OK, you can get your mind out of the gutter now, because this article focuses on the size of your website and what actually constitutes an authority site. What did you think I meant

Now that we got that out of the way, there’s been a lot of people freaking out lately because of the recent changes to Google’s algorithm. They have de-indexed many sites again due to low quality or thin sites that are MFA – made for Adsense. They even did a major slap to JC Penny, the giant retailer who tried to game the system with their unlimited budget. So watch out and heed my warnings.

You see, here’s the problem with people trying to game the system and use Adsense. Google knows all about you because you have placed your personal Adsense code on your site. You can certainly use this form of monetization, but, you need to do it the right way. In other words, stop being a dumb ass and stop cutting corners. The days of having a 1 page or 5 page site, then slapping on some Adsense and expecting to make a killing are gone. Sooner or later, you will be caught and when you do, all that work you did to rank that site will be a big waste of time.

Examples of People Getting G Slapped

Let’s explore with a couple of examples of what I am talking about to give you a better picture and how you can actually develop an authority site to Google proof your site and all the work that you have or will invest in the future.

Dan over at Linkvanareviews, who discusses at length, various Link Building Services, recently experienced a Google slap to say the least. He has quite a few websites, some small and some have tons of content. Basically, he was up to earning $300/day with Adsense. About a day later according to Dan, he lost 80% of his rankings back to page 5 to 7. He has not been able to recover since then or bring those sites back to page 1. Given what’s happened to him, I personally doubt they can recover. He still makes some money with Yahoo and Bing, but that’s only 20%. He lost $7200 a month in earnings.

Do you want that to happen to you? Of course you don’t.

Let’s look at another example with Ben over at Make Money Online With Seo who had a similar issue last year just before he was heading off for a 2 month vacation. He was at around $100/day and moving up nicely with his Adsense. Then bam, out of the blue, he got bitch slapped too and his income went down to essentially zero. Now the big difference between Bens story and Dan’s above, about 100 sites that Ben owned were all de-indexed, which is far worse. You can’t make money on sites that won’t rank. They didn’t delete his Adsense account either, but do you think he will ever use that account again? Not in a million years. That would be like putting a big red X on his website properties.

So what is the moral to these examples and how does that fit in with the title, does size matter?

The main point and something that I meant to write about some time ago, the days are numbered for useless crap sites that offer no real value to your readers and potential customers. Google has been raked through the media lately about their lack of quality search results being returned and according to Matt Cutts are out in full force making sure they do what they can to clean up the results.

It’s interesting as this all plays out to sit back and watch from the side lines for awhile and how some people have reacted, including myself. I have sites that have lost trust lately too, but they have been around for awhile. So, my first observations and comments to my buddy, Jim Eberle over at Mind Power Energy Creations, why is Google picking on me?

You see, Jim and I have been having some great conversations lately about what are the search engines really looking for? It seems obvious, but sometimes it doesn’t. Why I am using Jim’s website as an example? Its because he is starting to build out his site and offer valuable and insightful content around mind power, energy, personal development etc. He only believes in natural back links obtained when people link to his site. Heck, even though he only has a handful of articles, he still has something like 40 back links and those are from people volunteering to link back to his site like me.

He does believe as the search engines get better with search results, the sites that offer valuable content and have trust with Google as one example, will rise to the top. Jim also goes on at length about making sure you have your content optimized first and foremost.

My buddy goes on to say, that Google and the other search engines are not out to get you like many people seem to think. In fact, they want your site to rank number 1 if you have the trust, quality content and other factors that they expect to see. More importantly, its what the online community expects and wants.

Does that mean that the Micro Site Method is Officially Over?

Let me put it this way. If you choose to go the micro niche way and only put out dozens or hundreds of small sites like 1, 5 or 10 page sites narrowly focused around a specific niche, then yes your days are numbered based on what I am seeing across the board from multiple people in the industry and their personal experiences over the past year. I didn’t say you can’t do it, but you are better off going the route of building an authority site first.

Its time to get serious if you want to make money for the long term and simply give the search engines and the online community what they expect and want. Good quality information.

What constitutes an Authority Site?

Well, this is where it gets a little bit trickier because what constitutes an authority site has many possible answers. Generally, people think of these types of sits like Ezine Articles, About.com, Consumer Research etc that have tens of thousands of pages of content and more. The interesting thing point that I want to make is that size in my opinion doesn’t mean you are the authority.

What the hell am I talking about then?

The biggest problem that people need to wrap their heads around is that the size of your particular authority site might only be 20 or 40 pages in total because you are focused in a small niche. That means when people look at that niche, you have most of the answers or all of them that they are looking for. In other words, you become the authority in the eyes of your online community.

The reality is this. Some authority sites might only be 5 pages, but that is more rare than the norm.

The bottom line and based on my research, the general consensus is that the bigger your site with Quality Content, the better protected you are in the long run. For example, my site is about internet marketing as you can probably tell. I only have a handful of articles in the scope of the niche of internet marketing. However, the 12 to 14 pages of content probably exceeds 25,000 words of content too.

Literally over the next several years, I could easily have several hundred pages of content if I choose to do so. I probably won’t as I like to write once a week for this site now and write big ass that usually require a minimum of 2 cups of coffee or beer if that is what you prefer

What do you do now and how do your protect yourself?

First, you just need to accept that online marketing is constantly in flux. Meaning that the shit is constantly changing and you need to adapt. I don’t really mind the change as this is a chance to clean out a lot of the junk online and start to get back to getting the types of search results that will make people happy.

Second, yes building an authority site out properly with quality content and actually standing out from the crowd takes a hell of a lot longer, but oh man its worth it in the long run. Once your site establishes that level of trust with the search engines, just think about how much less work you need to do to rank. I see this time and time again with Wikipedia and About.com.

Ask yourself some important questions as you build out your site.

What makes you different from the other websites?
How do you actually stand out in the crowd?
What are you doing to become the go to or expect in your field?
Are you participating in forums and other places to get noticed?
Do you give or offer free and valuable information, without any expectation in return? Hint: if not, you need to be doing that.

When they add an article, they are usually ranking on the first page the same day or within a few days it seems. The cool part is once you reach that level of trust, your page or post will rise to the first page 1000 times faster than anyone else too.

Third, when you are starting out, you really need to sit down and evaluate your competition, your own knowledge of that industry, how much time you can invest and if you are willing to stay in it for the long term. Meaning the next 3 to 5 years. If making money were easy, then everyone would be rich online. The facts are, most are broke and will always be broke because they take short cuts and don’t want to face facts and adapt to the changes.

Take my site for example. I can literally branch out for hundreds or thousands of different keywords over time. For instance, internet marketing tools, internet marketing, internet marketing strategies, internet marketing tips etc. I hope you get the point here that its virtually unlimited for many of the niche areas or fields that you want to get involved with.

Fourth, once you decide to go down a certain niche, invest the time to learning about it. Don’t just rehash PLR articles and think that is sufficient because its not in the long run. Spend a week or two reading all you can about the subject matter. In time, you will become an actual authority and people will seek you out first because of that.

If you not sure on how to write about a certain area and you have some money, I would invest in finding a virtual assistant that has expertise in that area. Some great places to find talent are oDesk. If you have never outsourced, I would go with someone from the Philippines.

The reason being is there cost of living is much lower and as a result, you can usually hire someone full time starting at around $300 UDS per month. That might not seem like a lot here in North America, but over there its a full time income. They also speak American English which is a real asset.

Fifth, say you want to put Adsense on your site, many people are simply not sure at what point they should be even doing it. My suggestion and this is only a rule of thumb to go by. I would have at least 40 or 50 pages of rock solid quality content before doing so. You don’t have to be ranking for all your terms. But consider putting it on after you have an established website.

Personally, I would avoid Adsense as I believe there are better options out there like Commission Junction, Clickbank and Amazon are just some examples. I didn’t say don’t put it on if that is the model you want to have. But, these other companies pay out more than Google. The other thing to keep in mind too, make sure you have other forms of advertising. Nothing smells of a MFA with only a few pages of low quality information and just Google ads.

Sixth, when deciding on how to set up your website, many people are not sure if they should structure their site with pages or posts. I like to keep this simple. Posts are when you just want to chat and discuss something. Whereas, a page is typically much more focused on a particular area within your niche. Try and include your keyword in your pages and for posts – whatever your fancy is that day.

Seventh, roll up your sleeves and get to work. The hardest part to this whole online business and being successful is the level of effort you put in. When you are first starting out, the reality is this. You will likely not have much money for tools and because of that, you will have to do most of the work yourself. My method of ranking on the top of the search engines is with my 3 step approach that you can find over here >> internet marketing tools.

The reason many people fail is they have a get rich quick mentality and you really need to just shut that out of your mind. Yes, you can make money in 3 to 6 months, but you need someone to show you the ropes in a clear and concise manner. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars like I did and waste your money. If you spend some time learning the basics, which are provided on this site, you are good to go.

If you are not sure where to start, remember, keyword research, quality content and optimization and some back linking (don’t overdue it though).

Well its been another monster post for me and I hope you got some value for it.