So, I was crusing around on Spyfu.com today, and I saw lots of listings involving mesothelioma. Now, to be completely honest with you, I did not know that mesothelioma was the disease that you get from asbestos. Go figure. It is a high cost keyword (from an Adwords point of view) – no doubt because some well-meaning and some slimy lawyers are building huge lists of class action lawsuit clients. In fact, spyfu.com say it can pay as much as $50 per click.
So, I said to myself — “Self, what would Micro Niche Finder say about this?” As it turns out, it says that there are some long tail keywords out there with very low competition. Now, I remember what happened with HistoryOfElvis – I was able to rank easily for a silly long tail keyword — Elvis Aaron Presley Collectible Necktie because there was zero competition. So, I said to myself — “Self, let's put up a long tail page about mesothelioma just to see what happens.” I agreed with myself, so my next post will be a long tail keyword targeted post about mesothelioma.
I'll see what happens over the next week and blog about the results.
Now, if my millions of readers go out and do the same thing, it will goof up my experiment. Instead, I recommend you run your own experiment with Micro Niche Finder in a non-mesothelioma area and comment here with your results.
Thanks,
Mark
Update on Micro Niche Finder Experiment
I threw this initial post up rather quickly. Then I threw up a post about mesothelioma just as fast. It was a completely worthless 300 word article targeted at the keyword phrase that I had selected. So, I go to thinking — here I am, adding worthless content to the internet so I can capture a click from some pour soul whose husband or wife has this terrible disease. After reviewing the search results pages in Google, I quickly discovered that this particular keyword and groups of similar keywords are very abused. In fact, the mesothelioma group of keywords initially appeared on a list of high CPC that has been floating around the Internet for almost 4 years!
So, I called my friend Garry Conn. I have really not known him all that long, but I respect his opinion a great deal already. In fact, he designed this WordPress Theme for me, and has given me advice on several occasions. (By the way, you can actually call him directly yourself — the number is on his blog). Anyway, I asked Garry — what's my blog about? He had a really strong reaction that confirmed my gut feeling. This blog is not about MFA pages and other trickery designed to game the system (and neither am I).
At this moment, I am very interested in using Micro Niche Finder; however, I am quickly learning that some keywords can be detrimental to the health of my conscience an my blog
So, I am out of the mesothelioma business after about 3 or 4 hours. Sorry for the distraction.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark
Cool. Micro Niche Finder case study. Dugg! 🙂
http://digg.com/business_finance/Micro_Niche_Finder_Case_Study
Good choice!!
@DaveK
Great way to say this ….
“The other way to look at it is that you can become blinded by the MMO angle…as a newbie….and not see the ethical side and fall into many pits on the road. Heading to bed with a lot to think about.”
That is probably one of the biggest problems on the net.
I am a cancer survivor, so I have a real interest in this type of topic. However, there has to be lines drawn.
When I wanted to talk about my cancer, and chemotherapy experiences, I made a separate blog for that particular topic.
I think you need 2 things, the right platform (blog) and the right reason (passion, experience, etc…)
In google.ie you are No 57 for mesothelioma attorney, New York (no quotes) after 2 hours published….nice one mate. 😉
Hi Mark,
You know, I am kind of the type of person to speak my mind. Sometimes people get offended by the things I say. Also, some times I think there are situations where things should be discussed offline.
I think dropping a comment earlier rather than contacting you via IM wouldn’t have been proper. I am very glad to see that you are open minded. I think that is a quality that is rare. Nice work.
I did an article recently about using Micro Niche Finder correctly. It provides quite a few tips related to the program that might help you out. I’d like to provide a reference to it here.
Blogggers make tons of mistakes. TONS!!!! I have made plenty of them. Now, I am not saying that the experiment was a mistake. I think that it is awesome that you want to experiment with the program. That can only help others as you document your progress.
Take a look at the article I wrote, and tie those strategies in with your experiment. It took me a long long time to realize that part of search engine marketing is building user friendly content and pages. 🙂
I have canceled this experiment. See above for my thinking.
Its quite disturbing that as a new MNF user I was excited about your result….but really never thought about it from the way you are now approaching it….which is odd as I am a health care professional. Maybe I’m blinded to personal misery as I see it every day in horrible forms and you do become immune as a coping mechanism. The other way to look at it is that you can become blinded by the MMO angle…as a newbie….and not see the ethical side and fall into many pits on the road. Heading to bed with a lot to think about.
Good call.
@David Cooley — Thanks, Man. I am still getting my head around what I want this blog to be when it grows up. Again, sorry for the distraction.
@DaveK — Where I work, we have a really simple ethics policy — if it doesn’t seem right, it’s not. If you don’t want it on the front page of the paper, don’t do it. Stuff like that. I don’t think there is anything wrong with targeting the mesothelioma with plans to add value. You can even make an argument that getting the right Adsense Ads to people is adding value. It’s just not what I want this blog to be about. Garry reminded me of that (pretty directly, as is his style).
Hey Mark,
First of all, I’m very proud of you for stopping to look at the bigger picture. In my mind, that’s what makes a good blogger and fantastic blogger. I don’t know anyone who has personally had this disease, but my mother is a cancer survivor.
and I also want to thank you. This post has inspired me to write a post on one of my sites. 🙂
Good for you, I have been struggling with some moral issues and SEo recently.
When Swayze was diagnosed I almost tried to capitalize on it but then felt really bad. We have to keep our integrity. Garry is an inspiration to all of us.
I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the feedback and comments. I’ll be reviving the Micro Niche Finder Experiment shortly — with a better target keyword set and on a separate test site.
@Garry — I really value your opinion. Thanks, man.
@Christine — Thanks. I also really appreciated the post on your blog.
@Forest. — Thank you. I agree with you about Garry.
Have a great day, and thanks again for the support.