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View Full Version : If you build it, they will come?
MikeF0421
01-05-2010, 04:34 PM
I'm curious if any of you fellow web designers have tried this because I'm thinking about giving it a shot.
We market a lot in our local area. We have clients all over, but I love the local ones that I can go sit down with face to face.
What I'm thinking of trying is building a site that is optimized for a term such as "Estate Attorneys in York PA". The site could literally be nothing more than a list of several attorneys. I don't care. Heck, there could just be a message that says, "Check back later for York's premiere estate attorney." The content is not important.
Then I would work on getting the site to the top of Google for that keyword. Once it's there, shop it out to local estate attorneys. Basically saying, "Hey, all we have to do is add your name and your content here and you are all set to go."
It would be kind of reverse of what we do now, where we find the client then design the site. In this case we would establish the real estate on the internet and then sell it out to someone that is interested.
Has anyone tried this and had any success? Am I crazy?
Thanks for your replies.
We market a lot in our local area. We have clients all over, but I love the local ones that I can go sit down with face to face.
What I'm thinking of trying is building a site that is optimized for a term such as "Estate Attorneys in York PA". The site could literally be nothing more than a list of several attorneys. I don't care. Heck, there could just be a message that says, "Check back later for York's premiere estate attorney." The content is not important.
Then I would work on getting the site to the top of Google for that keyword. Once it's there, shop it out to local estate attorneys. Basically saying, "Hey, all we have to do is add your name and your content here and you are all set to go."
It would be kind of reverse of what we do now, where we find the client then design the site. In this case we would establish the real estate on the internet and then sell it out to someone that is interested.
Has anyone tried this and had any success? Am I crazy?
Thanks for your replies.
katelynsdad
01-05-2010, 10:14 PM
Sounds like a good plan to me! While at it, go ahead and monetize it as well (Adsense, affiliate ads, etc.) while waiting for a potential buyer.
Just make sure it's the type that would certainly sell to your local market in the future. I guess you'll need to do some local research.
Just make sure it's the type that would certainly sell to your local market in the future. I guess you'll need to do some local research.
MikeF0421
01-06-2010, 10:09 AM
I will definitely do some market research, but I don't think I'll have to do too much.
Basically what I'll be looking for is professional niches... doctors, lawyers, cpa's, etc. Then researching how hard it would be to get the top spot in google for sub-niches like estate planning attorneys, family practice, vascular surgeons, etc.
With the top spot in Google, I don't think it will be hard to find at least one of the professionals in the area that would buy it.
Then we upsell them... website design, hosting, continued SEO, SEO for new keywords, social media services, email marketing, etc.
Basically, this would just be an easy way to get in the door.
Basically what I'll be looking for is professional niches... doctors, lawyers, cpa's, etc. Then researching how hard it would be to get the top spot in google for sub-niches like estate planning attorneys, family practice, vascular surgeons, etc.
With the top spot in Google, I don't think it will be hard to find at least one of the professionals in the area that would buy it.
Then we upsell them... website design, hosting, continued SEO, SEO for new keywords, social media services, email marketing, etc.
Basically, this would just be an easy way to get in the door.
katelynsdad
01-06-2010, 11:52 AM
The good thing about your plan is that everything's been done for them and they could see the results right away before buying your services. I've had the same idea in the past, but never got around to really devoting 100% on it. I've got several sites started already, and I'm just gonna leave those sites alone for now until I have the time. At least, I have monetized them with Adsense and Amazon affiliate -- as I have also suggested above.
Now, at least, I know somebody else thinks that's a good idea. I still don't have time right now, so don't worry. I won't compete with you :D
The downside I see is this: when you change everything into the buyer's own details, you might lose your search engine rankings -- since some of the keywords may change. But overall, it's a good plan. But then again, I may be biased :)
Now, at least, I know somebody else thinks that's a good idea. I still don't have time right now, so don't worry. I won't compete with you :D
The downside I see is this: when you change everything into the buyer's own details, you might lose your search engine rankings -- since some of the keywords may change. But overall, it's a good plan. But then again, I may be biased :)
MikeF0421
01-06-2010, 01:36 PM
I have thought about the site bouncing around a little bit in the search engines, but as long as I prepare the client for that, it won't be an issue.
The title tags would remain the same. Honestly, 90% of your ranking in Google is based on two things, title tags and the anchor text in your backlinks. Content has almost nothing to do with rankings. Google wants people to believe it does, but it really doesn't.
A perfect example... Google the term "Click Here". The first listing out of over 1 billion is Adobe Reader. Nowhere on that page does "Click Here" appear. They just have a ton of backlinks from all over the web that say "Click Here".
I think some sites could bounce a little bit the first time the spiders visit them with the new content, but if they were at the top, it will take very little work to get them right back there.
Also, I've been doing some research. For really specific niches like this in specific towns, most of the sites that are at the top of Google probably have no idea how they got there. Many have fewer than 50 backlinks. Lots have few than 10. And honestly, even though a search like "Estate attorneys in York PA" might say there are 200,000 listings (I don't know, I'm just making that number up), really you are probably only competing with 15-20 sites at the most.
The title tags would remain the same. Honestly, 90% of your ranking in Google is based on two things, title tags and the anchor text in your backlinks. Content has almost nothing to do with rankings. Google wants people to believe it does, but it really doesn't.
A perfect example... Google the term "Click Here". The first listing out of over 1 billion is Adobe Reader. Nowhere on that page does "Click Here" appear. They just have a ton of backlinks from all over the web that say "Click Here".
I think some sites could bounce a little bit the first time the spiders visit them with the new content, but if they were at the top, it will take very little work to get them right back there.
Also, I've been doing some research. For really specific niches like this in specific towns, most of the sites that are at the top of Google probably have no idea how they got there. Many have fewer than 50 backlinks. Lots have few than 10. And honestly, even though a search like "Estate attorneys in York PA" might say there are 200,000 listings (I don't know, I'm just making that number up), really you are probably only competing with 15-20 sites at the most.
