Our niche job search site will focus on clerical jobs.\u00a0 Within clerical jobs, we have 3 sections: 1 for accounting jobs, 1 for bookkeeping jobs, and 1 for auditing jobs.<\/p>\n
Now, how does the autoscale<\/a> work?<\/strong><\/p>\n First, upon launch, the site will have 300,000 pages.\u00a0 Note, this does not mean all 300K pages will be indexed by Google.\u00a0 It only means a Googlebot will find 300K unique pages across our site.\u00a0 Here’s how I came up with that estimate.<\/p>\n The US has about 40,000 active zip codes.\u00a0 For each zip code, our site will have 3 unique pages–1 for accounting jobs in that zip code, 1 for bookkeeping jobs, and 1 for auditing jobs.\u00a0 That’s 40,000 * 3 = 120,000 pages right there.\u00a0 Within each of those pages, we will list 15 job listings that are provided through Indeed’s API.\u00a0 (I can list more jobs if I wanted to, but I thought 15 was a good number.)\u00a0 Each of these listings will have a page on our site.\u00a0 Let’s assume that only 10% of the job listings are unique, which is a conservative estimate.\u00a0 This adds another 120,000 * 15 * 0.10 = 180,000 pages.\u00a0 There we go.\u00a0 In total, we have 120,000 + 180,000 = 300,000 pages!<\/p>\n That’s just the starting point.\u00a0 With time, more clerical jobs will be posted on Indeed, which translates into more listing pages on our site.\u00a0 Therefore, the 300,000 will continue to grow–and at a good pace, since clerical jobs represents the largest occupation in the US!<\/p>\n Now, let’s put down some goals for this site that we can measure against.\u00a0 I’ve listed some below.<\/p>\n Instead of adding more goals, I’ve decided to just track the key milestones achieved so far:<\/p>\n Now, how much will all this cost?\u00a0 Hey, I’m a cheap guy, so the only money I’m willing to invest right now is the cost of the domain, $7.50.\u00a0 Everything else will not cost me anything extra, because I will be leveraging my existing web hosting account, tools, and other resources, all of which have already been paid for.\u00a0 If you are trying to replicate this experiment, your costs will be the domain name ($7.50 with a GoDaddy coupon) and price of hosting ($2.95\/month for unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth with this promo link<\/a>).<\/p>\n You may have noticed the initial goals do not focus on monetization.\u00a0 That’s correct.\u00a0 In the initial phase of this case study, I will only focus on SEO and Google indexing.\u00a0 The second phase will focus on monetization strategy.<\/p>\n Once again, this is a live case study<\/span>.\u00a0 The beauty of that is there’s no smoke and mirrors.\u00a0 What you see is real.\u00a0 You can even track the progress yourself, since I will be divulging the domain name once registered.\u00a0 The risk I am taking is that this case study may fail.\u00a0 Techniques that have worked for me in the past, may, for whatever reason (maybe from a Google algorithm tweak?), not work this time around.\u00a0 I will have to react and adapt on the spot.\u00a0 Will I be able to deliver under pressure?\u00a0 We’ll find out. \ud83d\ude00 Either way, I hope this will be great learning experience for the both of us.<\/p>\n So, sit back, relax, bookmark this page, make yourself a cup of tea, and check back often.\u00a0 I will be updating this article directly<\/span> with new updates.\u00a0 Any timestamps will be in PST.\u00a0 (I live in sunny Southern California, after all.)<\/p>\n And so it begins… <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Day 0 Activities<\/strong><\/span> It took me about 5-6 hours to create the code for this site.\u00a0 That time includes 2 meal breaks.\u00a0 But, keep in mind, I’ve been doing this kinda stuff, on and off, for over a decade, so I’ve become very efficient.<\/p>\n Even though the site has 300K pages, it only has 8 files.\u00a0 See the screenshot below to understand the site architecture.<\/p>\n Here is a breakdown of each of the 7 files:<\/p>\n This site is based on PHP and MySQL.\u00a0 I have 1 MySQL database, which stores my 40,000 US zip codes.\u00a0 Almost all the content is generated automatically through Indeed’s Publisher API.\u00a0 The below diagram illustrates how the Indeed data feed and database is being integrated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4\/11 – Day 1 Activities<\/strong><\/span> <\/strong> 12:25AM<\/em><\/p>\n Okay, I just registered the domain name at GoDaddy for $7.67 (i.e. $7.49 + fees) using the coupon code FAN3.<\/p>\n >> Unveiled: LocalClericalJobs.com<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n Here is a screenshot of the purchase, which shows the timestamp.<\/p>\n Even though this case study is not meant to illustrate monetization techniques (I’ll save that for a future case study!), I decided to slap on a CPA offer.\u00a0 This is an offer about data entry jobs (very relevant to my targeted visitors!) that I found off MaxBounty<\/a>.\u00a0 Here is a direct link to the offer for your perusal<\/a>.\u00a0 I have close to zero expectations for this CPA, but it will at least pay for the cost of the domain.\u00a0 Also, see how I designed the site so that it could be monetized with ads.\u00a0 The entire right-most column is completely open real estate right now.<\/p>\n 1:18AM<\/em><\/p>\n I just ran the Rapid Google Indexer<\/a> for the domain using the keyword “local clerical jobs.”\u00a0 I also installed Google Analytics.\u00a0 After some traffic starts to roll in, I will share screenshots from Google Analytics to illustrate long tail SEO.<\/p>\n I won’t be doing any SEO until the site is indexed!\u00a0 This is to illustrate that using the Google Rapid Indexer alone will get your domain indexed<\/span>.<\/p>\n Okay, time for bed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4\/12 – Day 2 Activities<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Just checked and saw the site’s been indexed.\u00a0 There are only 2 pages indexed, but it’s barely been a day.\u00a0 See screenshot.<\/p>\n Today and over the next few days, I will focus on SEO.\u00a0 Do you know the 6 levers to SEO<\/a>?\u00a0 I will work on a SEO strategy that spans all 6 levers.\u00a0 It’s a strategy that I developed in the past few months, which I have been using quite a bit as of late.\u00a0 I call it the SEO Matrix<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n It involves creating links from a diverse number of site types, including:<\/p>\n For depth, I will create 4 tiers of links, with the lower quality forum links at the 4th tier.\u00a0 There will be random interlinking across tiers and among links of the same tier–hence the name SEO Matrix.<\/p>\n I will create 4 SEO Matrices, one for the keyword “clerical jobs in Santa Monica,” one for “accounting jobs in Pasadena,” one for “bookkeeping jobs in Glendale,” and one for “auditing jobs in Malibu.”\u00a0 These are all cities in and around Los Angeles, somewhat arbitrarily chosen.\u00a0 If you check Google Adwords Keyword Tool, you notice these are long tail keywords–meaning, there are 0 forecasted monthly searches for these terms.\u00a0 Call me crazy for spending any effort working on these terms, but I’m doing so to demonstrate the power of long tail searches.<\/p>\n Doing this work may take up to a week.\u00a0 I will post an update when it’s fully complete.<\/p>\n I have some niche business directories<\/a> that also span 40,000 zip codes each.\u00a0 From each respective zip code, I will be linking to this new site.\u00a0 This is an easy thing to do, so I will complete it today.<\/p>\n 9:51PM<\/em><\/p>\n Just checked Google and saw we have 31 pages indexed now.\u00a0 Still very short of our 1,000+ pages indexed goal by Day 7!<\/p>\n 4\/13 – Day 3 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/14 – Day 4 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/15 – Day 5 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/16 – Day 6 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/17 – Day 7 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/18 – Day 8 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/19 – Day 9 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/20 – Day 10 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/21 – Day 11 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/22 – Day 12 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/23 – Day 13 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/24 – Day 14 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/25 – Day 15 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/26 – Day 16 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/27 – Day 17 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/28 – Day 18 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/29 – Day 19 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 4\/30 – Day 2o Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 5\/1 – Day 21 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 5\/2 – Day 22 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n
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More goals to come <\/strong>(possibly)… You’re welcome to leave suggestions in the comments.<\/del><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
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2,910<\/del> 3,340 pages indexed by Google. Third goal accomplished! <\/strong> At this point, Google should start sending over long tail searches to LocalClericalJobs.com.\u00a0\u00a0 I will begin sharing Google Analytics screenshots in the near future.<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/themanwhosoldtheweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/casestudy5.gif\" "\\"casestudy5\\"")
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No signs of any further plateauing!<\/del> EDIT: Seems to fluctuate between 8,080 and 3,790.<\/li>\n\n
10,300<\/del> 10,100 pages indexed by Google.\u00a0 We broke into the 5-digit mark. \ud83d\ude00\u00a0 It’s only been a week and a half and we already have a site that can provide us with over 10K indexed backlinks (in addition to 290K unindexed backlinks)!<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/themanwhosoldtheweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/casestudy6.gif\" "\\"casestudy6\\"")
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15,300<\/del> 17,000 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n\n
<\/del>16,000-17,000 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
18,600<\/del> 19,900 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
<\/del>19,800 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
<\/del>21,300 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
<\/del>21,300 pages indexed by Google.\u00a0 No change today.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
<\/del>22,100 pages indexed by Google.\u00a0 Starting tomorrow, I will begin to more aggressively monetize the site.\u00a0 I will also be posting this past week’s Google Analytics screenshots tomorrow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
<\/del>22,700 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n\n
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![Click here to view screenshot.<\/a> Note a few things:\n\n1) Search traffic is coming entirely from long tail search terms.<\/li>\n2) These long tail search terms are not for the 4 specific terms related to my 4 SEO Matrices.\u00a0 This is why when I created them initially, I stated that they were “arbitrarily chosen.”\u00a0 These purpose of the initial, one-time SEO effort is merely to get the site indexed deeper.<\/li>\n3) I did some spot checking and noticed for all the terms, we were ranked on page 1 of Google.\u00a0 This shows that long tail traffic is incredibly easy to rank for, because no one is targeting those terms.\u00a0 However, you will get few searches a month, so the strategy is to go for bulk.\u00a0 That is why this SEO strategy works so perfectly for a mega site like ours, with 300K+ pages upon launch and growing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n4\/24 – Day 14 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n15,300<\/del> 17,000 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\nTraffic stats to be updated weekly from now on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n4\/25 – Day 15 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/del>16,000-17,000 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n4\/26 – Day 16 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n18,600<\/del> 19,900 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n4\/27 – Day 17 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/del>19,800 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n4\/28 – Day 18 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/del>21,300 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n4\/29 – Day 19 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/del>21,300 pages indexed by Google.\u00a0 No change today.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n4\/30 – Day 2o Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/del>22,100 pages indexed by Google.\u00a0 Starting tomorrow, I will begin to more aggressively monetize the site.\u00a0 I will also be posting this past week’s Google Analytics screenshots tomorrow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n5\/1 – Day 21 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/del>22,700 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\nHere are some Google Analytics screenshots for the week of 4\/24:\n\nTraffic overview – 105 visits, 233 pageviews<\/a><\/li>\nLong tail keywords – 82 keywords<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\nThis week I will begin to try and monetize the site.\u00a0 I will be slapping on some Google Adsense ads.\u00a0 Going forward, I will also post revenue from Indeed’s publisher program on a weekly basis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n5\/2 – Day 22 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n23,000 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n](\"http:\/\/themanwhosoldtheweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/casestudy_googleanalytics1.gif\"){kind=link}
![Traffic overview – 105 visits, 233 pageviews<\/a><\/li>\nLong tail keywords – 82 keywords<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\nThis week I will begin to try and monetize the site.\u00a0 I will be slapping on some Google Adsense ads.\u00a0 Going forward, I will also post revenue from Indeed’s publisher program on a weekly basis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n5\/2 – Day 22 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n23,000 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n](\"http:\/\/themanwhosoldtheweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/casestudy_googleanalytics2.gif\"){kind=link}
![Long tail keywords – 82 keywords<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\nThis week I will begin to try and monetize the site.\u00a0 I will be slapping on some Google Adsense ads.\u00a0 Going forward, I will also post revenue from Indeed’s publisher program on a weekly basis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n5\/2 – Day 22 Update<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n23,000 pages indexed by Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n](\"http:\/\/themanwhosoldtheweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/casestudy_googleanalytics3.gif\"){kind=link}