com
I’m always amazed at how people find and build niches that work for them. Mary and Dave’s success is what all of us internet marketing types strive for. That is great for them! I consider myself very much a beginner in internet marketing and it’s definitely a struggle to stay consistent and focused.
Thanks for posting this inspirational story!
They have done an amazing job with their site. They really add a ton of good, relevant content on almost a daily basis.
On another note Harlan, I just got my Canon EOS 60D yesterday. I’ll be writing about it soon.
Oh yes, nice camera! Have fun shooting with it!