Creating content strategy?

[Spinsr]

I am now 4 days in to my content creating month having my website live for about a month or so. I have now spent around 30 hours this week writing 1 500 words reviews and I am all worn out. I know this is important and I want to do it great, but looking and sites that have like 60 reviews of casinos, 100 reviews on different casino games and so on is so overwhelming (which I think is great cause that rules out the people without enough dedication).

but now having vacation spending full time writing reviews I really know it's hard work. Going back to full time on my day job will only give me time to do 1-2 reviews per day and I still have like 30 to go.

and then I have the game reviews left to do which will take another three months.

any thoughts, tips or encouraging words? Thanks in advance!

[Mike13]

If you don t like what you do it will be hard. I like to promote bookmakers and sports because you can get news every day about transfers, football stats etc. It s not easy to promote casinos. Keep the good work and be positive.

[Triple7]

Every webmaster once wrote his/her first review. If you're worn out after 30 hours of working, then you will have a hard time I guess. Especially if you're going to do this after your office hours.

I should make a plan first about the website. Try to vary a bit in content. It keeps it also more entertaining. For some concepts it can be ok to start with 10 casino reviews instead of 100 or with a few game reviews instead of reviews of the complete MG, Playtech and NetEnt collection.

[eenzoo]

I´m not a writer and i´m not a gambler! I´m pretty good in other tasks.
It was tricky the first couple of month
My complete content generation (50-60k words each month in different languages) are outsourced.

[Spinsr]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the replies.

To answer some of the questions, it's not like I don't like to write reviews, I do! I try to make them fun and not to static, but when you sit for 6-8 hours just pounding the same type of contents for 4 days in a row, it kind of tears on you. Anyone been in that situation?

I guess when I am finally up with a good amount of reviews, I can relax a bit more and write a couple of reviews here or there or when I add a new casino.

I think the right way to go is to add a couple of not too many reviews to start with and no go after a too great quantity at to short of time, but as I am sure many others are, I am so focus on getting much content and really start building my site.

haha, Great to hear Eenzo, one day I hope to be there and i really envy you Great inspiration!

[sweetbet]

I don't have the patience to write reviews anymore. It's far less stressful to outsource it and focus on other tasks that you enjoy.

[DavidChu]

My advice would be, get as much rest as you can, then go back into writing when you've regained the inspiration or when your creativity kicks in.

I used to write game reviews, occasionally still does, but i usually go with "I'll write reviews when I feel like it", because that's when I enter the "creative state" to get it done.

Similar to your case, been worn out before due to too much writing, as it has become a chore, rather than something you feel doing it voluntarily.

[Progger]

did u really think the typical gamer read your reviews ? No and never...he maybe check some images,bonus offer and negative feedback.
Open 5 random pages and read the reviews...best casino ever....u cant lose...biggest bonus and no deposit...more lies than trust in the reviews.

But on the end u need this content

[Miles_Videoslots]

You need to take your time one day at a time ... Don't rush if you can afford to outsource you can get decent articles written for you at very reasonable prices and if you want to turn this into a proper business then that's what you should do.

If that's not an option set out a road Map take 1 Year if need be to get your site to a point you want it to be if that adding 1 or 2 articles a day so be it at the end of the year you'll have a great product or at least a good start.

No point in rushing it and putting out the poor quality site as you want people to come back.

It takes years to establish yourself and an online presence as affiliates here will tell you to be patient and don't put too much pressure ion yourself do it at your pace ... or as i say save a couple of 100 bucks a month and invest in a copy person you can trust and let them do it for you and then you can think of it as an investment in your future as if you do well and hopefully you will then the revenue you make will make up for the spend in time. Good Luck

[Spinsr]

My advice would be, get as much rest as you can, then go back into writing when you've regained the inspiration or when your creativity kicks in.

I used to write game reviews, occasionally still does, but i usually go with "I'll write reviews when I feel like it", because that's when I enter the "creative state" to get it done.

Similar to your case, been worn out before due to too much writing, as it has become a chore, rather than something you feel doing it voluntarily.

I do agree, that feels like a better way of doing it!

did u really think the typical gamer read your reviews ? No and never...he maybe check some images,bonus offer and negative feedback.
Open 5 random pages and read the reviews...best casino ever....u cant lose...biggest bonus and no deposit...more lies than trust in the reviews.

@progger: No, I reallize that probably no one will read them, but as you say I need the content for SEO purposes.

@miles_videoslots: Thanks a lot, I think that what you're saying is very wise. It's sometimes hhard to pump your breaks when you look at sites that been up for years and feel that they've come so much longer than you. It's easy to forget that it takes a long time (and maybe help from someone) to get there.

Thank you for really taking the time and write a great reply, i really appreciate it! I'll guess I will set up a one year plan with a roadmap instead of saying to myself that I want to cover the most of all content in three months drom the start, Thanks again!

[Alex_PlayAttack]

Hi Spinsr,

It understood that it's really hard to create a review (or any article) that has value to a target audience. And it goes without saying that creating tonnes of similar content was always exhausting. On the other hand, even with average reviews you might have more luck with ranking than with no text at all. A little tip for you is to ask your AMs if they could provide you unique reviews for free. Our affiliate program has this option and some other might have it too.

[Mattbar]

Why not take your time, it is better if your site grows more naturally anyway, especially if you are doing this part time. Adding a few reviews/pages a week will be better than trying to dump a load of content in one go and then not updating it for a year.

[wolfie]

As Triple 7 said, try to vary with your content, mix it up a little. I will typically do about three slot reviews a day, one casino review and one strategy article. But sometimes I will spend a whole day on just one, very good "Evergreen" article of 2,000 words or more.

The first 6 - 12 months are the hardest, as you probably will not get a lot of traffic and hardly (if at all!) any new depositors. So you have to keep at it and just pretend you are writing for a huge audience. After the depositors start coming in on a regular basis, you will get a huge motivational boost and have a lot more energy to write reviews.

What also helps me a lot is to write about games or casinos that I enjoy playing at. If I don't like a game, it is a lot harder for me to write about it. Unless it is really, really bad. I love to write about slots that are really bad.

I have thought about outsourcing some work myself, but it is very hard to find good Dutch writers. Most do a terrible job, others are plain lazy. Some are both.

[Spinsr]

I think you all come with very good advice and I think the right way to do it is really take the time and not rush it and feel overwhelmed even before you had one single depositer.

I kind of love that it is so much work and I think I achieved pretty much on a short period of time and no experience.

It is really a test for ones persistence to work,woek, work with no pay-offs for the first at least 6 months and not even then see any revenue. I find that very challenging in a positive way.

Thanks a lot for all the invaluable tips and pepp, love that you guys take the time to write and give your view of it, very inspirational.

[manuelinbmw]

Why not take your time, it is better if your site grows more naturally anyway, especially if you are doing this part time. Adding a few reviews/pages a week will be better than trying to dump a load of content in one go and then not updating it for a year.

I agree better to take it slow and slowly drip new pages into the site. That way google will keep crawling the site.

[Former Member 14]

Hi Spinsr,

As your starting to experience, being an affiliate is 'hard work'.

Like anything, unless it's fuel by passion; a love for doing something, the motivation will dry up.

When I started many, many years ago (granted was a full time affiliate), for the 1'st 6 months, I worked for literally days, weeks and months on end. Over that time I alloted 1 weekend a month as rest. The rest was 7 days a week. Work 14 - 16 hours, eat; sleep; shower, then repeat the process. Unless your driven by a burning passion to succeed, then sadly you will fail every time.

Like yourself, I too was committed to producing quality content. Because of this it tends to wear you out quicker. I found keeping a pad and pen beside my bed, or in the kitchen/lounge room helpful. Anytime I had a thought/idea about an article etc, I'd jot that idea down, and later use it.

One important factor though in seeing this through (aside from the passion), is you need to set small-goals.

Looking at other people's sites and thinking... man, they have 30, 50, 60 reviews, how the hell can I do all that work. Thinking like that will create negative thoughts, and that's a bad head-space to be in. Instead, remind yourself that they too were once where you are now - starting out as a newbie affiliate. Try to keep that perspective in mind always. EG - Roman wasn't built in a day

Over and above all of that, take time out. Reward yourself for achieving your goals.

It's possible to become a successful casino affiliate, it just takes passion, and to never, ever doubt what your doing!

Also... invest in a whiteboard if you don't have one already. These are great for adding daily tasks, your mini goals etc

P.S... If your married, or have g/f etc, spend some quality time with them, away from your affiliate stuff. When I started this gig, I'd spend next to no time with my g/f. As a result that relationship ended.

[Spinsr]

Hi Spinsr,

As your starting to experience, being an affiliate is 'hard work'.

Like anything, unless it's fuel by passion; a love for doing something, the motivation will dry up.

When I started many, many years ago (granted was a full time affiliate), for the 1'st 6 months, I worked for literally days, weeks and months on end. Over that time I alloted 1 weekend a month as rest. The rest was 7 days a week. Work 14 - 16 hours, eat; sleep; shower, then repeat the process. Unless your driven by a burning passion to succeed, then sadly you will fail every time.

Like yourself, I too was committed to producing quality content. Because of this it tends to wear you out quicker. I found keeping a pad and pen beside my bed, or in the kitchen/lounge room helpful. Anytime I had a thought/idea about an article etc, I'd jot that idea down, and later use it.

One important factor though in seeing this through (aside from the passion), is you need to set small-goals.

Looking at other people's sites and thinking... man, they have 30, 50, 60 reviews, how the hell can I do all that work. Thinking like that will create negative thoughts, and that's a bad head-space to be in. Instead, remind yourself that they too were once where you are now - starting out as a newbie affiliate. Try to keep that perspective in mind always. EG - Roman wasn't built in a day

Over and above all of that, take time out. Reward yourself for achieving your goals.

It's possible to become a successful casino affiliate, it just takes passion, and to never, ever doubt what your doing!

Also... invest in a whiteboard if you don't have one already. These are great for adding daily tasks, your mini goals etc

P.S... If your married, or have g/f etc, spend some quality time with them, away from your affiliate stuff. When I started this gig, I'd spend next to no time with my g/f. As a result that relationship ended.

Thank you for a lot of valuable tips and insights! I guess the best way I found to do it is mixing up the work. So that I might do some content, mix up with a little bit of fun graphics stuff along with some analyses and so.

it makes it more fun and, after watching the keywords rank much, much higher after all this content creating last week it also makes it really motivating to keep writing stuff and creating content.

Thanks again!

[BestBonusBets]

If you're writing reviews without thinking about the keywords you want to target...y ou're doing it wrong.

Infact you should be writing content based around the keywords you want to rank for.

[universal4]

I disagree, write for the visitor, based on a topic that is centered around the keywords are are targeting and the and the keywords will generally be within the content more naturally.

Rick
Universal4

[Spinsr]

A lot of SEO gurus, like Brian Dean says that nowadays having a lot of content on your site is not a huge rankning factor as it was before. The focus should instead of quantity, be quality with like around 4 000 words. It's interesting and seems accurate. I gues writing reviews on like 400 words, is kind of just a waste of time, because 1. No one reads it 2. It's hard to rank with those sites.

However I think a site should have reviews in order to offer some value (even if there is not a huge demand for it)