web

I have switched themes to one provided by my (online) mate, Atariboy AKA Andrew AKA Nez.

He is going it alone in the big bad world of website design and this theme is cone of his current projects.
I like it.  Mainly because its quick to load!

You can see his site/blog over at http://teabass.com

Tags: wordpress, theme, design, blog, atari, blog

I just realised that my Adsense spam/scam (spacam?) test page is not quite working as planned.

If you feed the URL for the page through this site, it does not pull back any details from the RSS feeds.

This is normal though as the RSS feed content is generated on the fly and Google will only see the Javascript code that generates the content - not the actual content itself.  The site does pick up the links though - but it will definitely not be enough to get it anywhere near Google.  I will have to search to see if I can find it in the Google results anywhere.

Some sites I have seen actually post the latest RSS feeds as single postings in a blog format website.  As the information is inserted into a blog post and becomes static, Google will index this information and the site will certainly rank higher than my design.

So, the question is, how do I take RSS feed data, automatically insert it into a blog post and publish it without the need for me to do anything?

That is my next test/quest (qutest?).

Tags: adsense, sony, RSS, feed, blog, post, generator

The BBC News Technology team recently took off for the day to explore the new free wifi connection in Norwich.  Since I have moved jobs and my internet connection appears to be monitored more heavily, it started me thinking about what a local city wide free wifi connection would do for me.  Lunchtime would be the best opportunity to use it.

Armed with my trusty Macbook - here’s my list of top 5 possible uses.

Skype
I could call people cheaply, for free or just for the hell of it.  Many smaller devies are starting to use Wifi too - so I could realisticly chat to friends at lunchtime for free.  Chatting to the wife at lunchtime via the webcam could start a whole new aspect of our (sex) life.

Surfing
Well, this one is obvious really.  A monitored (and blocked) internet connection can be quite restricting.  "Business Use Only" can be a term applied to quite a few websites, but the ones I mainly frequent such as my Gmail, Bloglines, Digg and Del.icio.us accounts cannot always be brought under that term.  A bit of lunchtime pr0n could be fun, as could MSN messenger, B3ta and most of the other sites that I get blocked from!  I hope the next place I work is a little less tense about it all.

Torrents
So, you are at work, your laptop is in your car, downloading torrents all the time!  I’m sure there’s a dirty way to hook a laptop up to a spare car battery and leave it running in the boot.  Come out at lunchtime to check the progress and tweak you upload/download settings!

Gaming
I own (pwn) a Nintendo DS Lite and would love a bit of free city wide Wifi gaming action! I would play it more and would probably be inclinded to buy more games as a result.  I could also get gaming on my Mac too if I wanted.  World Of Warcraft anyone?  Bring along your Xbox360 and get it hooked up online for a lunchtime Texas Hold-em tournament!

Blogging
I purposely stay away from using my blog at work.  Not that I don’t want them to find it or anything, or that I am ashamed of what I put on here, it’s just better to be safe than sorry these days.  I still read and comment on other blogs via my Bloglines account and some of the content on there seems to sneak past their web filtering systems which normally blocks sites to do with Games, web-based email, Tasteless, Proxy Avoidance and Entertainment.  I miss being able to blog from work.

I might actually take my laptop out for a walk with me at lunchtime - or for a drive.  There is a housing estate next to where I am working and I bet there is somewhere I could get an unrestricted connection if I wanted.  It might look a bit odd though if I stand outside their house with my laptop!  I might to be a little more discrete.

Tags: wifi, blogging, gaming, macbook, web, bittorrent, laptop, free, city, skype, MSN

As part of my Adsense site investigations, I decided to have a go at making one of those nasty webpages you come across which actually contain no real content, mostly adverts and information and links borrowed from other peoples blogs and websites.

It was quite easy really.
The page can be viewed here

http://megatao.com/test/index2.htm

Let me stress that this page is just a test.  It is not a live webpage and does not contain information about the PS3 that you might want to read.  It is just a test on integrating images and text with Adsense code.  If anyone does click on the adverts after going there - then more fool you!

How I made the page

The page was made up as follows:

1.  A free basic CSS template from CSSFill.com
2.  Some images hot linked from Google Images - I will download these to my site when I get a chance so not to piss people off.
3.  For the "news" sections, I used Feed2js.org to generate the javascript code that would churn out HTML versions of RSS feeds.

I chose feeds for PSP, playstation and playstation 3 straight from the RSS feed of searches from within Bloglines.

4.  Some links I made up - but the target URLs are valid.
5.  A little "welcome message"

And that is basically the site done.  As the content is based around RSS feeds, it will change as new items are published by "an other" on other sites and blogs.

What I learnt

I have learnt that when you create a page and put your Adsense Adverts into it, the adverts are based on the content at that time.  This happened when I created another test page with the text "this is a test page for adsense" written on it with just one Adsense advert and nothing else.  Part of my testing was to change the text from "adsense" to "xbox" to see the changes it made.  I was also looking at ways to display Xbox on the page and then show ads for Playstation 3 - which I could’nt get to work.  After I had changed the wording, the adsense adverts did not change until I renamed the HTML page to something else - index2.html for example.

I assume that this means that Google indexes the page immediately but may not react to any changes straight away.  It may take time for them to reindex the page and apply Adsense accordingly.

Conclusion

The page is ugly, cheap, nasty and was done in about 2 hours.  Would it work?  Who knows.  If I could get it on a good domain name, then maybe…..

Tags: psp, ps3, playstation, playstation 3, adsense, google, monetize, advertising

I was thinking of doing a little list of good web sites to use to check out Adsense keywords and also any good sources of information that I have been reading.

ePublishingdaily has done a much better job that I have!

The Ultimate Resource Page

It is broken down into various sections too.

I have already been using a few of the Adsense sites listed, but have also been using Keyword Country which also has some good information and articles available for free.

Via ProBlogger

Tags: adsense, google, earnings, montize, resources, adwords

DriverChris made a valid (if slightly tounge in cheek) comment on my Finding Your Adsense Niche post regarding whether making sites that concentrate on high paying keywords is the best route, rather than making a site based on content you like, enjoy or participate in.

If you look at it from a pure business angle, a site can be created with content scraped from RSS feeds and free articles without any need for knowing the subject in any great depth. If good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques are followed and the site gets near to the top of Google and the other main search engine players, then traffic is guaranteed.

From what I read on places like the EarnersForum, sites like this are seen as “cheating”. Not that people there don’t use them - they are just seem to be frowned upon.

Content that is original and created by yourself is better because it will bring new visitors and incoming links from other sites.

Without traffic, you have no readers and without readers, you will have no income.

Also, incoming links from other sites will boost your rating in Google and make your site more visible.

Personally, I want to make a site that is generated from new unique content created by me. This means that my options for finding the best combination of subject and keywords has been reduced, but it also means that the longevity of the site will be extended. I do get bored quickly and I want to make a site that is respected in the online community, but one that also brings me in some extra money. So a personal interest is required.

I might make a “scrape site” to see how it works though. Not as a money making venture, but as a test of my coding skills and feasibility. In fact, my recent posts about Adsense have been picked up by one such site already!

Technorati Tags: adsense, google, income, marketing, monetize

I found this “checklist” over at EarnersForum.com where someone had produced a detailed example of the steps they take when finding an Adsense Niche to monetize and putting it to work. The link to the original post is here and can be accessed without needing a login at EarnersForum.

I have taken the headings and added my own words around each one, just to make it personal to me - and maybe more relevant in the hope that I might understand and remember each one.

1. Find a Niche
Simple eh? This might be the hardest part! I am already stuck on this one….

2. Check Search Volume
Use sites like Overture and Wordtracker to find out the search amount for your niche’s core keywords.

3. Check Competition
Fire your core keywords into Google to see the competition. Use the various search options like enclosing the keywords in quotes.

4. Judge Monetization Potential
Use sites like Overture to gauge the amount that an add for your keywords might get. Are there any other affiliate sites that you could include to bring more monetization to the site?

5. Expand and Organize Your Keywords
Providing that the keywords are worth some money, go ahead and start diversifying your keywords into a larger group and selection.

6. Let it Stew
Chill, have a cuppa and go back to the idea in a weeks time. Jot down any other thoughts along the way.

7. Refine
Refine your list of keywords. Chuck out the rubbish ones and concentrate on the money makers.

8. Site Mapping
Decide on how your site should work. Draw it out. Main sections are dictated by your keywords and their groupings. One page for Paint, one for Blue Paint, one for Painting Techniques etc.

9. Choose a CMS
How will you do your website? You will need to choose one that allows interactivity (comments etc) from readers. Wordpress, Joomla etc

10. Design and Content
Design the site offline. Test it online but keep it hidden from the outside world before you go live. You will need content to go live with.

11. Make it Public, Grow, and Get Links
Add content to the site slowly, link to others so they might link to you. Submit to search engines and places like Digg. Network and interlink your sites and pages.

Remember, this is not my list. All credit is due to the creator. You can read the original posting and follow ups here.

Technorati Tags: adsense, earnersforum, income, marketing, monetize, niche

If you come here often you may have noticed that I have started to introduce Google Adsense into my blog.

Google Adsense is a Pay-per-click based form of advertising whereby the page owner gets a (small) fee paid for each advert clicked on by a reader. There are also some pay-per-view advertisements too, but they are seldom seen.

I feel that I put quite a lot of effort into writing things for my blogs and it is not unrealistic to assume that I would want to profit from people who might want to follow advertising based on the content I provide. I have been writing for Geeklimit for a while now and each of my posts has Adsense embedded. So far I have achieved a sum so measly that I could not even buy a coffee with it! In fact, all of the income I have received has been from Geeklimit so far.

I have been reading sites like ProBlogger, run by Darren Rowse for a while now and have seen that a living can be made from Adsense based income. There are tricks to getting Adsense to work the best for you and there are plenty of sites out there that will tell you the best places to put the adverts and how to target them according to your content.

ProBlogger also put me on to a forum based site called EarnersForum where internet based entrepreneurs discuss means and methods of making a living online. it makes very interesting reading and there are people out there who obviously make thousands a month from websites based on the Adsense formulas. And once they have created one site - they can just apply the same theory to another and double their income!

I have decided that I would like to “jump on this bandwagon” and will be looking to set up a site based around Adsense advertising. Not as a real income generator but more as an experiment on how it works and whether it is possible. It all seems “too easy to be true” that a site could generate me extra money so that my wife would not have to work part time or something like that.

I have to take a lot of things into consideration when approaching this, like visibility in Google and other search engines. Using high paying keywords and targeting Adsense on those keywords to generate the most income from each click. The web is flooded with sites set up in this manner already and choosing to make a site based on say, MySpace Video Codes would be foolish as there are millions of results in Google and getting anywhere near the top of that list would be a near impossible task.

The main problem is finding that niche area, getting a good domain name and generating the site based on all the various criteria. I have a few things in mind for the content but need to find that niche before I jump into anything. Most people don’t search past the first few pages of a Google search before they start delving further into the sites themselves. Getting to the top of that list is probably the most important thing - but achieving that goal may be a different matter.

Technorati Tags: adsense, google, income, problogger

Work in a large open plan office?

Hounded by your boss/manager/supervisor when you want to be surfing the internet instead of working?

This site, Work Friendly, allows you to surf inside a pretend Micrsoft Office window. There is also a “boss key” that when you move over it with your mouse, it changes the web page to a proper word document!

Clever.

Now wrap it all up in a proxy annonymiser and we have got a deal!