Experts Edge with Jitendra Vaswani

Are you setting up your own online business and not quite sure where to start ranking and optimizing your website? Don’t sweat it! In this edition of Experts Edge, we’ll be chatting with digital marketing/SEO expert Jitendra Vaswani and picking his brain around the essentials needed to make Google your BFF. 😍

We’ll cover the steps needed to… 

• Succeed in digital marketing in 2021 and beyond.

• Stay digitally agile in the wake of COVID-19.

• Start your online business with limited resources.
• Set up, populate, and rank your niche website on Google.

So, without further delay, let’s meet the man himself and get to grips with the question on everyone’s mind…

Who is Jitendra Vaswani?

The Adcash – Experts Edge Series was thrilled to interview digital marketing expert,  international keynote speaker, and serial entrepreneur, Jitendra Vaswani. Founder of the widely successful BloggersIdeas.com, the high impact digital marketing agency DigiExe, and the critically acclaimed podcast, Inside a Hustlers Brain.

Speaking of awesome podcasts, Jitendra recently sat down with Adcash Publisher/Advertising manager Marouan Bouhachi to discuss the ins and outs of how to make money with affiliate marketing. You can check out the full discussion as soon as it goes live on Inside a Hustlers Brain. 

Jitendra knows how to effectively and consistently rank for lasting results in an ever-shifting digital landscape. Having learned from and interviewed marketing legends like Neil Patel & Rand Fishkin, Jitendra has paid this knowledge forward, having trained and mentored 3000+ digital marketing professionals over the last 6+ yrs, helping to build strong businesses through second to none digital know-how and high impact ranking expertise. 

First Question. How would you describe what you do? 

I’m a digital marketer through and through. I run a digital marketing agency as well as an affiliate marketing business. I have multiple affiliate websites covering everything from health and travel, through to Forex, making money online, and more! The majority of my revenue stems from my affiliate websites and the remainder comes from my digital marketing agency, DigiExe. I run these two ventures back to back and it’s been an incredible journey right from the beginning. I make it a priority to stay up to date with the most cutting-edge industry trends and forecasts in online marketing today. I’ve gathered my knowledge by following industry professionals like Neil Patel, Gary Vaynerchuck, and Rand Fishkin to name a few. These experts have helped me become who I am today, a solid digital marketer, and a capable business owner. 

How did you first get into Digital Marketing? And Why? 

I first got into the digital marketing world back in 2013, when I started a blog called BloggersIdeas.com. This blog allowed me to unpack and expand on the top trends in digital/affiliate marketing today, specifically the question on every marketer’s mind. How to successfully and repeatedly generate lasting online revenue, both as an online advertiser and website owner.  

I wanted to uncover the most impactful and lasting way to generate money online, so through following affiliate guru’s like John Chow, Jack Johnson, and the others mentioned above, I carved my way into the industry and developed the skills I needed to generate solid and consistent profits. I subsequently left a full-time job to fully pursue digital marketing. And, you know what? I’ve never looked back! 

Through what I practiced and perfected, BloggersIdeas.com and DigiExe have generated strong ROIs since the beginning and continue to perform well into 2020.

At the end of the day, the journey to digital marketing success starts and ends with sheer grit, determination, and hustle. It comes down to what sacrifices you’re willing to make in the short and mid-term to grow and perfect your business. 

For 6 years, I had to limit my personal life. Nothing worth achieving is easy, but when I’m able to look back on how far I’ve come, the grind and the hard yards have been well worth the effort. 

What are the skills a digital marketer needs to succeed?

My best advice would be to stick with what you’re already good at and improve on it daily. For example, my digital marketing specialization is in SEO so I continue to hone my skills and become better and better at what I do. 

For someone else, it might be different. They may want to upskill in Facebook Ads, or email marketing, etc. What’s important is that you’re constantly improving on and upgrading what you already know. 

Also, A/B testing goes a long way. We’ve been seeing a lot of changes in the Google Search algorithm recently and this has given way to website rank reshuffling across a number of different niche websites (including my own).

And remember to always stay agile. For example, it’s possible to lose 70-90% of your traffic in the blink of an eye from just one Google update (I know because it’s happened to my sites as well). So, stay agile, stay curious, and stay keen in order to learn and improve every single day. Since this interview, we’re well on the way to recovering 60%+ of the traffic we originally lost. So, remember, hurdles are part of the journey to success. It’s how you deal with them that counts.

How has COVID-19 impacted digital marketing? 

In terms of ranking algorithms and general site content, a lot has changed this year and will continue to do so into 2021. Make sure you are always ahead of the game and able to pivot into new niches, verticals, and sectors if need be. Always upgrade yourself as a digital marketer and website owner. 2020 has been and remains a COVID world, so make sure you’re maximizing and spreading the right resources and budget in order to remain agile. 

Look for the upside of social distancing and try to attend as many virtual events as you can in order to learn from today’s digital marketing experts.

Old school online marketing strategies won’t work as they used to in 2021. Personal branding has changed a lot this year. Digital marketers, coaches, and strategists are now working almost exclusively online. Industry leaders are all trying to move toward a virtual future. We all need to adapt to the “new normal” and make it work for us as business owners and digital marketers alike. Get to grips with video content and virtual events. Try building your network in the virtual world. Get started now and make 2021 your best year yet!

What does a day in your life look like?

This lockdown has taught me a lot about myself, namely the art of finding balance. When I wake up in the morning, I don’t immediately go for my smartphone, but rather take some time to reflect on who I am and what I’m grateful for. I envision the goals I’ve set for my business, my team, my website, and myself. 

I believe in the law of attraction and I take time to bring this energy into my life and my surroundings so that I have the mindset and energy to achieve my objectives. I’ll then write down my goals and what I need to accomplish in the day, as well as where I want to be 6 months down the line.

The majority of my day goes into tracking down rankings for my niche websites and decoding any underlying site issues that might pop up. I also take zoom meetings with my team and break down the various targets we aim to achieve from quarter to quarter. 

What factors result in a strong website?

Hands down, it would be heightening the online user experience in every possible way. A great way to do this is to always have the most accurate answer for user queries that might pop up. In addition to the above, make sure you always have a strong on-page SEO strategy in place. Ask yourself the following questions when setting up or optimizing your website. 

• Do you have the right keywords in your H1 and H2 headings?
• Is your page loading in the shortest possible time frame?
• Is your on-page SEO geared to mobile as well as desktop? 
• Is the content on your website rich and informative? 
• Do you have the right long-tail keyword variations? 
• Do you have the right backlinks in place? 
• Are you targeting niche keywords that will help rank your site quicker?

When it comes to optimizing your site, I would recommend Surfer SEO as a reliable on-page SEO optimization tool. The tool will help you optimize your onsite content according to the end-user and ultimately, what they may be searching for. When it comes to analyzing backlinks, we use AHRefs. 

Also, when optimizing site content for the end-user, it’s vital to know what they are searching for. This is where FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) play an important role. You can find the FAQs related to your content with Frase.io. This tool will show you a list of Google’s most frequently asked questions and help you to structure your content according to what your users are asking. 

Any advice for new site owners to increase their ranking? 

When first starting a website make sure you have a good domain name that is orientated to your chosen niche. The simplest way to do this is to use an expired domain name. To get started, you can check out sites like expireddomains.net and get free expired domains according to your chosen niche. 

The reason people opt to buy expired domains is for the added layer of trust and online authority they provide. Since they are already indexed, they carry reliability in the eyes of the Google search algorithm. 

Also, make sure the expired domain you are buying has a set of credible backlinks related to your niche. To understand the full history of a domain, check out archive.org. 

As mentioned earlier, start your site content by finding low search volume keywords. Don’t focus on the high volume keywords as they’re all very competitive and harder to rank for. Use tools like LongtailPro to find the keywords to rank for. 

Lastly, Make sure you’re always providing the best possible user experience through the content you create, highlighting all the major value ads, pros, and cons, etc. Remember,  Google will push down your ranking if you’re not solving for the user experience. 

Lastly, follow industry experts like Neil Patel and Brian Dean, they will give you a lot of insight into different SEO trends and what you should be looking for. 

What is a good starting out budget for optimizing onsite SEO? 

When I first started out, I had around €200 to spend on getting my site set up and running. This is enough to get you on your way. More than likely your budget will go towards buying a quality domain and hosting site. If you’re looking for somewhere to start you can check out Digital Ocean or Vulture Host.

As far as content goes, (and, only if you budget effectively), it pays to hire a copywriter. Check out Upwork or similar sites to get a good idea of what a digital copywriter may charge for Adhoc website copy. If this isn’t an option for you, then you can opt to write the content yourself. Just make sure you stick to the SEO checklist mentioned earlier. 

And, as far as SEO goes, this is something I would highly recommend you learn on your own. It will provide an invaluable set of skills in time to come and allow you to keep your starting budget to one side for when you need it most. There are free tutorials for beginners and advanced students all over the net. There are also a lot of free SEO sources out there that will let you get started straight away. A good place to start is with Backlinko, a free newsletter with the latest tips and trends in modern SEO. There are also a number of group buying websites where you can pitch in with like-minded professionals and purchase high-end tools at an affordable price. 

Any final thoughts? 

As 2020 draws to a close, and people take a much-needed sigh of relief from what, for many has been a very difficult year, I would urge you to not give up on your dreams of starting your own online business. Contrary to popular opinion, there really is no better time to go into digital. Stay positive, invest your money wisely, and above all, learn the skills needed to master online marketing. Sorry that you have to hear it from me, but… there’s just not enough time in the day for Netflix and chill. Do something with your all too valuable time and do it now. 

That’s it from  Jitendra and Adcash. If this article ignited an SEO flame and you’d like to learn more, then check out the Adcash Guide to Ultimate SEO. Oh! And if you’re new to the platform and a first-time publisher/site owner…

Referring someone gets you a lifetime revenue %! 💰💰💰

Referring new publishers gets you 5% of their lifetime earnings! So, spread the word and boost your onsite earnings right here! Last but not least… 

Get in touch with us any time

Tailored site setups are fully available on request. If you’re looking for highly optimized, well-placed ads, then please get in touch with your dedicated publisher manager or, alternatively, reach out to our support team and get all the benefits of targeted onsite advertising. 

All the best with your killer onsite SEO strategy. 😁👌✌️