Poker Affiliate Listings - A forum of poker affiliates and poker affiliate programs - Blogs - Ridge

One of My Favorite SEO Tools

Ridge — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 06:00:12 GMT

So I'm sure everyone's noticed I've been posting a lot of articles on here and other places recently. The projects we are working on are in fact plugins and apps. So I guess I have been spending most of my waking hours talking, thinking, and developing plugins/tools.

So I guess that's my way of saying "sorry for posting so much" lol - but I've gotten a lot of comments, messages, and PM's about all these. I appreciate all the comments, and feedback guys. So thanks again!

Lots of the questions I get asked about is writing, writing tips, writing technics, etc. So here is one of my favorite tools I use on almost all my sites now.

I will say right off, sometimes I find writing a chore. But I love writing about things that interest me, and I've thankfully found a few things that make writing easier and best of all fun for me. We all know how much of a grind writing can be, and sometimes outsourcing can create a ton of work.

So I started using Scribe, and letting my wife and other writers we have worked with use it. Overall its made our lives easier and improved the overall quality of the content we write, and the quality of the content we buy from writers. (which is a BIG help)

Scribe is pretty cheap ($25 a month is the plan we have), and not only does it help improve our content, but it also has built in Keywords Tools, and Link Building tools that are awesome.

Anyway, I did a review on Scribe, how It works, and how we use it. I def recommend it. You can test it out on a free trial, and its not just a wordpress plugins, You can use it as a stand alone web app, and they have a joomla, and drupal plugin. So just all around cool

It;s made by the Studiopress/Copyblogger crew, and they just seem to put out great products.

Here is my write up about it. The Scribe SEO Tool

Does anyone else use Scribe? Thoughts?

Case Study - Conversion Funnels - NFL Betting Picks

Ridge — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 23:31:55 GMT

As I mentioned in my last post, I just finished digging into Kevin M's sports betting sites: NFL Betting Picks. where he offers weekly picks via Email. .

Kevin was generous enough to help us put real numbers next to his conversion funnels. This is a great case study for anyone wanting to learn more about conversion funnels and email marketing.

Please let us know what you think, and leave us your comments and questions.

Case Study - Conversion Funnels / Email Marketing -

NFL Betting Picks

Thanks

Randy

Split Testing - Case Study

Ridge — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 05:08:22 GMT

Hey everyone!

I've been getting a lot of requests to publish more of my case studies and site reviews I've done. So I wanted to share some simple split testing I did a few years back, and another simple split test I ran this year.

It's a little long winded (No surprise there lol) but there is some great info in here, and of course I am giving real numbers.

I used a new plugin we developed for the 2nd split test in this article called the "Conversion Box" - Which is another plugin we have developed. It made split testing super easy and painless.

Anyway, would love to hear some results of split testing other PAL Members have done, so feel free to share them here, or on my sites.

Simple Split Testing Ideas - Case Study

PS - Kevin M - Asked me to give an honest review of his NFL Betting site, and I'm finishing it up tonight, and I'll publish that case study in the next couple of days (hopefully tomorrow)

Kevin as you al know has some amazing sites, and his sites are awesome examples of what simple split testing can do to increase your bottom line.

Thanks!

Randy

Negative SEO Campaigns

Ridge — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 08:05:03 GMT

So now that Shoe, Danny, Rand, and most known SEO�s are openly discussing negative SEO tactics, I don�t mind posting about it here. In the past many seasoned affiliates, SEO�s, Marketers have had many unwritten (and rarely spoke about rules) regarding what to share, what not to share, and what to try and sweep under the rug.

But we have seen a big shift since the google Caffine indexing change, and even more in 2012 when many of the marketing guys, and many webmasters started having issues with rankings. Now more and more people are calling bullshit on each other, and now more than every people are saying �google sucks� �SERP�s are worse than ever�.

The best part is that when stuff doesn't go well, people start to talk :)

Read More Here: Negative SEO Campaigns

Would love to hear some feedback, comments, opinions. Or simple tell me I'm FOS :)

Poker Affiliate Tips guide Part 1

Ridge — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 05:10:17 GMT

Hey guys, I've been pretty quiet lately and just working and getting kids ready for college. I've been reading the forums, and keeping up with stuff, just not posting much. What a crazy industry we all live in.

Guest Posts

I've started several non-gaming projects, and I was looking to write some guests posts. So if you want some free content, just shoot me a pm.

I also finished Part 1 of my Poker Affiliate Tips 2012 series, has some good info in there for any affiliate. Love to have some feedback, good or bad as I can take it. :)

Anyway, let me know if you'd like a guest post or two. I've been doing a lot of writing lately, so just let me know.

Thanks guys and I hope everyone has been doing good!

Randy

2012 Should be awesome

Ridge — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:05:48 GMT

Most of you know I have been going through a lot of changes - Anyway, I get a lot of messages asking what I'm up too, if I'm still in gaming, etc. Also what my plans for 2012 are. So I'll see if I can update everyone.

Personal Stuff

First off, I've been dealing with my mother's health issues. She has been sick for a couple years, and nobody knew why. She's just turned 60 this month, and we found out a couple month ago she has "Lou Gehig's" aka "ALS" - No cure, some treatment, but just tough on her and everyone.

I'm the baby boy of the family, and the only one that lives close. So I've been in charge of setting up home health, Dr's appointments, etc. But overall, it's tough to watch a women who has always been on the go and active, to be tied to machines now. It is not easy to deal with for her, or for us.

As I said, I'm a big momma's boy, and it just sucks. Nobody should have to have ALS, its just a disease that pisses you off.

On the bright side, we have two boys graduating this year, one is signing with a college this week with a Baseball Scholarship, and the other with a Full Academic scholarship. We are so proud, and it just hit me that our boys will be going off to college. I'm 34, and feeling old and just worried. Of course, super proud.

Work Stuff

Since the Rakeupdate mess, I have been doing a lot of SEO/Marketing consulting for poker rooms, and large affiliates. I really love this type of work, and I recently accepted a role running the PR and Marketing side of a campaign. A State Appellate Judge is running for the State Supreme court, and this should be a fun experience.

Over the last 3 months or so, we have sold most of our websites and accounts. The last of the sales was closed last week. So we are now debt free! Which is huge for us considering when we got married, we could barley pay our rent, couldn't afford TV, etc. So nice turn around

As I said I'll be doing the campaign and continuing to take consulting jobs, and above all relax and enjoy life some.

I'm still dealing with the kids graduating, life goes pas quick. A lot of times I don't think I've been enjoying myself, and if guys like us that build businesses, sell business, etc - If we can't enjoy life some, what the fuck is the point? :)

So, I'm now planning a couple trips, and considering what new projects I want to do. In the past, all my major sites we developed slowly as I had time, and money. I never had a lot of either, so now that we are in a position to fund any project we want, I think it will be a lot of fun.

So, if you are looking for an investor/business partner, I'm opening to looking at anything.

PS - Oh I almost forgot. We all know there is a lot of shady crap that goes on in the industry. Over the years I've been in a unique position to see a lot of these shady deals and shady people. So now that nobody else can threaten to hold my money, or some other threat. I will be calling some of the people and companies out on their bullshit. So stay tuned for that. It feels nice not to owe anyone :)

Lesson learned!

Ridge — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:26:37 GMT

I've been getting a lot of PM's and IM's asking me if I'm still alive lol - So I thought a quick post here would be good and give me a chance to vent a bit

I've learned some great lessons over the past few months, the most important one (Thank you Kaus and MJ) is that my health needs to be priority over everything else! See, I have a tiny bit of OCD, so when I enjoy something (Like Marketing, building sites, making money) I get a little OCD about it. So ever since I realized I could make money being an affiliate, the challenge of it got me hooked!

The down side of this is that over the last few years the 15-18 hour days, 7 days a week, and living on 4-5 hours sleep finally caught up with me. I started getting sick and eventually ended up in the hospital. The initial diagnosis was "Congestive Heart Failure" <------ WTF? I'm only 32 I was thinking -

Long story short, I got out of the hospital and saw my family doc, he ran dozens of tests and let me know I didn't have CHF, but a serious infection and a blood sugar issues. All which can be treated. He did lecture me on fatigue and of course eating right as well. Unfortunately, my illness didn't end there, and overall I spent close to 2 months recovering and getting my strength back. It was a Big wakeup call anyway. I have 6 kids and an awesome wife, and I want to grow old and live long enough to be a burden on them all ;)

So, if you are anything like me and tend to get too wrapped up in things, remember to take a step back, smell the roses, and most of all take care of yourself. Not just for you, but for those who would miss you if you were gone.

The last couple weeks have been great though, finally putting a dent in PM's I never responded to, IM's I wasn't able to return, etc. Knocking out stuff that has been on my whiteboard for months now. Thankfully I have a great team of people I work with who gladly took up some of the slack for me.

Side Note: Tommy (PAL coder) has been a big help and learns quickly so we have been throwing some work his way, I recommend him if you have some extra work

Best of all we are near completing a 11 month project which Eric and I have poured our heart and soul into. We are actually in "live beta" now on a few and since I've never really been a part of such a major project, I had no idea how truly satisfying it would be to complete it.

Anyway, it was great to know some people actually noticed when I wasn't around, and thanks again to everyone who messaged me or my wife asking about me. It really meant a lot!

Beta Testers Needed
Ok, yeah as usual I'm long winded and this post is getting long - Thanks again everyone, and if anyone wants to help beta test or just check out Eric's latest awesome creation, hit me up.

Thanks,

Randy

A Message To Everyone

Ridge — Sat, 15 May 2010 04:48:51 GMT

Last month or so, a close friend of mine died, and i posted about this on my personal blog and a lot of PAL members stepped up and donated money from sales and outright donations for the family.

Well we got all of the donated money to the family and his wife Daphne and today she posted a "thank you" on my blog as well as a poem Shane had wrote.

Anyway, for all the people that donated I want to thank everyone again. Also I want you guys to knwo that you really helped someone that needed it. So thanks again guys!

You can see a message from his wife Daphne here: http://www.arkansasgambler.com/perso...n/257#comments

Thanks again guys!

A Special thanks to PAL!

Ridge — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:10:19 GMT

I wanted to take a second to thank everyone involved in helping me raise funds for my friend Shane's family. The death hit his wife and children hard, and it him being so tough it just took us all by surprise.

Of course the family and friends have many tough times ahead trying to adjust, I feel so good about being able to ease some of the burden on them, even if only a little bit.

Several PAL members have donated money, money form domain and websites, sales etc. We have some very special people on here and I'm super proud to be apart and know all of you. Its one thing to help someone you know, but to help out complete strangers is something special!

I plan on going to visit with Daphne (Shane's wife) Sunday or Monday and taking her all the funds donated. I know some money is still coming in and I assure you it will all get to the family, so no need to rush.

Also I want to give out shout out to my man Riyaz at OnlyPoker.com - You are the man buddy! This dude rocks and this program is awesome, no bull.

Anyway, everyone involved has link on my blog, and other sites :) It's the least I could do for you guys. Please let me know if I missed anyone, and there is still domains and websites for sale from myself, OPB, Todd, and I think a couple others. These guys have all offered to donate a portion of their sales to the family, so check those sales threads out.

Finally, I know several people have emailed, IM'd, and text'd me over the last week. I've still been in a state of shock over all this, so I have not been doing much work. But I will be back at it come this weekend, so expect some replies soon and thanks for everyone's support and understanding.

Wow, that was way longer than I intended!

Thanks again guys!

Randy

Hitting the wall

Ridge — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:21:15 GMT

I'm wondering how many other affiliate go through this. 2010 which is great traffic and income wise, just seems to be a grind. I think maybe I've hit the wall or something. I don't even want to check stats or do much of anything. I just feel tired and I cannot seem to get motivated.

There is only so many poker sites you can work on before you just get sick of it I guess. I'm not sure if I honestly though I could keep up the manic pace I've set for myself, but after being sick twice this year with general cold/flu stuff I know I need to have a healthier routine.

I've started working out three times a week, we bought a new treadmill and some other excessive equipment, I think its way past time for me to start taking better care of myself.

I'm taking the family on a mini vacation this weekend, no work kinda thing. I'm hoping I'll come back motivated and ready to get back on track. I have several projects that I've been dragging my feet on, half finished reports, and even things I'm just too tired to email lol.

Anyway, hopefully after a few days of Margarita's and chillin' I'll get my spark back. Has anyone else hit the wall so to speak? Just lost motivation? My big fear is that; Right now everything is going way better than I could ever hope in regards to my online business. RakeUpdate business is growing by leaps and bounds, but I know when you get complacent bad things happen. This business doesn't take days off, so it can be dangerous..

Article Re-posted by John Chow

Ridge — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:36:23 GMT

I thought some of you might want to see this. This is an article about a project we worked on for my Twilight sites, and after chatting with John Chow he posted it on his site.

The original article can be found here: http://www.onlinepokerseo.com/700-in...subscriptions/

Originally we planned on posting it on Arkansas Gambler, but I thought it was a better fit on my SEO website.

Anyway, you can see the article which is about email marketing here: http://www.johnchow.com/how-i-increa...00-in-3-weeks/

Top Negotiaiton Tips and Top 20 SEO Tips

Ridge — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:49:18 GMT

Hey guys and gals,

The members of PAL have always been good to me, and if not for Jeremy, Party Riches, PAW, PAL, and several members here I would be where I am today. I've been trying hard to create a resource for new affiliates on my personal blog and my Poker SEO site as a way of giving back.

Anyway, a couple topics that have been requested I've tried to cover with my last few posts. I hope you guys get something from them that help you make money! Also please leave some comments on what has worked well for you, or any tips and advice.

Also I'm running a little contest. The best "Affiliate Tip" left on the comments will get a free copy of "SEO Book" - Just leave your comments on the site and I'm going to have a couple respected members here decide the winner.

My latest posts are:

Top 20 Poker SEO Tips

Top 5 Negotiating Tips

Two Article you need to read

Ridge — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:46:56 GMT

We all have our own points of view of marketing, seo, and making money in general. We are all very strong willed business men and women and I encourage everyone to try different thing and never let anyone tell you what you "have" to do to make money or have a good quality website. Work hard, have goals, and keep the eye on the prize!

We all have our own way of doing things, that's not usually a right or wrong thing, it is what it is.

The first article is about Building a Business model that meets YOUR goals. The second one is a great article about Targeting Winning Keywords. There are billions of KW's and phrases you can go after and rank well for, but you need to find the ones that will make you money.

Also, thanks for the guys who wrote these, its great to have a different perspective on issues and in the end it makes us consider all things. Much like poker, there is many ways to play a hand. :)

Guest Post by Mike W. Managing time as a growing affiliate

Ridge — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:00:25 GMT

Hey everyone,

MikeW was nice enough to make a guest post on my Blog, its a great post which discusses "Managing your time as a growing affiliate"

Thanks again to Mike as there is a ton of great info in this article. Also I want to invite everyone to leave a comment with your link.

7 Random Thoughts and Tips you will find useful

Ridge — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:08:13 GMT

Hey guys,

I thought everyone would want to check out this guest post GregW (Poker Bank) made on my blog this morning. I'm truly honored that he and a few other well know webmasters would take the time to do this.

If you don't know who GregW is, then you need to check out his site The Poker Bank which is one of the best Poker Strategy websites on the web.

Here is part of his Article:

1) Simple is almost always better.

There have been countless times where I have laboured over review page layouts and the way I display content on my pages. This usually results in about an hour or so of my time spent toying with CSS to get it looking �just right� or as close as I can get to �perfect�. However, I�ve come to realise that 95% of the time the simple option is so much better.

The �content over design� idea has been hammered home so many times that we just gloss over it, but seriously, it couldn�t be truer. The more complicated a layout gets the harder it is to develop and the more likely it is to mess up at some point. So why spend time working on something complex when it will look just as well and be easier to manage in a much simpler form? READ MORE