Set and forget websites are destined for failure, partly because Google has simply grown too advanced in its search engine protocols to allow one success for very long. If Google sees that you are doing nothing but set and forget websites, they can do things that will take you off the market permanently, or at least make it very difficult to keep an online business afloat. The reasons that set and forget websites fail are many. If you are considering one of these types of websites, you should think again. There is no ending but a bad one, all for the following reasons:
1. You can't auto pilot passion. Every great website needs passion to survive. You can only be as successful as your users allow you to be, and in order to keep them happy, you have to deliver content that is worthwhile on a frequent if not daily basis. While auto pilot websites may allow you to come up with content that has keyword combinations in all the right places, it cannot sustain coherent ideas that bring anything new to the conversation. And for a site to matter, it must be not unlike a book. It should have a voice all its own that the audience can appreciate and connect to.
2. Google does not like duplicate content. If you are going to do a set and forget website with quality content, then you will need plugins and RSS feeds that post stories or videos, which are actually worth one's time. The only problem with this - and it is a big one - is that Google values the original source and not your regurgitation. If you are involved in this practice on a daily basis, you are basically telling Google that your site is nothing more than a copycat of other better information or entertainment sources on the web. You could also be opening yourself up to litigation if you are posting these things in the wrong manner.
So what's the alternative?
If you are going to do a website, you need to realize right away that it takes work and investment, either of your time or your funds, and usually both. Luckily, you can find affordable help on the web by hiring content firms to provide specialized copy and videos that you can pass off as your site's, and there is nothing dishonest or questionable whatsoever about that practice, not in the eyes of Google or anyone else. If you can spend an hour each day generating useful article ideas, you will be way ahead of the game. More so if you can insert your own passions and experiences into the mix. So forget set and forget and set sail for success.
