This is more of an observation at this stage but I decided to build a store using a .info domain.  There has been a lot of speculation about the value of .info domains and the treatment of them by the mighty google and this is interesting.  The store has been live since 15 May but has still not been indexed by google.  I have built a further three stores since on either .com or .net domains and all of these have been indexed!

Make of that what you will.  One domain isn’t enough to draw conclusions but it adds further to the evidence that .info domains do indeed get treated differently.  Google robot is visiting the site but it currently appears sandboxed.

This series is going to take some time given that todays post is not part of my original list either. My personal view is that to make decent money with Build a Niche Store requires an undertaking to build many stores. If you decide to build multiple stores you will need a hosting account that can handle these requirements. Many people, including myself, use Hostgator. I went for the Baby Croc plan which is pitifully cheap for what you get. However, there is a problem. The Baby Croc plan consists of a main domain and a number of add on domains (not sub domains) . So what’s the problem and what did I learn?

The problem is that all the sites are connected and this means that if you have a problem with one e.g. you get accused of spamming and the domain is suspended then all your sites get suspended. Big ouch. The reseller account is only $25 per month and protects you from the example given. I actually had a big problem yesterday which took down all my sites for a couple of hours. Had I had the reseller account then only the one site would have been affected.

As a result I am in the process of upgrading and I’d recommend you do the same. In the long run you’ll be more than glad you did. There are numerous additional benefits which you can see using the Hostgator comparison charts.

Todays lesson is a biggie. All I can do is say I really wish I had opted for the Hostgator Reseller Account at outset!

Update:

I should also add that having so many sites no the Babycroc plan has also dramatically reduced the speed at which I can edit individual bans pages which take approx 15-30 secs each to load.

I have named this series Build a Niche Store Secrets because everything I will reveal is what I wish I had known when I first started building niche stores. The biggest challenge with starting a series like this is choosing a starting place. What is the number 1 most important thing to get right? Truth be told there are many and in reality you have to learn as you go along and then go back and incorporate changes into existing stores. If you wait until you learn everything you will procrastinate forever and that is no way to build profitable virtual real estate.

I have around 27 stores right now and looking back at the first half dozen or so I put together reveals a catalog of things to change, do differently etc. So where would be the best most number one place to start be?

Believe it or not I’m going to choose no. 20. That’s right it wasn’t even on my original list. Lets call it awareness.

To succeed with BANS you have to be aware that it is a slow process. Whilst most stores enjoy some quick early sales failure to build on your initial work will lead to sales drying up. I estimate that each store requires 3-6 months of graft to reach it’s full potential (maybe longer). BANS success has four basic requirements:

1. A Unique Store
2. Good Keyword Selection
3. A Link Building Strategy
4. The regular addition of new store pages

By unique store I don’t mean something nobody else has thought of; I mean it shouldn’t be an out of the box BANS store. You know that gray template and the standard store pages that match ebay product categories. If you just put up a store like this it will be no different from many others and it will not make many sales.

You should know what keywords you are targeting – more info on this in a future post – but let’s say for example you are selling GPS. You wouldn’t want to target GPS as your main keyword because it is too general. However something like Cheap GPS or Used GPS is more likely to be used by someone looking to buy and therefore makes for a potentially better keyword with less competition.

By far and away the most important aspect of succeeding with BANS is links. Building links is the main criteria for determining your ranking in the search engines and for generating traffic. Get to no. 1 in google for the term “used gps” – not necessarily as hard as many would suggest – and you will make good money.

Finally you should be constantly developing existing store pages and new store pages based on your keyword research and by reviewing the search stats of you hosting account.

Please do not ignore the importance of what is written here because it isn’t very long or doesn’t appear very detailed. This really is gold.

• If you do not create a unique store you will fail.
• If you do not understand keyword research you will fail.
• If you do not understand how to build links effectively you will fail.
• If you do not develop your store pages and add new store pages you will fail.

On the other hand if you master all four of the basic requirements you will generate good profits regardless of how competitive your chosen niche is. As I said above though be prepared to give it time and work hard on each of your stores for an initial 3 to 6 months.

Needless to say I will cover each of these four requirements in more depth in future posts.

Today I’m starting what appears to be a large series of posts on How to Succeed with Build a Niche Store.

This represents everything I have learned so far and in no particular order (at this stage) the 19 things I would do differently if I were starting again are as follows. Hopefully, Mark and Rochelle will add some of their insights as the series builds.

• Have a thorough understanding of Keyword Research
• Use Google Webmaster Tools
• Get to grips with Niche Research
• Use Meta Tags for maximum effect
• Use Meta Keywords for maximum effect
• Use Meta Descriptions for maximum effect
• Use H1 Tags for maximum effect
• Invest in Tools
• Backup my Stores
• Buy Aged Domains
• Understand Link Building
• Buy appropriate Domain names
• Buy Templates
• Create Keyword rich content
• Patience
• Ranking in SERPS
• Home Page Content
• SEO
• Keep Records

Wow – that is going to be a growing list for sure. I’ve only be at this since the end of March but I have had the luxury of doing things full time. I estimate I work on BANS and related projects for 80 hours per week presently so it is likely I have surpassed (in terms of experience anyway) many people who can only invest a couple of hours per week in Build a Niche Store projects. I hope you find something of value in this series.

So lets get started …………….. will on Tuesday as I’m taking a break for a few days. Spread the word though because I think this is going to be a great series of posts.

Today has been mental.  It all started with not being able to access any of my BANS sites or blogs.  All use Hostgator and this was the first time I’ve experienced any problems with their service.  Still everything was working fine a couple of hours later so I’ll just have to put it down to bad luck.

I’ve been using trial versions of nichebot and wordtracker and as usual I don’t have the time to get everything done.  I’ve also bitten the bullet and bought SEO Elite – yes I’m a sucker for punishment.  Try learning to use that lot in a day whilst fully developing a new BANS store.  Well that’s what I did as well as adding a bunch of sites to Google Webmaster tools and downgrading Adobe Flash to try and resolve problems playing Camtasia Videos.

Haven’t quite got to grips with Nichebot yet but Jim (the owner) is one hell of a guy and supplies some great (undislcosed) bonuses that are truly invaluable.  I’ve learned such a tremendous amount from Jim in a few short days it makes nichebot phenomenal value  If nothing else take advantage of the 14 day trial you will be very impressed.  Combined with SEO elite and the other tools I’ve got no excuses for not increasing my ranking in the serps.

In my next post I’ll start to explore what I’d do differently if I was starting out again and hopefully that will benefit those of you just starting your own BANS empires.

I’m also working on my own BANS Project Template combining the best of Mark’s & Rochelle’s efforts and adding a number of my own customizations.  Hope to have that ready in a couple of weeks.