Proxy Builder Blog

I briefly covered the importance of a robots.txt file in my recent article: 5 Tips for Proxy Webmasters. There has been alot of discussion about this over at the proxy.org forums and most people have come to the conclusion it is an essential part of building a quality proxy website.

A correctly configured robots.txt tells search engine spiders where they can go on your website, if you dont stop spiders from accessing your proxy script then you could damage your website search engine rankings and trust. Search engines can be a vital source of organic traffic to proxy websites, if you dont block spiders from visiting proxied pages your site could get penalized Continue reading »

Hello Again, unfortunately I havent had much time to post recently because Im working on other projects. This brings me to my latest release, I managed to get some quality domains and unique templates so I began building a new proxy site network. I hope this gives you a feel for the quality of websites I like to create. Each one has been developed individually, interlinked and the proxies will be advertised independently. I will give a brief breakdown of how I acquired and developed each one.

Zelune - http://www.zelune.info

This one is probably the flagship in this small network because of the new Zelune proxy script. I purchased the domain and template via the Digital Point Forums. I acquired the domain for a bargain price but it was definitely worth buying a unique template too. I see alot of potential and a long future for this web proxy.

Myspace PHProxy - http://www.myspacephproxy.com

I picked up this domain after spotting some search engine keywords in the referrals on another proxy, I checked them out at the Free Keyword Tracker and saw there was enough searches to make it worth my time. The final step was snapping up the domain for $6.99!

IP Disguise - http://www.ipdisguise.com

The story behind this is much the same as Myspace PHProxy but I also acquired another unique template, it should be noted I also registered the domain disguiseip.com which will shortly redirect to it. It can be useful to buy similiar domains or they could potentially beat you in the search engine rankings.

Internet Cloak - http://www.internetcloak.com

Internet Cloak has been online for about a month now, it was originally using the Myspace PHProxy template but I thought for such a quality domain it deserved its own unique design. I have also tied in one inbound link to the new network to start the flood.

Thats all for now guys, I hope some of you pull some information out of there, I certainly know theres a few powerful development strategies in there. I have to move them forward with the promotion stage now but I’ll try and keep you updated. I also plan to release several of the unique templates via the Proxy Builder Blog so check back soon!

I have put together these tips to aid proxy webmasters in making the most out of their proxy site.

Implement Hotlink Protection
Most web proxies are designed to let users surf anonymously, unfortunately they can also be abused without the proper protection in place. In my experience the worst offenders are foreign blogs, porn sites and forums. They use the direct image link through your proxy, although I’ve never understood the reasons myself. Head over to one of the coder marketplaces like eLance, Digitalpoint, Sitepoint or Scriptlance and you should be able to get hotlink protection pretty cheap. I have found the best method of blocking to be the .htaccess file.

Block Chinese traffic
I have always been an advocate in providing my proxy services for all, I was hesitant when my host recommended this software but after seeing the improvements it was the only way to go. Traffic from china is worthless to advertisers, puts a strain on my server and is usually abusive. When I implemented the Maxmind GeoIP software I saw a big drop in traffic but the increase in quality has improved my advert CPM. Eliminating chinese traffic might just sustain me through the summer months.

Add A robots.txt File
Most webmasters know that the robots.txt file is used to protect search engine spiders archiving and indexing certain web pages. When a spider finds a link to one of your proxied pages it may get caught in a loop and decide to index the whole web through your proxy. You may ultimately be penalized by the search engines if their spiders believe you are, say, displaying duplicate content. There are many guides in Google that can help you on this topic. Note: It may be more difficult for users of PHProxy to implement this because it is all processed from the index page.

Update Your Proxies
Many webmasters think proxy websites are “Fire and Forget” so to speak. Although proxy websites can be an easy source of passive income you should still maintain them regularly. I will often scour through my web proxies to add content, fix typos, cleanup HTML and remove dead topsite buttons. There are many benefits to this, the search engines see you are still maintaining your site, your visitors dont land on an ugly page and your sites will load faster.

Build Proxy Networks
The web is a big place, if you are serious about the web proxy business you should be aiming to capture as many users as possible. The more proxy sites you have, the more exposure you should get. I am not saying build quantity over quality but I personally build my proxies in groups of 2-3. I interlink them, add a couple links to my other proxies and also create inbound links from my more established proxies. This helps to generate a nice flow of traffic, builds awareness of my other proxies and hopefully visitors will use my other proxies if the original gets banned.

Sorry I havent posted in a while, I have been extremely busy with my fulltime job lately but I hope to follow a more rigorious maintainance schedule for all my sites.

Is it illegal to run proxy sites?
No in general, one of the only circumstances it could become illegal is if you monitor your server logs and see people visiting inappropriate content. If you decide to monitor your traffic you must report any illegal activity that you see and ultimately your server may be seized by law enforcement in their investigations. The simply solution to this is either to not monitor your logs or turn off your server logging.

Can I use adsense on my web proxy?
Yes you can, as long as your website follows the adsense terms and conditions. You are only allowed to place it on your homepage. You are not allowed to place adsense on “proxied” pages because you do not own the content and you will be banned from the adsense program if you do this.

Will a proxy website work on shared hosting?
I would never recommend that proxy webmasters use anything less than a dedicated server. Some web hosts may initially support your proxy website but because of the vast amount of resources that proxy scripts consume it isnt fair to the other users of the server. If you are draining all the server resources then inevitably your web host will have to cut you off. You should thoroughly read through the terms and conditions of any new host you plan to use. It may seem like a large cost of the proxy business but if you can break even on a dedicated server then you are well on your way to success.

Do proxy sites make money?
Yes! In my time I have earnt thousands of dollars from proxy websites. The market is extremely saturated right now but if you are creative and you can offer something unique, its always possible to grab a bit of the action.

I have been in the proxy business for about 10 months now, so I thought I would give a little oversight of what I’ve seen and done in that time. I got very lucky from the start of my proxy business and managed to grab some premium domains before the proxy gold rush struck in. I think its been alot easier to pull in and keep traffic because I own some memorable domains. At times it can be hard work though, I hit a bit of a wall about two months ago where I was just about breaking even on Adsense after server fees and domain renewals.

With alot of effort I managed to turn that around by cutting my server fees and of course if your outgoings are less you basically left with more profit at the end of the day. I didnt actually realise how antiquanted and slow my old servers were so they have given my websites a new lease of life. Simply switching to more powerful servers has doubled my traffic within a week, I look forward to seeing the longterm effects. All my servers are now 4GB Intel Core 2 CPU 6600, a big step up from my underpowered and old P4 2800’s.

Now, the proxy industry in general began its boom between january and may. Many people thought it was a guaranteed quick buck and in many cases it was, but smart-pricing kicks in about a week after and with the low summer traffic thats coming proxy webmasters find it even harder to get visitors. Proxy.org also had some problems of its own, a bot master was attacking adsense on any proxy site listed and many people lost their Adsense accounts. Luckily for me I only took a “fine” of about $150, mainly because I pride myself on building individual and high quality websites. I also saw over 10,000 web proxies get wiped off the proxy.org listings in the last month or so.

Thats basically a roundup of recent proxy events in the last few months, summer traffic will be the main problem for any proxy owners who dont have a solid network going. Luckily for me, my traffic is going up right now!