Image: renjith krishnan FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In my prior posts on keyword research and sizing up your competition, I helped you figure out how to choose potentially profitable keyword phrases, helped you narrow things down and showed you how to quickly identify whether or not you stand a chance of being able to compete for a spot on the first page of Google for your keyword phrase.  If you haven’t yet gone through those step-by-step posts, I highly recommend you check them out.

Assuming you followed along with my prior posts and have either identified a killer keyword phrase of your own to target or are following along with my “vintage baby clothes” example, I will now show you how you can get started on duplicating the success of your competitors by finding out where they are getting all their links from.  Those links to your site from other sites are called backlinks.

Be sure to follow along by downloading the 12 day free trial of Market Samurai.  It is available for both Mac and PC and all you have to do is provide a name and email address and you will receive an email to download the software right away.

“If you build it, they will come…” is a phrase from the movie Field of Dreams, but unfortunately that is not usually true for niche sites when you are starting out.  You can have the greatest content in the world, but if no one is aware of your site, you will get very little traffic.

What you need to do is figure out where your competitors are getting all of their links from and duplicate their methods/efforts.  No sense in re-inventing the wheel, they already blazed a trail and ended up on the first page of Google, all you need to do is follow that trail.  With Market Samurai, that is an amazingly simple process.

Rather than write out the steps, I decided to show you with a short video.  For our “vintage baby clothes” example, the video will show you exactly where the competition is getting their links from, it will show you some of the tactics our competition is using to get those links and I will offer up additional suggestions for other ways/places to get additional backlinks.

If you’re curious how I created the video, I utilized Camtasia Studio.  It is a very powerful software package that allows you to do screen captures videos and a whole lot more.  Check out my resources page for further details. 

The forensic/behind-the-scenes work shown in the video is quite fun.  It is like being your own private investigator.  You can even utilize the same steps in the video to see where your own site, or the site of a friend, is getting links from.  Just go to the main Market Samurai screen, start a new project and type in the domain name instead of a keyword phrase.  Then go to the SEO Competition module and go through the same quick steps in the video.  Very cool stuff.

If you followed along with my entire series of posts, you have all of the information to identify a killer keyword phrase, size up your competition, register your own domain name and establish web hosting and you now have the details on where/how to get essential backlinks for your site.  All you need to do is start creating that epic content and get started on those backlinks!

By now you truly see the power and simplicity of having all of that information available through the only tool you need, Market Samurai.  It really is a great product.

Thanks for following along and if you have any additional questions, comments or suggestions, please let me know by leaving a comment.  I welcome all constructive criticism.  Also, be sure to subscribe via email below to receive the latest post updates.

In full disclosure, I receive an affiliate commission if you decide to purchase the Market Samurai software, at no additional cost to you.  You will also be eligible for a 35% discount if you sign-up during the first 6 days of your free trial, which is exactly what I did when I purchased the software myself.  If you do decide to purchase the software, thank you ahead of time.  I truly appreciate it.

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Image: renjith krishnan FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you have not yet read through my prior posts on how to utilize Market Samurai to find a killer set of keywords and sizing up your competition, you should check those out first for a step-by-step tutorial on how to set yourself up for success online.  If you have already done your keyword research and competition analysis, you now have a great keyword phrase and domain name chosen, you just need to register the site and sign up for a web hosting account.

I’ve utilized GoDaddy for registering domain names since 2003 and they’ve been great.  I recommend keeping your domain registration separate from your web hosting, that way if you ever decide you want to switch web hosting providers, it makes the whole process much easier.  In that way, you also do not have all your eggs in one basket.  GoDaddy currently has a 5.99 special for new 1 year .com registrations, which is a great deal.  I also highly recommend choosing private domain registration, which is what I do with all of my domains.  That way you won’t be spammed by other companies once they see your new domain registration out there.

For web hosting, I utilize Webhosting Hub and they have been nothing short of amazing as far as ease of use and their 24/7 customer support team.  I contacted them via the online chat feature on the Sunday afternoon that I signed up, for a few different questions.  I talked to support reps James G and William M and they were super knowledgeable, fully resolved each individual issue the first time and they mentioned each time that they were available 24/7 for any further questions or issues.  That type of instant AND helpful support is so hard to find these days.  I contacted them a few times since that initial day and they continue to amaze.  I love the online chat support feature, it is great not having to navigate through a phone support tree or wait on hold.

I signed up with Webhosting Hub for several reasons.  The overwhelming majority of recent reviews that I read were all excellent, the fact that you can host an unlimited number of domains/WordPress Blogs/MySQL databases, 1 click WordPress installs, super low prices and their 90 day money back guarantee.

I setup 2 separate domains in addition to the free one they provide, installed 2 WordPress blogs, installed several WordPress plugins, a few WordPress themes and published some original content all in one afternoon.  That was with no prior knowledge of WordPress or web hosting.  Based on my experience thus far I feel very comfortable recommending them, knowing that anyone who signs up through my affiliate link will be in good hands.

The typical lowest published discount rate for Webhosting Hub is $4.95 per month, but I was so impressed and passionate about their service that I convinced them to make their lowest rate available anywhere to me of $3.95 per month!  That is a really great deal and only available by clicking my affiliate link.  Make sure you see the image below on their sign-up page showing you the $3.95 price, otherwise you’re not getting the full discount.

If you don’t see the $3.95 rate, go into your browser settings, clear your cookies/cache, restart your browser and then click the link.  You should then be all set.

Just like most other hosting sites, that is their price if you sign up for 36 months.  If you sign up for 24 months, the price is $4.95 and for 12 months, that rate is $5.95.  Choose whatever rate and terms that best fit your needs.

After you get setup with your web hosting account, be sure to check out my resources page for essential information and tools to help you hit the ground running.

In full disclosure, the links contained on this page are affiliate links and I will get a commission, at no additional cost to you, if you sign up for GoDaddy for domain registration and Webhosting Hub for web hosting services.  If you have any questions at all regarding either service, please email me or leave a comment and I will be get back to you right away.  Thanks for your support and good luck with all of your online adventures!

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I received an email newsletter from Pat Flynn yesterday and I decided to follow his advice and create a resources/tools page on this site. I’ve been meaning to do that, so it was very good timing and exactly what I needed to motivate myself to get it done.

Basically, that is a place on your site where you should list essential tools that you utilize and recommend to others. In that way, if someone ever asks you for advice on what tools/programs/services that you recommend for a particular task, you can point them directly to your resources page on your site.  Or if anyone happens upon your site and wonders what sort of tools you are using, that is a page that people are accustomed to look for.  Kind of a one-stop-shop for all things that have worked well for you and that will hopefully help out others in the process.

Much of what I put on there is WordPress specific, but I also have links to other tools, a few books and even a movie.  So stop by, check it out and be sure to bookmark the page.  I also added it to the menu just above my site logo, but I might move that around a bit.  I will be constantly updating that page as I am always learning and trying out new tools to help create passive income online.  I actually just added another plugin to the list today.

Be sure to like/share the post and subscribe via email in the Optin Skin box at the bottom of either this post or the resources page to receive notification of new updates on the site.  Thanks so much, I greatly appreciate it!

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I just came across the new Optin Skin WP plugin from Glen Allsopp, the author of ViperChill, for creating great looking email subscription/social media call-to-action boxes for your blog. The plugin came at a great time for me, since I set myself a goal for 2012 to create an email subscriber list for my blog/niche sites.

There are certainly other ways to add email subscription boxes and social media buttons to a blog, but I have not found anything that provides a fully customizable, easy way to create a visually appealing call-to-action, combining both social sharing and email subscriptions in one plugin. Optin Skin does exactly that and does it very well!

The Optin Skin plugin also adds a feature called Split-Testing for more advanced/technical users. That will allow you to create two different call-to-action boxes and the plugin will rotate between the two in the same location. You can then track the results and view a graphical comparison as to which opt-in box performs the best and results in the highest conversion rates, allowing you to choose the best performer.

I value my personal time and as soon as I saw the plugin, I knew it would be a huge time saver for me. Web design is not my forte, but I’m relatively technical. When I saw examples of the type of graphical call-to-action boxes that are built in and fully customizable with this plugin, I decided this was a plugin worth paying for.

I have already seen comments from others that installed the plugin over the last day or two and they had some questions or suggestions. Glen personally responded right away, saying how to do what the folks had asked or stated that they were great ideas and he would roll them out to the plugin within 24-48 hours. That right there sealed the deal for me. I knew the plugin would do exactly what I needed, but having Glen there to back things up and provide enhancements on an almost up-to-the-minute basis was the icing on the cake.

The plugin is available at a launch price of $47. Many plugins cost that for one site and charge a much larger fee if you want to use them on multiple sites. Optin Skin can be installed on an unlimited number of sites as long as you own them all. They also offer a 60 day money back guarantee.

I think it’s a great deal. Optimistically it would probably take me about 100 hours to do anything remotely similar to what this plugin offers and I can assure you that it would not be nearly as professional, visually appealing or functional as this plugin. I certainly think my time is worth more than 50 cents per hour, so it really was a no-brainer for me.

If you are interested, be sure to check out the Optin Skin launch page.  It is packed full of all the information you’ll need to make an informed decision. You can even try customizing a call-to-action box right there on the page. It is a great plugin and most importantly I’m looking forward to the results.

If you arrived at this article by visiting the main home page and not the individual post, either click on the post title or just click the number of comments shown below and the optin skin box will appear just about the comment section.   I’d truly appreciate it if you would try out the plugin by sharing the love and subscribing to the blog via email to get future updates.  Your email will not be shared and I will not take your trust for granted.  I will be sure to provide future posts which add value and help to make your blogging adventures a success.  Thanks and best wishes!

In full disclosure, I do receive a commission if a purchase is made through my affiliate link, at no additional cost to you. Thank you so much in advance if you do decide to make a purchase through my link.

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