My Volume Content Strategy

[MrMedia]

I see lots of people here starting to adopt the volume content game since I detailed in my previous 7 Figure AMA.

This is good as it works and I see serious members here making it work through sheer effort and determination.

For anyone doubting the process check out my latest growth chart, organic traffic only.

I bought this site in March 2021 from a broker. It was 11 years old with loads of authority but no real content marketing plan. Most of the traffic was from social so this was ripe for my volume content strategy to be applied.

This is only a couple of months in so I cannot wait to see the results as the new content ages and settles into the index. In 12 months I expect this will have increased by X3

Will answer any intelligent questions

 

[Sutra]

Being 11 years old and focusing on social I imagine there was hundreds, if not thousands, of posts on their site (though, obviously I could be wrong). With that in mind:

1. How closely does/did the existing content on the site match the direction you wanted to take it in order to scale the volume?
2. What did you do with the existing content on the site?

I've considered buying a site like this for my next project but I have very specific processes. Starting a brand new site I can take in the direction I want and know that Google will classify it as such. Whereas, if I buy an existing site google may have already classified it as XX type of website, even though it seems like it would classified as YY type of website. Thus when I start to scale out with the strategy for YY I'm stuck because google sees that site as authoritative for XX not YY.

 

[MrMedia]

Being 11 years old and focusing on social I imagine there was hundreds, if not thousands, of posts on their site (though, obviously I could be wrong). With that in mind:

1. How closely does/did the existing content on the site match the direction you wanted to take it in order to scale the volume?
2. What did you do with the existing content on the site?

I've considered buying a site like this for my next project but I have very specific processes. Starting a brand new site I can take in the direction I want and know that Google will classify it as such. Whereas, if I buy an existing site google may have already classified it as XX type of website, even though it seems like it would classified as YY type of website. Thus when I start to scale out with the strategy for YY I'm stuck because google sees that site as authoritative for XX not YY.

Good questions.

The new content is what I would call a shoulder niche to the existing site so whilst not exact match it was loosely related.

The existing content has remained largely untouched other than internal links added to point to the new content.

I believe that Google is now starting to reclassify my site with the shoulder niche as the defining focus of the site since all the existing content was thin and image based and although well aged with great links I don't think Google had enough information on the existing content to define the site.

 

[Trump]

Isn't that the exact time when Google made huge changes? I've read about a lot of people having lost or won -+60% of traffic at that time.

My sites gained a lot during this period as well. One of my sites doubled in traffic.

Not saying all that gain is just from Google algorithm changes. But it's relevant, since it was a huge change in rankings then.

 

[MrMedia]

Isn't that the exact time when Google made huge changes? I've read about a lot of people having lost or won -+60% of traffic at that time.

My sites gained a lot during this period as well. One of my sites doubled in traffic.

Not saying all that gain is just from Google algorithm changes. But it's relevant, since it was a huge change in rankings then.

Nope.

All the additional traffic is coming from rankings via new keywords from new content.

 

[MinstrelJunkie]

That's huge! Massive kudos.

If you'd be willing to share, would love to know the approximate DR + initial valuation.

Did you do much work in internal linking the site's old posts to your related new ones? Or even rewriting old articles that had already links to them? Curious about how much the traffic growth has come from harnessing the old domain vs simply publishing new content on one.

 

[Sutra]

Good questions.

The new content is what I would call a shoulder niche to the existing site so whilst not exact match it was loosely related.

The existing content has remained largely untouched other than internal links added to point to the new content.

I believe that Google is now starting to reclassify my site with the shoulder niche as the defining focus of the site since all the existing content was thin and image based and although well aged with great links I don't think Google had enough information on the existing content to define the site.

Great, thank you.

Badass job by the way. That's a huge increase in traffic. Looking forward to hearing more as this project progresses.

 

[MrMedia]

That's huge! Massive kudos.

If you'd be willing to share, would love to know the approximate DR + initial valuation.

Did you do much work in internal linking the site's old posts to your related new ones? Or even rewriting old articles that had already links to them? Curious about how much the traffic growth has come from harnessing the old domain vs simply publishing new content on one.

DR65+ and $250k+ purchase price.

I was using Link Whisper for internal linking but it was hogging resources so now back to manual link insertions.

I believe the power of the site has been instrumental as a launch pad for the new content. If this was on a new site I would expect a fraction of the growth in a year minimum.

50k words a week and hundreds of images and videos per week since March. Huge investment but its paying off and all content is evergreen so can be discounted from costs at the point of sale via Empire Flippers.

 

[webgem]

Nice job! What is your typical process to produce 50k words at scale?

 

[MrMedia]

Nice job! What is your typical process to produce 50k words at scale?

I have a team of three content producers and an editor / uploader

 

[Akrtw1]

Another inspiring post from @MrMedia ! Thanks.
Are you currently monetizing with ads, like your previous projects? If yes, I’d love to learn how much revenue has grown in this short period of time - 4 months.
With you current capital, it seems that the optimal strategy for you is to keep buying sites, adding content and flipping them. And each deal can be as short as 7-12 months.
Would you agree?

 

[bernard]

Huge investment but its paying off and all content is evergreen so can be discounted from costs at the point of sale via Empire Flippers.

That's interesting and important, because in terms of value, an earning post is leveraged by the monthly multiple. It changes the calculation of investing in content a great deal, considering you're aiming for an exit.

If the post can even earn itself back in 24 months, at a valuation of 30x, that's still a post worth writing, because it contributes positively to the cumulative sale value of the site.

For me, that would lower the bar for which posts are worth paying for.

Right?

 

[KevinOH]

Depending on the keywords you are targeting, do you have specific word counts that your writers have to reach for each article? If so, how much?

Are there some articles that are just a handful of words (say 300-400) that are ranking for specific target keywords?

Finally, do you use any software to optimize the content (I'm talking about the likes of SurferSEO or Zora). If you do, seeing any results from their recommendations?

 

[Lowrider]

DR65+ and $250k+ purchase price.

I was using Link Whisper for internal linking but it was hogging resources so now back to manual link insertions.

I believe the power of the site has been instrumental as a launch pad for the new content. If this was on a new site I would expect a fraction of the growth in a year minimum.

50k words a week and hundreds of images and videos per week since March. Huge investment but its paying off and all content is evergreen so can be discounted from costs at the point of sale via Empire Flippers.

Thanks for sharing your post, it's inspiring. I have some questions related to your video production.

• What types of videos are you producing? Screen sharing, animated videos?
• How are you scaling you video production process? Do you have templates that you can reuse for your production process?
• Are you producing videos only for the best performing written content, or what is your approach to decide to produce a video or not?

 

[MrMedia]

That's interesting and important, because in terms of value, an earning post is leveraged by the monthly multiple. It changes the calculation of investing in content a great deal, considering you're aiming for an exit.

If the post can even earn itself back in 24 months, at a valuation of 30x, that's still a post worth writing, because it contributes positively to the cumulative sale value of the site.

For me, that would lower the bar for which posts are worth paying for.

Right?

Valuations are closing in on x40-x45.

I expect to list in 21 months and estimate the multiple will be x48-x50 at that point.

Depending on the keywords you are targeting, do you have specific word counts that your writers have to reach for each article? If so, how much?

Are there some articles that are just a handful of words (say 300-400) that are ranking for specific target keywords?

Finally, do you use any software to optimize the content (I'm talking about the likes of SurferSEO or Zora). If you do, seeing any results from their recommendations?

Minimum of 1k words per post, most are 2k.

I am thinking about Surfer but tbh my planning works well enough that most kws land top 20 on entry and then move up slowly to page 1, top 5. I might use a tool for the most competitive high volume terms after 6 months of aging.

Thanks for sharing your post, it's inspiring. I have some questions related to your video production.

• What types of videos are you producing? Screen sharing, animated videos?
• How are you scaling you video production process? Do you have templates that you can reuse for your production process?
• Are you producing videos only for the best performing written content, or what is your approach to decide to produce a video or not?

All sorts of video content from a great producer I found on Fiverr of all places. She had worked for my competitors in the past so knew what I wanted so it was a case of sending her titles and she made the video per my brief.

Posts that have a high viral potential get videos because they can be monetized well via Facebook.

Another inspiring post from @MrMedia ! Thanks.
Are you currently monetizing with ads, like your previous projects? If yes, I’d love to learn how much revenue has grown in this short period of time - 4 months.
With you current capital, it seems that the optimal strategy for you is to keep buying sites, adding content and flipping them. And each deal can be as short as 7-12 months.
Would you agree?

Thanks.

Yes monetizing with display ads as usual but this time a little Ecom too and some AMZ but mainly display.

Whilst the organic traffic has grown substantially a lot of the social traffic is seasonal. I knew this was always a risky play and I planned for it to decline.

Pinterest and FB have both declined around 30% since I took over but the increase in organic search has counter balanced that. I honestly expected it to decline, not sure why but just knew it would.

Thats why I was publishing like a mad man to get in first before the traffic tanked.

In terms of revenues this is the really juicy bit....

Every month since I have owned the site I have either doubled or trebled the previous owners revenue for the same month last year.

I have literally no idea why she was not doing the things I am doing but I suspect it is down to the fact that she loved the niche where as I love the revenue and profit.

This is going to make the previous exit look small.

I plan to exit in 19-20 months from now providing I hit my revenue targets per month to ensure another 7 figure exit.

In terms of capital allocation this is the only site I purchased.

I now own 6 houses in the real world, stonks and shares, another website I am nursing from scratch and enough crypto to keep me awake at night.

You MUST diversify once you have enough cash.

 

[Darth]

Since you have a content team including editor/uploader, your main tasks for the site now are KW research and article briefs?

 

[MrMedia]

Since you have a content team including editor/uploader, your main tasks for the site now are KW research and article briefs?

To save cash I also personally schedule social media and pins too.

 

[Sutra]

I am thinking about Surfer but tbh my planning works well enough that most kws land top 20 on entry and then move up slowly to page 1, top 5. I might use a tool for the most competitive high volume terms after 6 months of aging.

Sounds like we have similar processes. A while back I tried surfer but found I was able to scale much faster and easier without it. The key was just figuring out the most commonly needed keywords to rank, templating that out, then writing a ton of articles using those templates (Serpwoo is my favorite for this but can use AHrefs or others tools as well). Don't get every single keyword like you would with Surfer but you get all the most important ones that get you ranking, often top 5, top 3, and many times rank #1 - as long as your on-page is on point. Eventually I'll come back around and use Serpwoo/Ahrefs to figure what's needed for the lower ranking articles, with most money potential, and update those articles to rank higher.

In my experience Surfer is better for smaller sites where you will really want to focus in on creating the best single articles - not really for volume at scale.

 

[nottheusual]

Big picture question - what's your endgame?

You said you have tons of assets, why do you keep working on sites? Do you enjoy it, or do you just want/need the additional money?

To save cash I also personally schedule social media and pins too.

Isn't this a waste of your time for something you could outsource cheaply?

 

[MrMedia]

Big picture question - what's your endgame?

You said you have tons of assets, why do you keep working on sites? Do you enjoy it, or do you just want/need the additional money?

Isn't this a waste of your time for something you could outsource cheaply?

Great question.

Financial freedom for me is 10 houses and about 1.5M in an index fund - both just paying me every month with no / little risk.

This is pretty modest by baller standards but for me it would be a dream fulfilled.

I want to build my dream house and would like to help a charity somehow in the future as well as making sure my family gets a nice surprise lump of cash.

I enjoy websites but honestly I believe there is an ever closing window on what we do and I do not want to be here when the music stops.

I handle the social media side for money but mainly because I don’t trust someone to have the logins.

 

[harrytwatter]

This is a fantastic thread, thank you for sharing @MrMedia. I've slowly worked my way up to a couple grand a month outsourcing what I can afford, usually 10k batches, and augment that when I can with another 4-5k words/month.

I like my humble little side trickle of income, but I feel lightyears away from being able to make the type of moves with aged site purchases you're dealing with. My question is, did you just start out big? Like have some investment money you could drop in right away or was a it a gradual build-up over years, incrementally?

Is there enough value in trying to acquire a cheaper aged site under $5k, or would the authority generally be so low at that price bracket it would be smarter just spending that money on content + new domain?

 

[MrMedia]

This is a fantastic thread, thank you for sharing @MrMedia. I've slowly worked my way up to a couple grand a month outsourcing what I can afford, usually 10k batches, and augment that when I can with another 4-5k words/month.

I like my humble little side trickle of income, but I feel lightyears away from being able to make the type of moves with aged site purchases you're dealing with. My question is, did you just start out big? Like have some investment money you could drop in right away or was a it a gradual build-up over years, incrementally?

Is there enough value in trying to acquire a cheaper aged site under $5k, or would the authority generally be so low at that price bracket it would be smarter just spending that money on content + new domain?

Thank you.

I started with less than zero and built up until I could afford to outsource content. That took me a 2-3 years of GRIND. It was not pretty but I got it done.

Sounds like you are on the right path. Just make sure as you order batches you vary up the category. Eg. do not order 100k words of blue widget content. Order 20k blue widget, 20k orange widget, etc.

Some of my biggest content wins have been from categories I never thought would perform. Once you find one then go HAM until you have covered every kw in that category.

Then cycle back to grey widget, yellow, etc. Until eventually you find another winning category and repeat.

I have stumbled on so many goldmines within broader content batches that I have had to readjust and scale out several times on several different sites.

I think looking for an authority site is a skill in itself. I paid $360k for this one and not $260k as stated above because I knew the volume game would be a game changer.

You will not find undervalued sites on brokerages.

You should look for passion project type sites where the owner loves the topic but has lost interest over time.

High volume kws, mainly social traffic and last post published 1 year ago is a solid benchmark for an acquisition in my book. Age is a bonus. Authority is a bonus although in my experience these type of sites are usually very old and have a ton of good authority and links already baked in.

 

[DanielS]

I enjoy websites but honestly I believe there is an ever closing window on what we do and I do not want to be here when the music stops.

What leads you to believe this? Do you think Google will one day say, "Thanks for the content over the past 20 years- we'll be turning the SERPS into un-clickable widgets, snippets, and paid ads now, bye." Or, do you think that people will eventually get tired of written content and will fully transition to videos/audio content?

 

[MrMedia]

What leads you to believe this? Do you think Google will one day say, "Thanks for the content over the past 20 years- we'll be turning the SERPS into un-clickable widgets, snippets, and paid ads now, bye." Or, do you think that people will eventually get tired of written content and will fully transition to videos/audio content?

This is already happening. Search Is becoming a zero click game with the intent of keeping users with Google’s walled garden.

This will not decrease over time and I expect it to increase exponentially as snippets become more evolved.

combine this with a cookieless future and the squeeze on display based content sites is obvious to see.

Ecom, SAAS and apps will be fine. Display ads based… not so much.

 

[Lowrider]

This is already happening. Search Is becoming a zero click game with the intent of keeping users with Google’s walled garden.

This will not decrease over time and I expect it to increase exponentially as snippets become more evolved.

I, personally, don't think that it will become worse.

Organic results are a crucial part of google search engine and the future success. I found it funny when I discussed once with my father about his search experience with Google. He told me that he always gets spam in the first search results (not knowing that ads are shown in the first results) Most ads are not matching search intent properly, which will lead to disappointed users, which isn't in the interest of Google.