Limit Yourself to These Six Tools For the First Three Months
Strangle Your Sense of Overwhelm By LIMITING Your Choices and Research
Problem Disguised As A Solution:
There is a mind-blowing array of free and low cost tools and advice for new Content Niche Site Creators
Actual Real Problems:
- You do not have the time to digest all of this information, but you will waste hours, weeks, months trying because it is more fun to think about creating helpful content than it is to actually create helpful content.
- It eases your fear of producing content that sucks.
Actual Simple Solutions:
- Sign up for only these six tools and services until you are beyond the three month mark. DO NO MORE RESEARCH ON TOOLS until then.
- Write and film and upload a whole bunch of stuff that sucks, because the truth is, it probably won’t suck and the ONLY thing you need more of to get better at this is TIME and practice, which you can’t buy anywhere.
These Six Services are ALL you need to get started.
I hope to know enough about affiliate links to need to put a disclosure here about how I will make money on them here, but until then, they’re probably just all links:
SiteGround for Hosting and Buying Domain Names
- I use the Grow Big package which costs about $80-90 per year and enables you to make as many websites via WordPress as you want.
- The sites can be fast. I may move hosts after I figure out everything that “fast” entails.
- DO Sign Up for the Free SSL certificate and switch the toggle to “enforce SSL” which I think is in your Site Tools.
- Sweet ways to lose cash accidentally:
- You can buy domains on a whim and lose money that way, as I have, and you can lose money by blindly signing up for Site Scanner or any other Security/Speed setting they offer, like I did. Or you can say no to everything and not add a thing on and do what I suggest below.
Put the Generate Press theme on your site and delete all other themes and the Quick Start site builder
- Generate Press is fast and basic and free. Lots of hours of research went into this conclusion for me and most of the pros I follow use it. Add it as a theme and delete all the other themes (except one for back up).
- Take the “Quick Start” tool off (delete it from plug ins) as soon as you are familiar with how to post.
- Uninstall and delete SGOptimizer and SGSecurity that come automatic with Siteground sites from the Plug Ins section.
- Sweet ways to burn Benjamins here (Yes, I am a “cool mom”):
- Subscribe to Envato Elements and purchase a theme that is an incredible work of art that will slow your site down to a crawl and has elements that you won’t be able to figure out how to adjust so you’ll have to keep the placeholders in their original Serbian text but you WILL keep them on there because they are freaking beautiful…bonus points on this because you will burn BOTH time and money by following this path. It’s a twofer!
- If you don’t lose enough time or money doing the above, there is always ThemeForest, Canva, Adobe Stock or many other sirens calling to those of you who love visual design. I am just bragging here but I think I only repeated this “buy a gorgeous theme you can’t use” process three times, wasting not a dime under $120.
- Subscribe to Envato Elements and purchase a theme that is an incredible work of art that will slow your site down to a crawl and has elements that you won’t be able to figure out how to adjust so you’ll have to keep the placeholders in their original Serbian text but you WILL keep them on there because they are freaking beautiful…bonus points on this because you will burn BOTH time and money by following this path. It’s a twofer!
Install these Plug Ins
- Wordfence…free version, again I donated hours of intense confusion, procrastination, and stress to the process of choosing one and pros I follow like it
- Install WP-Optimize…free version. This one I did less research on but it works and is free. It also shrinks your images, which ideally you should be doing before you upload them, and it’ll shrink them even more.
- Install Google Site Kit if you want to.
Use RANKIQ and only RANKIQ for all your niche research and SEO and Keyword research
- This is the hands down absolute fastest way to minimize your time wasted on SEO and Keyword Research, and it is downright inexpensive at $49/month
- DO NOT use the Content Optimizer as your only copy of your articles. The saving system is too scatty as of now. You will lose stuff.
- DO USE the list of Keywords in the library to
- Pick Your Niche(s)
- PS You won’t be picking just one niche.
- I’m convinced that you have to FAIL FAST in the Niche Picking Process. It seems easy but I’m 4 months in and just now beginning to see that it is a true skill that again just requires either a course, or time and practice.
- Run Reports on the Keyword Strings that you’ll be having a go at.
- Bonus points if you actually USE the Reports. I haven’t yet but I’m not one to rush into anything that’s content dense, and truly useful.
- Pick Your Niche(s)
- If You Are Building A Content Niche Site To This To Lose Time, Money, and Hope, Start Here!
- Definitely Buy and Ahrefs membership for about $130/month as I did.
- Ahrefs is far too complex for beginners.
- Ahrefs makes you feel smart.
- You can reliably lose 20 hours per week of your time doing “research” on Ahrefs. It is beyond intriguing and addictive.
- Cancel after 3 months to cut your total losses to just shy of $400.
- Absolutely check out every single keyword research tool you hear about on podcasts
- Keyword Research Tools are second only to graphic design tools in my book of Time Vampires.
- DO figure how to use Google’s Keyword Tools LAST, because they are free and basic. I’m learning them now.
- Definitely Buy and Ahrefs membership for about $130/month as I did.
Actually, I take that back, I would suggest NOT using RANKIQ because I think this is better:
A full nine days after I was 100% on board with RANKIQ and nothing but RANKIQ, I’ve learned more and I’m changing my suggestion.
Use KeySearch instead. It has the cost per click in it so you can gauge, at least a little bit, if the niche generally has money associated with it.
However, I still think RANKIQ is excellent for true beginners because it funnels the overwhelming information down for you.
Buy A Jasper AI Membership At $100/month IF and ONLY IF English is your second language
- This is a tool worth it’s cost if you’re not a solid English writer or speaker.
- Ways to Blow Money and Time With Jasper AI
- If you are a Native English speaker, you can still manage to blow some time and money on it by signing up for the 10-day-free-trial then cancelling on Day 11 as I did. Honestly, I’m not mad that I have it for another month. Maybe it’ll grow on me.
- It is sooo fun to test it out. The magnificence of the word salads that Jasper creates cannot be overstated. Give yourself at least two hours to waste or come clean and call it the recreational activity that it is.
- The Templates in Jasper are actually really educational. I took notes on all of them, haven’t touched the notes yet, but at least I was able to play for upwards of 5 hours
Upwork of Fiverr to Hire A Boss For Yourself
- Sign up for an account at UpWork or Fiverr so you can post jobs
- Hire a Boss for yourself for weekly accountability: $15/week or less
- Having to provide the structure, direction and accountability for myself is by far my biggest obstacle to earning money via Content Niche Sites
- Given my education in psychology and my 51 years of life, I’m willing to wager that it is the biggest obstacle for 84%-92% of you (unfounded precision is one of my specialties)
- If this works, it will be the best investment of $60/month that I could make in my business
- Time Wasting Options on UpWork or Fiverr
- Not sure why it is a draw for me to browse for jobs that I don’t want, but it is.
- UpWork and Fiverr are filled with interesting people and projects. Browsing them can burn 2 hours easily.