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I am starting to hear more and more about epik/com , has anyone here jumped in and had a 'epik experience' ? and if so ....your thoughts please
:talk:
:talk:
Here is some perspective on what we are doing on the Epik side:
First, what happened? A percentage of the sites were de-indexed. Although the traffic hit was 25% versus the day before, we were still on par with where we were 30 days ago. Sure, this was a setback, but not the end of the world. We are in contact with Google to discuss this action and request a policy-level review in the context of Epik's plans for product sites. In parallel, we are taking a number of specific actions on the operating side:
- Content: The single largest action we are taking is to upgrade Product Portals to full eCommerce. A product portal normally costs $249. Full eCommerce normally costs $2500. The difference is night and day in terms of (1) ability to monetize traffic, (2) ratio of in-links to out-links, and (3) feature set for running an entire online business. While it was always our plan to roll out cost-effective eCommerce, we expected to do this in 2011. The move by Google has caused us to accelerate that existing plan.
- SEO: Some of our Developers have used paid links. We will be asking Developers to cease use of paid links for the foreseeable future. While we cannot complete stop individual Developers from taking their own initiative with SEO, this action by Google overwhelmingly targeted sites that had used one particular SEO provider, SubmitEdge.com. We are also working with SubmitEdge to have links removed and they have agreed to comply.
A few take-aways:
- Epik is building real businesses. We start with a simple site, and then upgrades. We had some high profile sites that were already on the way to full eCommerce but did not switch over soon enough. While we have been transparent about our plans, it is clear that we have reached a size that we need to proactively manage the dialog with Google.
- Google is important. There is no debate here. However, the most successful eCommerce companies do not rely on Google to execute their plans. At $0.18 per click, it is impossible to invest heavily in brand development or to buy media. With full eCommmerce, those options become viable. The Product Portals are what allow us to learn what the market wants before investing in supply chain development.
- Epik is a well-run company with talented people. We have sufficient resources to help owners to be successful with their Epik-powered sites. While Domain Development is not easy, I still put Epik's prospects at getting this right as good as anyone else.
And finally, Epik's pace of innovation will not be slowing down. During Q4, we will be rolling out the fastest pace of innovation in the history of the company, including Video Portals, Job Portals, Recipe Portals in addition to continuing to grow Epik Stores and Epik Directory.
Onwards!
Remember if your site does not make money then neither does Epik!
Base Package plus
5 articles/news items/blog posts a month (per site)
50 forum posts a month per site
10 videos a month per site
2 free banner ad placements per month within the Epik Network
5 reviews a month per site
In my opinion I would rather have a cool head and make decissions when facts are known rather than make a knee jerk reaction when the situation does not require one, though obviously some may disagree with this.
Content: The single largest action we are taking is to upgrade Product Portals to full eCommerce. A product portal normally costs $249. Full eCommerce normally costs $2500.
You have to love this statement...I only have a few sites but that is exciting!
very constructive imput , thanks for your sheep like commentsEpik sucks... BIG TIME
Seems like a trade off by sacrificing google for getting search from bing, a "$2000" upgrade.