Anyone banking from SEO? Happy to discuss / advise... (47)
I noticed that the last post in this section was 7 days ago, and the one before that over a month ago.
I take it SEO is not too popular here - it makes sense, and I'm trying to diversify myself - but though it would be nice to have a mini mastermind group on the topic here.
I'm not doing crazy figures but should be near or hopefully past the $50K/m mark by the end of of this year. Mostly from my own sites but a nice chunk of that is from renting out my top rankings to businesses who can utilise the traffic better than I can. For example a lawyer will happily give me $1k/m to change the contact details on my site if he'll make more than that from a single client he picks up through the internet.
The opportunities are pretty endless and I'm spending as fast as I'm making right now.
So, like I said, though I'm very interested in PPC and learning the ropes (total beginner) it would be nice to know if anyone here has a strong SEO focus...
i gave up SEO last year with the panda... or penguin... i lose fucking track with these retard names they use.
they dropped the fucking hammer on my site....
I still do some SEO stuff, although it's a pretty tiny part of my portfolio these days; certainly not five figures a month. Like everyone else, I've been a bit battered by the various black-and-white animals, although since my SEO's been almost entirely what we'd have called "White-Hat" in the old days it hasn't suffered as badly as some.
I did SEO for quite a while, and it was always a hit or miss for me. Just as I would figure things out for my particular keywords, a new algo change would come up and kill my sites. Now, I'm just milking my earnings from a few sites (AdSense and affiliate) and using them to fund my paid campaigns.
That said...SEO is not dead lol. I just find my time and money go further with paid traffic 
I am doing SEO for 7 years now in The Netherlands. I'm banking between 3-7000 € a month. After buying Backlinks.XXX last summer I got in a rollercoaster and doubled my income almost instantly by utilizing just one method you teached: build your own network of high PR domains. However, I started focus on Facebook right now and I really enjoy it. At the moment I'm just maintain my current websites but have no time anymore to expand
Originally Posted by alpacino
Right now I'm running a test with SAPE links I'm self-purchasing. I started off being really cautious in identifying which sites to buy links on. It got me flirting between Page 2-3 within a month or setting up a site on a fresh domain. Recently though I decided to throw the book at it and am now Page 1, borderline Page2. I'm pretty sure I'm still in the Google sandbox right now and that's preventing any further movement. Will be interesting to see what happens with it in the next few weeks.
My partner and I were banking pretty well with SEO until all the updates took place and we lost about 80% of everything. We then did the math and realized it would be super easy to duplicate our success with PPC. Our niches are pretty low-key, and in about a month I think we surpassed our previous SEO profits.
Crazy how much more security you have when paying for your traffic. Best move we've ever made!
From a network standpoint, we haven't seen any publishers be successful with SEO in almost 3 years. Google updates and higher profits in PPC had everyone moving away from it. Now we're seeing a shift from PPC to display in our vertical (software), again due to profitability.
Originally Posted by seitzy12
Still doing SEO. Yeah, been punished by Google as well but some of my niche sites have survived. Truth is, I like it how some forgotten sites still can generate you some revenue, unlike paid campaigns lol. Also, it seems like Google has a lot of trouble dealing with some linkbuilding techniques these days.
Glenn - goeie more bru
curious your thoughts on SEO internationally? Surely easier to game the system longer and with way less oversight?
I ask because it's a component we have never really invested in, but thought would compliment our paid traffic. Sending obscene amounts of traffic internationally, and are in the alexa top 500 (200+ in some geos) but are not leveraging our paid traffic into anything organic.
Loving the replies. Interesting to see that pretty much everyone stopped when they got slapped at some point. I guess that makes logical sense, but it does depend on where your links are coming from. You kinda 'deserve' it if you're going the spammy bookmark / scrapebox / russian or polish link network route. Not that I haven't utilised them myself.
AlPacino, those are some great figures. Glad to hear that the product could help you!
Originally Posted by ratalliance
I was massive in SEO back in the day... I had over 400+ domains on different c-class IPs, hosts, GEOS, the whole 9 yards. I was targeting virtually every niche you could think of... mainly clickbank offers, but also some CPA/Adsense when I couldn't get a decent CB offer.
For example, I had a website that ranked #1 for the KW: fast weight loss (and a lot of smaller ones)... needless to say it make some bank. It only lasted for a couple of months, until Google caught on. This was pre-panda/penguin, those tricks don't work anymore.
The problem was, I was always living in constant fear of waking up in the morning with a penalty. I cannot begin to describe the pressure, I mean, fuck.
Paid traffic is far more stable. Now, I only get around $5k/mo for very low volume keywords/local keywords - but, it's almost pure profit with no effort so it's good. All I did was look for websites that rank well for a desired keyword, such as a personal blog that hasn't been updated in years, I would then offer somebody let's say $200 to buy it.
If they said yes, I grab it, chuck some affiliate ads/copy and then buy some decent high PR links... sit back and pray. Sometimes it would tank, other times, it could make $300ish a month.
The research and contacting can be quite time consuming, so I haven't done this in a while, but I am still left with some sites making money.
Originally Posted by ViperChill
Fucking awesome to see some guys here with stories I can relate too!
@panthary - Same thing here bro. This constant fear of your sites being hit and all your work and profit go down the drain. Thing is, the sites that I actually "nurtured" with solid/legit backlinks etc. didn't get slapped and stood the test of all the animal updates and shit. However, these are also the sites which I dont aggressively plaster with aff links/ads and they are also the ones which bring the lowest revenue.
@alpacino - Awesome numbers man. But 5 years of no growth is definitely going to kill you bro. Watch out for that. I've been in that comfort zone, I've treated my parents very well too.... and then I got hit and it took me while to get back on track. Also, what hosting providers do you use for your link network in NL?
ViperChill, i actually decided to signup on STM after reading your blog haha. Love reading your stuff!
I been doing SEO for awhile, mostly blackhat churn and burn sites and i actually made some good money with that. I have failed so much at seo due to updates always killin my sites before i would even make any money and i know the feeling of going to sleep paranoid if your sites will be up next morning lol. When sape first came out and since im russian i got my hands on it pretty quick so i was able to rank affiliate sites extremely easy with that so got to make some money. Now sape doesn't work as well anymore from my personal experience but still trying some different things. Probably a smart idea to start testing with ppc while i have cash laying around
@ Kung Pow
That's why I am trying to do some PPC stuff on Facebook, but from my own experience it's harder than SEO.. Most people here say PPC is more stable than SEO, but what do you do when your campaign on Facebook is drying up, or your account gets banned? If your site ranked high in Google, because you used some blackhat techniques, I understand that you fear a penalty... but most of the times you get the penalty after a couple of months when there's a new/huge update that fucks around with your method of building links.. In the meantime you have time to work on more/newer/better websites to minimize the risk!
You are definitely right.. I have a nice amount of money on the bank account so if something happens I can experiment and live for the years to come. I started a couple of websites this summer and built links to them with my networks of links and I got rankings pretty fast for some nice keywords... so you could that see as my first step in growth (I don't now for how long this works)... my next step is diversify my portfolio with some PPC stuff and there's a lot of money to be made there if I can get the game in my fingers.
My network of links are hosted at IXwebhosting, you can get a unique IP for each link there pretty cheap (the first 10 IPs or so are free).
@ alpacino
By network of links do you mean you've built your personal blog network?
Viperchill, I came here after reading your blog post! I haven't got much success with SEO, I have like 50 domains, and I'm not making money now. Every time one of my site grows, it got slapped hard.
By the way, if you could be so kind, could you share how you get good expired domains for cheap? Even with drop catch, I can't get PR3. Is it worth it to buy those domains from Godaddy's auction/closeout? Thanks.
Originally Posted by spike valentine
I thought auction is the way to go, but I keep hearing people say there's a cheaper way to get expired domain. I have explored even drop catching but the competition is pretty severe nowadays.
I've been doing really good from SEO the last 4 or 5 months. $30k - $60k per month, with weight loss CPA. I took a massive hit though with this new update and lost basically all my traffic. Its all part of the game though and I have been expecting it. Got a nice amount in the bank now so will wait and see what this update is all about then start again.
My plan is to buy some high DA domains and build sites on them. The serps I was ranking in are now all dominated by high DA sites. I am also looking into selling on ebay and amazon and ranking those pages. Those sites can take alot of links and seem to enjoy immunity from updates. As an affiliate, the thought of having real customers puts me off this method, but I am sure there is bank to be made. Amazon ranks amazing and converts well too.
I've been doing pretty well with SEO for the past several years. As with most affiliates, I've had my SEO business crushed overnight on 3 separate occasions. Each time, I have re-built my properties back up (with new domains), and have recovered most of my income. I still do pretty good now-a-days, with about $50-70k a month on average over the past several months. I must admit though, things have gotten MUCH MUCH harder to rank well, compared to a year or two ago. The positive side is that many of the SEO affiliates have dried up, and have moved on with other avenues of traffic such as PPC, or just flat-out quit the game all together. Less competition for me.
Back from a mad day with clients, not feeling like writing a novel, some basic thoughts:
1) Those who got killed for 90%+ of their biz with 1 update: start to diversify your sites, this includes links / link sources. Most guys use what works over and over and wonder why they got killed with 1 update. Cause it's all the same links backing your sites up. Think sape networks...
2) SEO doesn't need volume to create reasonable numbers. Quality is king in organic traffic. I got quite some sites with 20/30 (yes, no typo) searches a month generating 1-2k $ each. There's zero competition, you rank just with 'legit' stuff that's backed up by spammed / tier structures.
3) Local clients are ready to pay SHITLOAD, I mean SHITLOAD, of moneys for local rankings. Just think how much a lawyer specialized in divorces makes with one lead that turns into a sale if he comes across the right guy / girl.
4) Unlike paid SEO is a patience game. You can't really test as in paid. All you do in SEO is 'guess'. The one who's better at guessing wins. There's not a single linktype 'proven' to rank or recover your sites.
5) If you're in competitive niches, you'll face ddos, hack attempts, spam comments, all the shit. Go local if you want the big niches, think something like '<townname> lawyer' instead of 'lawyer'.
6) Budgets on SEO are HUGE, even those of affiliates ranking hard in the money niches. I know back from some sites I had ranking top3 for probably all major volume casino terms in Germany. Links alone about low 5 digits, another high 4 digits for developing, social media and keeping the content updated daily.
SEO is like the upside down of paid in my opinion, it requires a totally different approach but there's for sure a lot of money to be made. The biggest issue most people have is diversifying their sites, especially when it comes to back links. Like 99% of the people who quit SEO were dependent on bookmarks / private networks / sape / spam services depending what time we're talking about. Think outside the box when it comes to links and you should survive an update easily
I'm definitely not baking it, but I make around $1k USD every month from some blogs I have.
The private PR network is what definitely worked for me. Before that, I could achieve some rankings but not as good or as fast as with PR links.
Don't know if this is going to stop working sometime soon, but haven't been slapped by Google in the last few updates this year.
Originally Posted by servandosilva
I use it just for myself and one client who's got a business and wants to rank for highly profitable terms.
Why the question?
Originally Posted by danimal
Originally Posted by servandosilva
Looking to join a SEO skype group as well.. If there is still room and you guys are active.. please add me to the grou dr.um.jonathan.gaucher Thank You Guys!
Hey Viper chill - I recognize you now. I recently picked up your course on SEO on udemy as I do a lot of SEO myself! I'm actually working for a local agency offering white label SEO services. I'm earning pretty decent money, but it is really volatile and keeping the rankings safe and the clients happy is tough.
I got in here to learn master CPA / paid media, which is much more lucrative, by all accounts. Having said that, I'm happy to share and receive ideas on how to make extra cash with SEO as we all need something ticking over in the background to fund our affiliate marketing adventures.
One final thing I would say on SEO is that more aggressive use of anchor text seems to be working again - I could be dead wrong, but maybe they're leaning towards old school, keyword rich link building again?
Been doing SEO for 2 years now, even have 3 virtual assistance helping with the back end. I wouldn't say I'm banking from my affiliate sites but mainly for local clients. If you want quick money go after local SEO.
The down side to local SEO clients, they can be picky and cheap, depending on their niche. Things can get annoying with them and Google. Everything is good on my end, but I'm trying to move away from Clients and go all out on paid advertisement.
Been doing SEO for years, keen to be added to the group - SKYPE: isreal.hartley
I would also be interested in this group, doing SEO nowadays to fund my Paid campaigns later.
Skype id - tyagi.mohit
@distrackt
Do you have any advice on acquiring local clients?
Hey Viper
If you still get on here, just wondering if you could share an update on where you're at with everything.
I know you have this page - http://www.viperchill.com/seo-income/
Just curious what your current thoughts are on SEO, making money with SEO, and what your future plans are.
Thanks!
SEO is more and more a long-term game. Gaming the search engines for top-rankings isn't that easy anymore. Just burning away with your XRumer isn't the way to go.
I do believe that high-quality sites that truly add value and get 'regular maintenance' will continue to rank well. It will cost you a hell of a lot of time to come up with great content and features but the payoff can be enormous. While PPC is a volume game with lower margine, SEO is a labor-intense quality game.
depending on google traffic now-a-days is a waste of money & effort... if u make a site, build it so google traffic is just gravy... have a marketing plan in place on how ull get related traffic then google will come after u have the traffic
Good to see another SEO Blogger here as well :P
Sup Glen? Long time no see :P
Hey Glenn, I can use some advise. I want to rank my first site for amazon associates and the keywords are fairly easy. I just need some guide to follow or basically a place to learn SEO from....any ideas?
Thanks
I would like to be added to the skype group too "cterzich" I have some blackhat prospective.
Been doing SEO for some time now, months ranging from 30-50k a Month. Now I am diving more into the Local SEO Busness and some affiliate Projects.
Haha, cool to see some guys from the PBN Group here 
@flyhigh
Do you sell services or use affiliate marketing for that revenue number?
That's solely with Affiliate SEO.
I made low x.xxx a day with SEO & affiliate (mobile phone contracts) but google destroyed my websites with the penguin updates. Now they are banking like xxx a month lolz.
Now i'm all about pushing traffic from FB to my money sites. Love it! But i really want to learn SEO again. It breaks my heart to see such a beautiful income plumbs down to none in a day 
Originally Posted by dconstrukt
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