Hey everyone. For a long time now, I've been working on my newest creation, StrategyChess. It's a website that will come packed with articles about chess (strategy, rules, openings, puzzles, etc.) Anyway, I'm almost done. All I really need to do is upload the files and put them all on a host. Before I do this, I just want your opinion on how successful the site might be. I plan on making money on the site by using text-based advertising, such as Intellitxt. I think this is the best way because the site will be filled with links for visitors to click (for example, I have links that, when clicked, display diagrams in a new window). Therefore, a lot of visitors will probably also click the ads. This also works well because it's a content site, and there shouldn't be a problem with the ads finding a nice place to call home. I plan on marketing the site through free methods that I feel will work wonderfully. For starters, I have a keyword-rich domain that I think will attract a lot of visitors from Google right off the bat. Second, I'm going to make a few narrated videos on YouTube that will hopefully help promote the site. I also plan on using Stumbleupon and signature links to get some extra traffic. Finally, if I'm lucky, I'll put some permanent links on Wikipedia chess articles. On a final note, the site is really low maintenance. I don't expect to need to spend over $50 for its first year of operation. However, I'm really interested in about how successful you think it will be. If anyone could give me an estimate on monthly income, I would really appreciate it. I guess you'd like to see a link? Here are two: Home Page Rules (A sample article) Also, if you have any major recommendations (yes, I know the layout is very basic, and I intend to keep it that way), please let me know. Thanks! I'll be sure to give out rep to anyone who gives me some good approximations or advice.
nice lookin site, i suppose the article is OK too, though it could use a few embedded diagrams. but i don't know about your business strategy. it takes way more than a nice lookin site and a bunch of articles to attract the kind of traffic that will generate actual cash. so my estimate on monthly income would be zero, or negligible. to succeed these days, a site needs to be SEO'd like crazy so it ranks really well (and that is a major effort i'm telling you, even in a tiny niche like chess), or it needs to have awesome content. by awesome, i mean exceptional, extraordinary... something that draws people, like a magnet. a bunch of articles isn't awesome. it's a start.... but it isn't going to make you rich.
Thanks for the advice. Is there anything in particular that you recommend I do? I already plan on submitting to tons of directories to help increase the number of backlinks. I've also heard (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that keywords in the domain are a major help to Google rankings. "Chess strategy" is a pretty high volume keyword (high enough, at least) that isn't really taken advantage of, so I figured that even with just some basic SEO, I could easily rank on the top page. Thanks again, and rep added Oh, and as for the embedded diagrams, I think they would be a bit of a hassle to code and to read (it would make the pages reallllly long). Of course, making them open in a new window (or, in my case, tab) is probably even more annoying. Do you think that some nice Ajax thumbnail pop-ups would work better?
thanks for the rep dude ok, i didn't know you did your homework about strategic SEO. i guess if you are willing to put the nose to grindstone and submit to directories, and so on, you have a better chance. i am not that expert in SEO, but looking at your pages i think there is a lot you can do, the keywords can go in bold, the articles can be broken down, thus giving google h1 and h2 section titles which it likes, and so on. basic stuff, there's articles about that all over the place. so you're up to speed with ajax? yeah, that would work great. a lot of work, but if you ask me, i think it would be worth it. following lines and lines of text can be a bit tough. if you make it less like an article and more like a presentation, it would be easier to follow. one other thing, and this is just my opinion, you might want to make your home page a bit more busy, a little box with "popular articles", or a little box with a blurb linking to a specific article "beginners guide to chess", or a trivia section, or whatever, would make the front look more lively. are you planning to add a dynamic section? like forums, or a Question and Answer session? if so, excerpts from there could also go to the front page.
Hi, Your site looks nice as for me. I say this as a guy who has been playing in chess since 1984yeas. I'm not a master but i sometime earn a little cash on my chess' skill. I think your should try to sell chess books, chess sets on that site, it should bring some income. Also you should write or to buy some articles about history of this nice sport. Well, you may note you've gotten one good visitor for your site. Good luck.
Thanks for the comments Nick (green rep given). I actually just thought of affiliate sales through amazon last night, but forgot to mention in here. I find it really annoying when chess sites are just bombarded with ads selling chess boards and the like, but as you can see on the new navigation, there's a recommended reading section. That's where I'll put Amazon affiliate links of some good chess products. I don't expect to earn much, but I think it'll make a nice combination as a helpful resource and a good way to make some extra money. I also like the idea of an article on the history of chess. Chess really does have a fascinating background behind it, and even though this article would require a tad more research, it would easily be worth the time. Thanks again, and I'm still open to helpful advice.