Possible Partnership / Make a New Site?

[RyanTheRave]

Hi there,

I'm quite new to the Affiliate Side of Gambling and I am pretty interested in giving it a go.

Can people please advise me and tell me what my best bet would be?

Would it be to start from scratch and start my own site? (Bearing in mind that I don't have much experience and I don't know where to start really)

Would it be ideal to start a Partnership with somebody?

Please can everybody give me their views and post here or PM me or whatever.

Thank you.

[casinobonusguy]

what skills are you bringing to the table?If you have some skills that another may lack you can do good partnerships.I have partnership with one site as the person has some coding skills I lack and I was able to contribute financially for design ,content,seo work.

[RyanTheRave]

Content I would be very good at creating for example. I am a SEO Specialist at Paddy Power so I guess I can contribute a couple of things. I want to know really - is it better to form a partnership or start by myself and if so which route do I go down? I really am stuck

Thank you.

[Remo]

ryan,
I dont think you need to be looking at a partnership as I think you would be surprised at what can be quickly learnt. In my experience the getting started part is always the hardest as I juggle different ideas in my head about niches and sites.

Here would be my few tips to getting started and would be an investment of around €60, this will also help IMO determine what you can find you can do yourself, and you could be set up in a few hours

Domain

- Register any domain (nope not for the niche you want) eg ryantherave.com

Why do I suggest this? well if your unsure of the area to focus on just eg sports betting or casino etc..., in my experience I like to have a playground domain where I test out designs and content and I know can be moved elsewhere quickly.

For me its my kitchen

Hosting

- Get some hosting - there is plenty of cheap options
godaddy.com/hostgator/dreamhost etc.... Many would advise not godaddy for your main site

Wordpress

- Install wordpress, with the above mentioned its just a few clicks install but that is common with most hosts now. I say wordpress as its plugin rich and an easy learning curve vs joomla

With the majority of hosts, you can install wordpress multiple times into different folders, thats my logic in using a non public, domain ground

So for me on my “anydomain” I have mydomain/sportsideas mydomain/blackjackideas etc.... etc....

If you do the above you now have hosting and a domain, and there are countless free wordpress themes around.

Layout

My approach then when I have decided to focus on XZY is determine the layout and navigation.

And thats just about looking at other sites, eg if a general site I should have reviews from x many providers, some game guides and other content I think is useful.

At this point I have still put no effort into content (yet) as I want to get something up and running, so stick in dummy content to come back to, and by dummy I mean "lorem impsum" style text

Wordpress Themes

Searching for wordpress themes as so many available can end up being a nightmare.

So my rule of thumb when starting with something is keep the theme really simple. By simple I just google clean/minimalist 2 or 3 column themes widget enabled.

A simple change of some heading colors, adding a left/right color to the borders of site. and then adding a logo you have a presentable site.

Sites like w3schools.com are your friend !

Stuck for a logo ? If you don’t have photoshop find someone who does, after you have done the search for “free logo psds”

Wordpress Plugins

There are plugins for everything and I don’t want to just list what I think you need for seo etc.. but I would suggest the plugins from yoast.com
And also WP Table reloaded – it’s a great one to create bonus tables

Next steps

Once you have decided on the area you want to focus on, you can get it all looking right in a test area and the beauty of wordpress is you can download all the content of one site into XML in a click and stick it onto a different wordpress site in a few mins.

You say you are comfortable from the content side, so that’s a great thing. Once you find the template/theme you are comfortable with you will find if you do multiple sites you will work from that.

If your making money then you can spend on design etc.... Over the years I have had some of the nicest sites no one has visited around

Keep it simple to start with focus on a niche you have an interest in, pick a few providers and take a look around what other sites are doing.But remember to start!

Hope that helps

[michael1981]

It sounds like you need to do a bit more research before you start my friend Maybe get a couple of good SEO books, and do some research. Read articles, check out sites like Seomoz, etc Figure out what kind of website you would like to start e.g. bingo, poker, casino. I think its always best to have your own site and do things yourself. To rank well, you will need a good domain name, great content, lots of links, and a lot of patience It takes a long time to figure out exactly what to do, how search engines work, the best hosting, the best affiliate programs, etc I think the earlier you start researching and learning, the faster you will have your answers and know exactly what to do

[slotmad]

One thing I would say is that if you're a beginner you can waste a heck of a lot of time with design - even using Wordpress.
I can write fairly decent content but can't design for toffee and have spent the last week or so playing with the layout of a couple of sites which still look rubbish. If anything they look worse than before!
That time could have been utilised much better by writing articles or drinking in the pub.
So, although I think it's good you get a grasp of Wordpress and the things mentioned above it's not always the best approach for everyone.

There are plenty of nice looking sites out there that seem to have been written by people for whom English probably isn't even a second language. There are also some great sites with proper content and writing that look crap.
So, don't discount finding a partner that complements your skills as for many it's a good route to go down.

[shineray22]

I agree with Sllotmad. I tried to design a site but it took too much work since I don't have knowledge of websites and design so I'm looking to just buy a cheap one and tweak it. I can move straight to SEO then.

The problem is that the forum here that is dedicated to selling sites is only for private members so I can't access it to look at potential sites.

[Remo]

I agree with both of you slot mad and shinerary, that you can waste a lot of time on design. That was my ultimate point IMO if you are good in other areas content, seo etc .... You can keep it very simple and it's too easy to obsess about design.

If it's a new site you can be as shiny as you like but if you can't rank for terms or give people a reason to come back because of a benefit or problem you are solving for a user what are you left with? Something shiny

A unique logo and ability to produce great content or focus on seo strengths (as mentioned above) can have a site looking very presentable

Many sites that do very well are not works of art, there is a lot that can be done with no programming or design skills starting out