Just a couple of short weeks ago I published a VBL Discussion Post on the subject of niche sites, where I mentioned that I was challenging myself to start my first ‘true’ niche site online (which I’ll tell you all about in a bit), as a way to see if I could emulate the brilliance brought forward by other fantastic bloggers and online entrepreneurs over the last year or so, where the subject of niche sites has really exploded.
The response to that post was awesome – some 65 comments were posted and I had a truck-load of emails on the subject, too. It was also a hot topic when I met with a bunch of VBL Community Members back in London, on June 16th, too! Thank you to all that participated, in whatever way you did.
You Spoke, I Listened
One thing that was very clear by all of the comments and emails I received was that you guys simply ‘wanted in’! You wanted to be involved, and really liked the idea of taking part in the challenge of building, promoting and marketing a niche site for passive, financial gain.
The thing is, I run a few companies, am currently working on a few different projects (this new niche site included) and although I would have liked to make this a lot more in-depth, I haven’t really been able to come up with a way to do it, without spreading myself too thin across my other business interests. So, I’m gonna keep it super simple and easy for everyone to be involved.
The one thing that I want to point out here, over and beyond everything else is that this is NOT a competition. It is not about finding a ‘winner’ of any kind. It’s about COMMUNITY. And, its all about us coming together with one very common goal, and helping each other achieve greatness in his/her chosen niche.
‘VBL Niche Site Project’ Guidelines (not rules!)
With that considered, we still have to have a few guidelines, so that we are all on the same page as to what we want to achieve, and how we’re going to keep everyone up-to-date on things. So, here they are, should you want to join in the fun over the next few months (and beyond):
1. Everyone must come to the blog once a month and post a comment in my ‘Monthly Niche Site Project Update’, with three very important pieces of information. Firstly, the current ranking in Google for their primary keyword. Secondly, the number of visits they have had in the last month, via Google Analytics, and thirdly – their Adsense earnings.
2. You must also tell us a little (we don’t need all your dirty secrets!) on what you did in the past month to gain more traffic, growing your ranking and make the money you make.
3. You must promise not to take a stab at, be horrible to, curse at, take the piss out of, or generally become an ass towards anyone else that is participating in the challenge. If anything – HELP THEM. That’s what this is all about. If you don’t adhere to this particular guideline, then you’ll be ‘out’!
Pretty simple, right..?
Get Listed on the ‘VBL Niche Site Project’ Center
I will be creating a special page, where everyone that wants to be included in the challenge will have their name, and a link to their niche site listed. I will also list any articles, or blog posts that you’ve written (on your personal blog, for example) covering this challenge and your niche site. However, the articles MUST focus on the challenge and your spefific niche site (this is to make everything relevant for everyone involved) if you want them included.
I’ll also be adding links on this page to other related posts on this blog, as well as others that I feel should be included.
This whole thing will be put together so that we can all check out each others niche sites, and see what we are all doing together to build our sites up, and to earn that passive income we’re shooting for. To be included all you have to do is send me an email with your name, and the URL of your niche site. Then I’ll have my virtual assistant set-up the page in the next week, or so.
My Selected Niche
As this is my first real niche site (I’ve flirted, and done okay, but nothing crazy from a couple of sites), like most things when it comes to business, I put a lot of time and energy into researching everything I could when it comes to creating niche sites. My main influence on this whole thing came in the guise of my good buddy, Pat Flynn. He has done very well with a niche site he started 8-9 months ago, and continues to work on it to better himself every month.
I’ve followed a lot of what Pat put into place, but I have also spent a certain amount of time working with my internal online marketing team to produce what I feel is a solid plan of attack in a pretty competitive online space.
The Nuts and Bolts
How did I get to this choice of niche? Well, first up – I didn’t use Market Samurai, which is by far the most popular piece of keyword research software out there – I mean, everyone talks about this thing! Instead, I followed my own ‘beginners’ advice strategy (if you can call it that!), which I blogged about a while ago - instead using Google’s Keyword Tool to do the research on the keyword and its search volume / competitiveness.
On top of this, this niche is centered around an industry that is hot for job searchers, and requires only a high school education level, vastly broadening our search opportunities.
As you can see from the image below, my chosen niche has a solid monthly search volume for its primary keyword, and is in a pretty competitive position, which I mentioned before. I have chosen to go with it anyway, based on the fact that the competition show’s that there is a good amount of PPC advertisers out there, and as we are looking to gain Adsense earnings as our source of income, it makes sense.
I appreciate that this might mean that I have to work a little harder and for slightly longer to gain the top slot in Google, however, in the long-term I think it’ll be worth the wait and additional work!!! I certainly hope so.
Beyond the primary keyword, there are also plenty of secondary and additional long-tail keywords (some with some pretty impressive search numbers on their own!) that are available and worth working on, as you can see from the image below.
I have sat with my team (which I’ll go into detail on below a little more), and we have targeted 10 secondary keywords and approximately 280 long-tail keywords that we are going to be going after! And, we believe that there are at least another 50 or so worth pursuing after that, too. So, plenty of work to get on with!
The Beginning of the Content Mission!
We have gone live today with 14 articles, and will be adding more on a drip-feed schedule regularly, going forward. All of these articles were written by one of my full-time marketing team members, and were tweaked by me, to make sure that they were as high quality as possible, in regards to grammar, etc.
Obviously, to gain all the traffic we want to get, and to truly OWN the niche, a hell of a lot of content is going to have to be produced. And here’s the thing, with Google ‘Panda’ in full effect, we are going to have to make sure that the content is not only just 100% original, we need to make it genuinely helpful. Not a major feat if you only need to produce 20 or so articles, but with the number we’re going after, it’ll be tough work. However, as with most things concerning my team – I am confident.
Speaking of My Team…
I appreciate that some of you will be doing all the work on this thing yourself (just as Pat did we he started his niche site, although he is now outsourcing it like mad!). However, I simply don’t have the time, nor the patience if I was to be brutally honest, to do so!
So, I have three members of my team helping me.
1. Internet Marketing Manager - He is the guy that I did most of my research with, and he’ll be breaking down the numbers, month by month to make sure that we’re doing well, and that we are on course, on our mission to the Top of Google! He’s also already set-up the sitemap and Google Analytics settings, as well as submitted the site to Google Web Masters Central and Bing and Yahoo, too. He will also be the guy executing our link building strategy, too.
2. Web Developer - He designed the niche site using a theme, and tweaked it a little to look as sharp as possible. It went live about 4 days ago. Because of the type of niche, we went for a clean / clinical looking theme. He’ll be managing the updating of the site and making sure that all pages are optimized properly, based on my IM Manager’s guidelines.
3. Content Writer - He has produced all of the content so far and will continue to do so for, at least, the foreseeable future. The thing is, that this creative dude also does a lot of other writing for me, and even some of our clients, so if he gets too bogged down, I might look to get someone else internally to work on it, or perhaps even outsource it. The reason why I would outsource it, instead of hiring a full-time VA to do it, is because it really will be a one-off ‘job lot’ of writing, rather than a continuous stream of content required, I feel. But, we’ll see how this goes.
And so, It Begins…
So, today is kick-off day – we have had just ONE visitor to the website so far (probably one of my team!), as you can see by the Google Analytics screenshot below, and currently have a Google Ranking of 255.
I must admit to being incredibly excited by all of this, as I haven’t set myself a real hard-core challenge / goal like this for quite some time. The thing that really excites me, however, is the fact that our growing, WICKEDLY AWESOME VBL COMMUNITY will be taking part in the challenge, too!
That just inspires the crap out of me!!!
So, get commenting below, let us know of your niche sites so we can all go check ‘em out, and good luck to us all… I’ll see you next month for the first report, or before, if need be!
Related Posts:
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- Finding a Niche in 20mins or Less, with 3 Simple Steps! (This is How I Do It!)
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- How, How, How… To, To, To…!
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Hey I’m looking forward to becoming a party of this little niche site challenge. I’ll also end up outsourcing a lot of the content and links but much like your example above I can share it all. I will blog about the challenge this weekend once I have set up something concrete. Very nice
Awesome, Andrew!!!
Welcome on board… Be sure to pop back here and publish a link to your post, so we can all check it out, okay!
C
Hi Chris,
Here’s just the first couple of steps I’ve gone through from niche selection to how I plan to monetize. I’ll be detailing everything from the ground up – I think not only will this be a lot of fun to do but people will get a lot of value out of the challenge you’ve launched here.
Here’s the link to my Part 1 post: http://www.passiveprofiteer.com/niche-site-challenge-part-1-niche-selection-and-monetization/
Hi Andrew
Looks like you’re off to a flying start!
It’s great that you ACTED on everythig so quickly…! You’ve done your research, selected your keywords, now to build the site and get that content going!
I like your three-pronged take monetization, too. I have been looking for an affiliate product to promote (as a secondary focus) over the weekend, but not found one yet. Not too bothered about it right now, however.
Keep up the great work, buddy, and good luck!
C
My site is http://www.knowoscilloscopes.com but I’m pretty far behind atm. I wanted to have some content up by yesterday but I haven’t received any yet.
Good stuff, Andrew…
You’re IN..!
But, please send me your primary keyword.
C
Hi Chris, I keep coming back to your niche site as i admire it so much.
To keep things simple, would you mind sharing in detail the design mechanics your developer exploit. I am talking of the theme and the tweaking that gave such fantastic result.
Hi Emmanuel
You have given me a great idea. And I will roll with it as soon as I am back from BlogWorld.
Very much appreciate you commenting on this, and thanks for the inspiration.
Stay tuned.
C
Chris, looks great. Straightforward enough, but I don’t see where your niche site is making any money! Where is the revenue model?
Hi Alice
Chris has monetised using Adsense at the moment (ads by google) Im sure he has additional bigger plans
Hi Steve / Alice
Yes, I have a few. But, I will be focusing on the Adsense side of things for at least the first 6 months, I believe.
All based around the content, building page count with Google and getting traffic. The rest will come more naturally, I think.
Are you going to get involved, Alice….?
C
I’m in! I’ll do some niche research over the weekend and come up with a new site. I’m keen to explore different ways of driving traffic so we’ll see what produces the best results.
Looking forward to participating,
Tim
Hi Tim
Awesome stuff, buddy – wicked to have you on board…
Don’t forget to send me your niche URL once you’ve got it set up, okay!!?
Looking forward to having you enjoying this all with us.
C
Hey Chris,
I love the format you’ve chosen for this community project (I won’t call it a challenge). Are you just going to monetize with Adsense or do you have affiliate products that you plan to promote. I see you are building a list which is awesome too.
I’m looking forward to watching how this project and your niche site grows!
John
Hi John
‘Project’… I like the sound of that, too…
I’m going to focus on Adsense for the time being.
Yes, the list thing HAS to be there… I have no idea (honestly!) what I will do with it yet, but, better to be safe than sorry…!!!
Glad you’re hazard to watch how things evolve… Are you going to be joining in with us all….?
C
Hey Chris,
I have started another niche site in the “relationship rescue” niche. I’m still working on getting the site plumbing up and SEO’d. I have a (soon to be) sister-in-law that is taking her RN exam this month. There are lots of study guides on the market that would make great affiliate products. Just a thought..
Sounds all very good, buddy.
Keep your head down, and work hard at it… As Pat said here in the comments, in a roundabout way.. People probably don’t take niche sites as seriously as they should.
I know I will be.
Thanks for the follow up comment.
C
Hey Chris,
I think this may just be the thing to give me the motivation to start a niche site and re-invigirate my blog (which hasn’t been touched in a while !). I was facinated by what Pat Flynn has accomplished and it will be even more interesting to be involved myself! i can’t wait to start and see what others are up to. Strong work ! Rob UK.
Hi Rob
So, so happy that you’re jumping in with us, mate… Awesome news.
Once you have picked your niche and registered your domain, be sure to let me know what it is, okay!? Also, feel free to email me links to any blog posts you do on it, too…
C
Hi Chris
A great idea, I love the way you have moved away from a challenge into a community event far superior.
The rules are simple and easy to follow so that helps. Point 3 is well taken.
I have three new domains that I could enter. Do you want us to limit it to just one per person. Mine are focused on pure amazon, pure click bank or a combination of AdSense and click bank
Regards
P.S. if anybody is looking to buy a domain name Godaddy are running a $1 + fees promo with code Jillian1 at the moment
Hey Steve
The whole Community thing just seemed like it was going to be so much more fun and ‘engaging’… I hope it works well.
I think it’s best to keep it to one site for now… But, perhaps include more in the future. So let me know which one you prefer (got your email), so I can include it in the Challenge Center.
Thanks for the GoDaddy tip for everyone, too – very timely!!!
Game on…….
C
Hi
Ok will do.
Ive added an new comment to this thread also with another new $1 code. I picked up a .com, .net, .org, .info package today for around $11 including fees. awseome.
Hey Chris,
I’m excited as well! I’ll be blogging on the subject next week. I posted earlier this week (in Finnish) to get some people onboard, but the future posts will be in English.
I’ve done the keyword research and am now building the content. I’m one of those guys doing it all by myself. But if this one flies, at least I’ll know exactly what to expect from my potential VAs in the future.
Awesome!!!!!
Be sure to get me the URL of your niche site, so I can include you on the Challange Center page!
This is going to be so much fun!!
C
Hi, I have been having trouble getting AdSense to load on my site. Initially, they said it didn’t conform to their model. Does anyone know a contact or email to get advice from someone at Google?
Hi AA,
Google is not responding to humans because Google is a machine. They automate everything. The best advise is to bring traffic to your site, first before applying to adsense.
Hi AA
Jobette is correct. You will have to build up some content, and subsequently traffic, before you can get that Adsense code on there… Unless you’ve had an Adsense account up and running for a while, then you should be okay.
If in doubt, try looking for a feedback form in the Adsense section of Google’s mini-site for the service.
Good luck!
C
I would love to throw my hat in the ring as I have just started a niche site a week ago but I don’t want to broadcast the title and URL just yet. However, I would love to drop in and offer advice and the experiences.
So far I’m number 9 on Google for my first keyphrase which has c. 33,000 searches a month. I’ve had a massive 3 organic visitors! I’m currently outsourcing some articles for articles’ sites and will be doing some serious SEO on it next week – if my clients don’t pester me too much!
Hi Rob
Nice work. Given that position 9 is only going to give you around 1% of the traffic from an exposure point of view then you could potneitally be looking at 330 in a month. Click through are a fraction of that so 3 is a good start
Now when you get to position 1 and hit the 40% level youll be rock and rolling:-)
Im assumeing the 33,000 is exact matches (I hope so) on USA or is this a Uk site?
Im sure your experience wil be welcome but as you already on page one go on share
Im starting wth brand new domains 
regards
Cheers, Steve, this is USA, both the 33,000 (broad match
) and the #9 slot. Don’t forget it could drop to the fourth page or something because Google may be rewarding freshness as this is a brand new site. But I’m looking to blog on the site and target loads of other phrases. Sorry I can’t divulge – I have my reasons 
Hi Rob
Go on SHare the phrase (for those intrested) and more importantly the exact match
Nice work on your site btw
regards
Email me and I’ll reveal all, if you really want to know.
Cool
The big question here is would Rob be giving the inside scoop to Steve if they had not met in London for the VBL Meet-Up….?!!
Me wonders………
Hehe. Awesome stuff, Gents.
C
LOL indeed
I guess he would not have.
Meet up was a great evening. Im thinking maybe we should organise another and you could join in by Skype !!
I don’t know, I probably would have
very nice to have met you, Steve, all the same. And it’s good to have interaction with other people doing the same thing.
Haha. We could try it…!!!
Not sure if I would be able to make you out properly, over the background noise of a pub full of reprobates, however! Yourselves included, obviously..!!!
Hi Rob
Drop in as often as you like, buddy.
But, hey – get that URL to me as soon as you feel comfortable and let’s get your listed down so everyone can see what you’re doing right – that’s the whole point here, really… Tomlearn from each other.
Will be great to include you in the first update.
C
Could I chip in with a site I started a while back?
WordPress, SEO and Internet Marketing strategies
I’m hoping to tap into the WordPress premium themes market plus a number of other things. I started it way back on April 4th, so I have a full 3 month advantage on everybody.
CHEAT
no its fine offocurse. Good stuff on their Rob usefull info.
Dont forget to email chris with the info to be included in the event
We are all here to learn from each other, first and foremost… As well as dominating Google!!! However, I do believe it’s best if the niche sites we mention and market as part of this challenge are no older than say, 4 weeks, from the date of domain registration.
Your comments and insights are always engaging and helping, Rob. Can’t wait to continue reading them.
C
Great stuff Chris, and smart choice
I have had relatively good success with niche sites built around the need for employment, good luck and I am watching with great interest
Hi Alex
Just watching…..!???
C’mon – get involved!!! Create a site and join in the fun and games, buddy.
Secretly… You KNOW you want to….!
C
Hello Alex, just thought I’d drop into say that I have learned loads about internet marketing (not to mention a bit about DIY tools as well!) from AlexWhaley.com – awesome stuff, Alex, good to see you here!
My bad – AlexWhalley.com – sorry about the typo!
Great initiative! Is anyone attempting to do a niche site in a non-english language? (in my case, Spanish) I’ve found a niche where lots of info exists in English, but very little good content in Spanish (as well as detecting a general lack of knowledge from talking to people here in Spain) Can we still take part in the community project if it’s in another language? I’m an absolute beginner so could do with the help!
Hi Joanna
Of course you can be involved for a Spanish site. It’s all for fun, above and beyond everything else, and to help and inspire each other.
Get your niche site info and URL through to me, either by commenting here, or emailing me!!!
It’ll be great to have you involved.
C
Joanna, please do this. I’ve always wanted to start some spanish sites (I live in Mexico, my wife is from here) and monetize with something like MercadoLibre aff program but never got around to it. If you do this I will be watching !
Great! So are you going to try some spanish niche sites too? It would be great if you do! Let’s keep in touch!
Amen to that.
That’s what it’s all about. Doing something different… Standing out and making things happen.
Do it.
Do it.
C
When it comes to niche sites like this or Pat’s ones, my biggest question is: how do you plan to write content about a topic I suppose you are not experts in?
Hi Alberto
We research them properly, and create the content, focusing on a) the inclusion of keywords and b) helping the reader.
Ultimately, we use VAs to do the bulk of the work, but they still basically follow the same set-up. The content doesn’t have to be crazy-involved, so to speak. Just simple, informative and well written.
Hope that answers that question…
C
I am building a niche site in similar area! How weird, I came up with an idea few days ago and now you’re doing something similar.
I can only tell you, it’s close to medical, but not related to nursing
That’s great! Bojan.
They say that great minds think alike – even just a little…!
Can’t wait to get your niche site URL from you, so I can include it on the list. Fire me an email or a tweet!
C
That’s awesome Chris. I’ve never been one for niche sites but figure I may just join in on the fun. I have to get a couple projects done first but will then look to have some fun. Love how you are getting the community involved though. I think folks will learn ALOT from this.
Aha! I’ve converted someone….!!!
That’s great! Brian. It’s awesome to have you on board.
Don’t take too long to get your details to me, okay. We’d love to have you involved from the get-go if possible.
Chat soon!
C
Count me in Chris! I have been meaning to do this for sometime, and I think you are giving me the push and support I will need. I will search for a keyword this weekend!
That’s great, Keith. Good on ya!
Make sure you email or comment here with your niche site URL, so I can get my VA to include you on the list – which is growing quickly… So happy and proud of that.
Thanks for getting involved. Means a lot.
C
I’ll throw my hat in for the challenge. There is much to learn. I just started this niche website a couple of weeks ago. It is very similar to Pat’s Security Guard Training site and the one you just started…related to employment opportunities that do not require a college degree. It has huge AdSense revenue possibilities. I too, am breaking all the Market Samurai rules. I am a licensed insurance agent so i know something about the industry. I will be doing much of the article writing myself until I find someone I can trust to produce acceptable content. I am using a standard WordPress theme. I m working of some graphic images for a logo. Let me know what you think so far.
Thanks,
Dee
Awesome stuff, Dee.
You are IN…!
Looking forward to seeing how you do, as My niche also has a lot of Adsense competition, too.
On your marks, get set – GO!
C
I’d like to join in the challenge. I’m slightly nervous as I’ve never done anything like this before so I’m a real novice but it will be great to do this as part of a community and learn as I go. However, I’ve been very inspired by Pat and Chris so I’m going to stop thinking about doing it and just do it!!
This is sooooo awesome, Sharon!!! Good for you.
Don’t forget to either comment here with your niche site URL, or send me an email with it, so I can get my VA to include you on the Challenge Center page, okay!?
That stands for everyone else that’s interested, too.
Good luck!
C
Exactly how I feel Sharon….complete novice but I’m hooked on this thing already!! I hope the rest are ready for some, like, really basic questions
Good luck and see you here! Joanna
Joanna, glad to have a fellow novice buddy here! I’m sure I will also have a lot of very basic questions but we all have to start somewhere I guess! Good luck!
Hi
my two cents (or penny’s) worth is were alll here to help each other so Im sure there will be plenty of people chipping in to help
There always more to learn and long hours at the keybaord but when you start to get hits it all seem to be worthwhile. Of course revenue would be good as well
Nice comment here, mate.
It is all about HELPING each other.
I sincerely hope that all this enthusiasm is carried over, week by week, month by month. Because I feel if it will be, all of us are gonna learn so, so much from one another.
C
Hey, ladies…
Don’t forget me, too! This is my first real niche site, too…
I feel like I’m in great company with this awesome community…!!!
Thanks to everyone for all the interest.
C
Good luck Chris, and everyone else on board! As many of you know (and have graciously pointed out in your comments here on VBL!) my own niche site experiment turned into quite an income source for me, so hopefully it will become the same for you too. Just keep staying excited as you are now about it, keep learning, tweaking, testing and of course, adding more content that will make the internet a better place, and you can’t lose. Cheers, and all the best to you! Way to motivate Chris!
Hi Pat
Can’t say how happy and thankful I am for you dropping by and giving the VBL Tribe a few words of advice on this. Means a lot to me, bro.
As you say – it IS a little hard work that’ll make all the difference.
Thanks again for reaching out to everyone here. I really appreciate it.
Chat soon!
C
Hi All
New godaddy code I found today is PATRIOT1 $1 for a new domain condtions apply
SPECIAL OFFER! $1.00* DOMAIN NAME! Register any available .COM, .US, .MOBI, .BIZ, .NET, .ORG, .CA, .CO.UK and .IN domain for just $1.00!*
Applies to the first year only of new registrations. This offer may not be used for renewals, bulk registrations, transfers, premium domains or Sunrise/Landrush domain registrations. Limited to one order per customer, expiring after 10,000 redemptions or at 11:59 PM on July12, 2011 (whichever comes first). Discount will be reflected in your shopping cart; cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or promotion. Customers may not use gift cards, PayPal® or AliPay to redeem this offer. Your discount will be applied in your shopping cart. * Plus ICANN fee of $0.18 per domain year when applicable.
I bought one .com and also picked up a package with the .net .org and .info included total cost $12 way to go godaddy
Hint i rgester all my domains there BUT i never host there ! bad experinces.
regards and best of luck with the community challenge
Steve
You rock… What a great comment for everyone to check out.
I wonder how much money you saved for VBL Community members, collectively, with it…..?!!!
Thanks, man.
C
When is a website a website? And when is a blog a blog? And when is a niche blog a niche blog?
I have some basic questions about the conceptual difference between the three….with a niche blog, to what extent is it static content, and what extent is it ‘live’ moving updating content?
In the Certified Nursing Assistant site, it appears to me that it will be relatively static….i.e. once you have all the info and articles loaded up, that’s practically it, it will then be down to SEO to make it work, right? The difference between this and a website is the platform that it is set up on, I understand.
I guess it depends on the niche. But in my niche idea, it could be either a more static version, or some static content with updates and moving content, and I’m having trouble deciding which approach is best. If you go towards moving content/posts, does this mean you are no longer doing a niche blog?
My other question is about level of anonymity vs personal touch. As in Pat’s Security Guard Training, and in the Certified Nursing Assistant, it is a completely anonymous approach. There is no sign of any personality or persona behind them. Is this also a prerequisite for a niche blog?
I need to get these things clear before I nail the final URL name!
If there’s some links I could read up on to do my homework, please point me towards them
Thanks!
From Joanna, once of the novices (obviously)
Hi Joanna,
Check out http://www.smartpassiveincome.com (Pat’s site) and http://www.thinktraffic.com (Corbett Barr’s site). They’re both fantastic starting points for anyone considering niche marketing.
Good luck with the challenge,
Tim
Hi Tim,
Thanks for passing these. I have been reading up on both of them, but maybe it’s just my particular niche concept that is difficult to define/decide on at the moment.
I think part of the problem is not being a *qualified* expert on my theme, BUT being someone who has *personal experience* in it, means that it seems I have to take a personal approach: “In my experience…” and “After having experienced x myself, and done a lot of research on it….I have seen that there is a lack of info in the market and no proper guidance and here I’m making it easy for you by putting it all in one place”
So what kind of category does this fall into? Anyway, I will try to answer this all myself by doing more homework, but I’m really grateful for your help.
Thanks!
Joanna
Hello Joanna, if I could butt in here, I don’t think there are definite distinctions between sites, blogs, niche sites, etc., I think everybody starts a site and can take it where they want. Of course, it’s good to have a plan but don’t be too restricted to it. Blogs are very good at displaying the most recent information and the old stuff gets buried so you can subtly move into an area or tone that you become more comfortable with.
I wouldn’t worry about not being qualified, if you want to write about a subject you will soon become expert in it because the activity of writing blog posts teaches you a lot about your niche.
To answer your static/blog question, I would always favor the blog as you can add pages easily over time which Google likes. But the site can appear static with a static home page and a blog page inside. This can be changed later on so this is not necessarily a decision you need to make now.
HTH
Hi Rob
beat me to the punhc. But just to reiterate dont worry about blog/niche site concept. This site is both a blog and a niche web site and also a marketing vechile (website) for chris business.
I build you site on wordpress. Wether it ends up being a static site with just new links being built into it or an active blog Google simply loves WP sites. I posted a few blogs the otehr day and google had indexed them in 15 mins. (The blog is older than it looks
)
The main things with these things is to start get a domain and start to develop it. If you had no funds you could get a free wordpress blog howeevr monetising it can be an issue.
Yep, agree with Tim on these two great sites.
Absolutely 100% advised reading, for sure…
For everyone on this challenge.
C
Hi Joanna
Bottom line, my feelings are that a niche site should be as static and as passive as possible.
Your observations on my niche site are bang on the money. I want to ‘set it and forget it’ as quickly as possible, simply employing one full-time SEO specialist to make sure it continues to grow on all keywords, as well as stay solid on it’s primary and secondary keywords.
I guess you will have to pick the right route for YOU.
Let me know what you think!
C
Joanna, this “set it and forget it” point Chris makes is a really good point – you don’t have to keep updating a site if the incoming links are good enough and, as Chris says, you can bump up the SEO from time to time. I’m a little biassed towards blogging as it’s worked for me so well in the past.
The great thing about blogging is that it creates all that great new content that Google now loves more than ever before.
Content is the key here, I think – not just from a link building / keyword building/setting stand point, but also from the fact that so many weak-based content sites get battered everything Google update their systems… Content still IS, king…
C
Hi Joanna:
I understand completely where you are coming from. This was a point of confusion for me as well until recently. I started my first IM marketing project last October after finding Pat Flynn’s podcast in iTunes. My first website was (is) a blog… that I tried to turn into a niche…that I am trying to monetize. So far..$0 earnings and hardly any traffic. I need to post more…add video…etc, etc, etc.
Chris and Steve are right…it can be all 3, but…I can tell you from what I have learned that blogs are a whole lot of work. If you are a prolific writer (or can afford to hire a VA to write for you), a blog can work for you. For ME, I don’t think I will do another one. My new site(s) will be a set it and forget it (sort of) approach.
One more thing…don’t be afraid to make a mistake (notice I didn’t say fail) or experiment. You can change the direction/look/content of your website anytime you want to. Google will be confused for a minute…but they’ll catch on.
((giggles)).
Warning to everyone…I will be asking a LOT of questions. I am hoping for feedback from everyone… newbies and you experienced gents.
Thanks!
Dee
Hi Dee
Ask as many questions as you want!!!
That’s the whole point of this…
Also, allow me to comment on how much I loved your take on the “don’t be scared to make mistakes” thing… So of my most important business lessons have come from screwing up – FACT!
The most important thing is that you learn by your mistakes and don’t continue to make them over and over again.
Thnka for the great comment.
C
Can I please ask how you check your website ranking with Google? Is there some software you recommend?
Thanks
Sharon
Hi
https://www.seomoz.org/rank-tracker – sign up for a free acount
also another free one at
http://tools.seobook.com/rank-checkers/
I use SOE power suite – RankTracker http://www.link-assistant.com/rank-tracker/ but its $100 plus some fees every six month.
with a few sites and keywords id use the free tools
NOTE : IF YOUR RANK CHECKING LOGOUT OF ANY GOOGLE APPS COMPLETELY FIRST including EMAIL.
Also be aware that in the early days of a new domain google will give you some juice all part of the google dance and you could rank high quickly and drop back. Just keep going and dont watch your rankings to much.
Not a problem if your using rank tracker butif your doing it manually you’ll get false results. Ive seen my sites ranking at position2 log out and they are page 3
regards
Great selection of links there, Steve. Thanks for posting.
And all relevant, so they all remain in the comment thread.
FYI, my VA moderates unrelated links or ‘names’ in comments that aren’t actually NAMES..!!
C
Hi Sharon,
Ranking varies by country and in US by States. So if you are looking for your rank in specific states all you need to do is to find free IP for that specific states. Same thing by country. There are many IP available per countries.
Hi Sharon:
You can get Page Rank right from your Google Toolbar (if installed); you can check the page rank of any site.
I would like to know the answer to your question as well, as I don’t want to give out bogus info. I use Market Samurai and am able to find my Page Rank (PR) and the Google Ranking as long as I am in the top 100.
Perhap Chis can explain the difference between your Page Ranking (PR)…those numbers that are presented as 0/10 and Google Ranking, which *I think* tells you where your website ranks in Google’s index for your keyword. I thought you couldn’t know your Google ranking (where you website is…what page) until you are in the top 100. I see that my new site is #99… its on page 11 for my keyword; it actually dropped a couple of points.
My niche site for this challenge is: http://www.insuranceagenttraininghq.com
Teach oh great one!
Dee
I have to be honest and say that I’m not to biggest expert when it’s comes to Google’s PR format.
However, I do understand that it comes down to popularity of the site. Sites linking to you, amount of traffic and probably a few other factors absolutely nobody knows anything about!
I don’t think it has as much of an influence nowadays as it once did. But, it’s still nice to see it growing regularly!!!
Hope that at least sheds a little light on things, Dee.
C
Hi
PR = PageRank is the name given to the original Algo develoepd by LarryPage and SergeyBrin when at stanford. to quote “Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results. ” However thsi was the original algo and in recent times Googlers have confirmed PR is longer as relevant as it once was. Its immportance will continue to decline however a PR or 5 qould be extremely valuable. The vast majority of sites never see PR1 even. I have an entry on my sote referencing the google articleon recent comments on PR.
Also Wikipedia has a good solid write up on PR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank
Ranking a Page or site is completely different and is normally refered to as SERP’s – Search Engine Results Page i.e. which page on the search engine your Site/page appear for a given keyword phrase. Note : your serps can fluctate dramatically particularly during the early days of a site. Its normal for people to keep checking serps but its not always a good idea. Deliver great content and build links and SERPs typically improve upto any resistance points created by competitors.
regards
Okay…
So, everyone – the book has been closed.
Steve is the REAL DEAL on this stuff. And he bought me a beer in London a few weeks back, so that makes him a nice guy, too.
Thanks for the wicked feedback on this big ? mark of a topic for most newbies. Much appreciated, mate.
C
Really enjoying the discussion so far…
Excellent, Martin!
Will you be getting involved in the Challenge, though!?
C
Hi Chris, I just stumbled upon your website today but I’m familiar with you because of Pat’s blog. And I’m quite familiar with the topic of cna as well.
I really hope you do reach the top spot on Google with this one because you’ve just chosen a tough niche, maybe a little more competitive than the one Pat chose in his niche site duel with Tyrone Shum. I say ‘tough’ because the average PR of the top 10 sites for your keyword is 4.3, and these sites are progressive link builders who are not ready to give up their position at any time.
Still, with a great strategy anything can be accomplished, and it’s exciting to see how everything goes. Like Pat said, as long as we make the web a better place we don’t lose. I know some of the high-ranking sites in the cna niche don’t really have good content, so that’s one area where you can capitalize. Good luck!
Hi Jason
Thanks for the comment.
All this I knew already – however, I’m glad you commented with it, so everyone else now knows!
I went for the slightly tougher niche because I know that EVERYTHING I do in business is with a long-term mindset. So, whilst other niches will come and go, I believe this particular one will remain around for quite some time.
Will it be hard work – yes…!
Am I looking forward to delegating as much of that work as possible – yes..!
But, seriously, thanks for commenting, and I hope that I won’t let you, or anyone else down, when trying to do a great job on this, just as Pat did with his site.
Cheers,
C
Voucher code of the day
I use WPwebhost for some of my domains. voucher code INDEPENDENCE to get 47% off the standard prices. A nice reduction indeed.
regards
How good are these guys, though Steve?
Can you give us a little more info on YOUR experiences with them?
Type of sites hosted by them…
Problems…
Level of Customer Service…
I ask from a personal standpoint, too – as I am looking to take a few of my sites away from Bluehost.
Let me (us) know.
C
Hi
I’ve used them for a few years after having previously used iPage and Godaddy for hosting both were appalling. Godaddy has great telephone support but they stress their servers to much IMHO. iPage support cant read emails
Ive found wpWEBhost to be a solid team. There is no voice support but tickets get answered proffesionally and quickly. The servers are in the US and the company are based in Malaysia.
I rarely have to contact support and that often to do with moving servers rather than any other issues. I had one major outage last year where the server was down for 30 mins (which i knew abot through monitoring software) other than that they are solid. What I like is they host just wordpress sites.
They are not cheap as chips but I want a stable enviroment for my domains.
I also use them as they do offer great discounts every so often and I got my latest 50 use rplan for around $20 for a year during one promo.
I also use hostagtor to diversify the hosting (all eggs in one basket) and so i have domains on different domains and hosting providers
Their reseller package is very cool.
regards
Nice feedback, thanks.
And Hostgator, I have heard of, and I’ve been considering…
Whats your take on them, mate….?! When we’re on the subject – plus, I might just use this info on the site somewhere else, too. (I’ll give ya credit!).
Thanks,
C
Hi
Hostgator are the main player in the niche market place. I particulary like the reseller package as even if you dont resell space what you can do is put some domains in their own cpanel. Then if you sell it on flippa.com you can give the new owner the access to just that cpanel, include some free hoistong in the sale if you want and let them move the site at their lesuire.
The support is less personal but they are there 24×7.
Ofcourse if you dont want to resell they have othe packages that are excellent also.
A tip on buying hosting from pretty much anywhere is when you go to sign up go through a few screens then hit the close window button or back button offen you’ll get something popping up offering you a better deal.. doesnot always work.
BTW i dont lnow if you know chris but i cant edit a comment posting other than hitting the backspace button! some tech problem there!
Thanks for all the great hosting info, Steve.
On the commenting side of things – do you mean that you cant click inside a particular sentence, to edit it? Or something else…? You’re the third person that has mentioned this to me in the last month. Must be an issue somewhere.
Can you please EMAIL me, dont comment here on that – lets keep things as relevant as possible. Thanks, mate.
C
I use DreamHost – I’ve tried a couple of otherhosting packages but they’re the best so far. They also have MASSIVE 4th July discounts at the moment . Anyone else use them at all?
I’ll be checking them out for sure, Tim.
Shame as when all those sales were on yesterday, I was safely tucked up in my bag… In Laa-Laa land…
All good fun.
C
IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL THAT WANT TO TAKE PART IN THIS CHALLENGE:
I’ve had so many great emails, tweets and comments on this subject. Thank you.
However, only a handful of people have actually emailed me, or listed their niche sites here in the comments.
I am working with my VA tomorrow on getting the ‘Challenge Center’ page put together. It will help us a lot that if you intend to take part, you kindly email or comment here with two simple things:
1. Your Name
2. Your Niche Site URL
Thanks in advance, everyone!
Cheers,
Chris
Hi Chris, I started working on a niche site a month ago. Is it okay if I’m a little ahead of the curve?
My niche site is: http://www.PhysicalTherapistSchoolsNow.com . I assume you can guess my main keywords
. I am currently sitting on page 2 in a hot pursuit of top rank. This is a great project and I am looking forward to the challenge.
Hi Stephen
Oh, go on then… I’ll except it.
What can I say, you caught me in a good mood..!!!
Happy 4th of July.
C
I’m looking forward to getting involved with this challenge.
My only problem at the moment is that I have committed myself to producing content and videos for a private membership site that is separate from my usual site http://www.icblueprint.com – so I don’t see ICB’s traffic changing too much. Regardless, I’m glad to get on board.
Hi Mike
You got it…
You can always play ‘catch-up’ with the rest of us after a month or so.
It’s great that you get yourself into a ‘committed’ set-up to produce content. I love doing it, but have to admit, sometimes its a struggle as I have so many things going on all the time. Saying that – I always manage to pull it out somehow!
Welcome aboard…!!!
C
Hey Chris, I’m hoping this challenge can help me learn how to make my niche site successful! I have a site and a niche, but the web design is where I’m having trouble (this is my first website). If anyone has tips on web design tips for beginners using wordpress let me know!
Site: http://www.propertymanagertraininghq.com
Only one article posted at this time but would like to add more if I can improve the site design.
Thanks!
Mike
It’s still a bit sparse isn’t it
Maybe flip the script and put yourself in the shoes of the person who found your site. Why are they there, what are they likely wanting to see? Are they looking for a blog style or content style site? The answers to that question should help you with design.
I’m sure it will be… I mean, just look at all the fantastic people that have already started to join in, and I am sure that there are going to be many more in the coming weeks, for sure!
On the design, just an idea – but you could always ditch the current design, and just load a new template, from scratch… The article you have live will still be there, and you’ll get a brand new look.
I agree its a little ‘plain’ looking right now. But, that will change easily with some more content (the most important part!) and a few images…
If in doubt, check out YouTube, too – loads of great ‘how to’ videos on there…!!! I use ‘em all the time.
C
Hi Mike W:
Maybe others have some better advice, but I used the FREE WordPress theme “Twenty Ten” for my first sites. I found it easy to use. You can always change your theme later, but this is what I started with. I think your niche idea is a good one!
Good luck,
Dee
Hi Mike & Dee
I would agree with Dee’s point that you can chnge the theme at any point. Interms of effort focus on content and SEO for now the design is fine.
If you really want to change the look and feel a lot there are thousands upon thousands of free themes. Within wordpress you can search for new themes and google free wordpress theme.. you’ll be spoilt for choice.
regards
Thanks for the feedback Dee and Steve! I agree that the content and SEO are the most important areas to focus my time right now. I will ale a look at the Twenty Ten theme. Btw, my current theme is SimpleFolio.
Cheers, Mike
SimpleFolio is a nice theme. A great place to start. I’ve used A LOT of different free themes and am now focusing on using premium themes. I use Genesis. Two others I here good reports about are Thesis and OptimizePress.
I’m in, buddy.
My site is up but I have done very little work except getting my VA to put it up there. So, it’s been live since before this challenge started but let me assure you that’s not a head start. I’ve done no traffic building at all.
I don’t have any adsense running yet. The plan for this site was affiliate links but I’ll add some adsense soon to comply with the guidelines.
Anyway, I’ll use this a test case for Traffic Grab. I might end up doing a lot of the stuff myself as my VA is stacked with other work.
The site is http://www.paleodietrecipeshq.com.
Good luck everyone, Adam.
Hi Adam
Good to see you joining in Ive read your Blog before awesome.
Im going with http://www.PedoMetersStore.com – adsense but primarily Amazon affilaite. Registered recently and building out now.
My plan is extensive SEO and link building..
regards
Hi Steve,
Thank you for the kind words about my blog.
Good luck with the challenge. Let’s compare notes as we go.
Cheers.
Hi Adam,
You have a very nice product for your niche site. The competition are slow while the search volume is high. This is suitable for affiliate and not for adsense.
Good luck.
Hi Jobette
With respect to .paleodietrecipeshq.com im intrested as to why you say its not suitable for adsense?
The traffic and advertisers are available. Why not run some adsense as well as the clickbank affilaite program?
Or were you saying its not suitable for only adsense?
regards
Good stuff…!!!
The option of adding an affiliate product in the future at some point, just to add diversity is always there. As you can tell, buddy, this is all very friendly.
I’ve been amazed at how awesome some people have been, and how generous theyve been with their time in replying to people and helping people out.
That’s what its all about, right…?!!
Thanks again, everyone – and welcome, Adam. Good to have you with us.
C
Hi Chris / everyone. I’m gonna have a go at this too, i registered some domain names couple of months ago intending to start a couple of niche sites but have not done anythine with them yet. This will give me the motivation to start. I did start a blog at that time more to get used to wordpress than anything else as i’m very much a newbie to internet marketing. I’ll post the url when i have decided which domain to use.
Sounds great, Trevor.
Welcome on board, in advance!!!
What a great community of smart ‘n savvy folks we have here for this – thanks again, everyone.
C
Hey Chris,
I am totally wanting to get involved with this. The thing that I’m wondering about is this: Am I able to participate in this niche challenge if I already have a niche site? I created mine in late 2007. I’m continuing to use strategic marketing methods to promote, I use adsense for revenue, etc. Or, do I need to create a brand new one to participate?
This totally rocks Chris, thanks for putting this together!!
Hi Patrice
You know what, I have had a few people ask me the same question, RE: an older site. At first I was reluctant to include them, but then, I figured that the premise is still the same…
Getting more traffic
Making moe money
Building strategies
Helping each other
So, go ahead and enter – drop me an email with your URL, okay.
AND THAT STANDS FOR ANYONE WITH AN OLDER SITE – IF YOU WANT TO INCLUDE IT, AND ARE GENUINELY GOING TO WORK AND TAKE PART IN EVERYTHING WITH A SERIOUS HOP-SKIP IN YOUR STEP, EMAIL ME.
TODAY.
Thanks,
C
Hi Chris
When Your setting up the page/site for the community challenge can you include something regarding the site age and PR at the start point? It will make results more relevant. to explain
If i entered a PR 1, 3 year old aged domain I just bought, which has 200 backlinks in place, then the rate at which it will be climbing through the serps is going to be a lot faster and disproportionate to a brand new 10 day old site.
Im not in anyway suggesting aged sites are an issue its just relevant to understand the effect of the methods being applied to the site.
Hope that makes (some kind of) sense
regards
Excellent point, Steve.
Sure thing, will have my VA do the research on ALL sites and will include it!
Good thinking, Batman…
C
Okay, cool.
What I think I will do is email you the URL as you are requesting, but I just might want to start up something new as well. Everyone has got me so excited to start another project that maybe this is the time to do it. It will be fun.
I’ll start from there, sending you the URL of my existing niche site and go from there.
Thanks!
Patrice
I’m definitely in Chris. Working on this project will force me to address a lot of the areas in which I want to improve (market research, SEO, etc).
I’m currently looking at keywords and narrowing down my niche. I’m kinda overwhelmed by Market Samurai and, to be honest, scared I’m going to pick the wrong niche/keywords. It will be an uphill battle if I start off on the wrong foot. Hoping I can power through it and get to the fun part.
Hi Adam
If MS is overwhelming you a little, as it did me, try simply using Google’s Keyword Tool, like I did for this challenge. It works just as well, and does leave a little for you to think and strategize over…
Good lck either way, and don’t forget to me me the link to your site when you’ve got it live.
Looking forward to seeing how you do.
C
Chris,
I’ve just posted the first part of my Case Study on my business blog. OK to post a link here or should I e-mail it to you?
Cheers, Tim
No problems, Tim, go for it here, so everyone can check it out!
Thanks,
C
Thanks Chris.
I’ve built out the bare bones of my niche site and, most importantly, started out on the launch program.
Check out the case study here: http://www.seoprstar.com/105/niche-site-project-case-study
Basically, I’ve used a Press Release to launch the site, get it indexed and start building some backlinks all in one hit.
Any questions, hit reply and I’ll do what I can to help in the forum.
Good luck everyone – awesome project we’re all involved in!
Cheers, Tim
Nice stuff, Tim. A good start, thats for sure. It doesnt take much – but, its the effort that counts, for sure.
I couldnt agree more – this project has really flown – I had absolutely no idea there would be this much interest in it. Honestly… I figured if I could get a couple of other people involved it woud be fun – now we’re up to around 10 confirmed, and another 10 or so coming on board shortly…
I have a feeling that there will be even more in the wings, perhaps jumping in, in coming months, too.
All good stuff.
C
@Chris/Adam – I use Market Samurai and you’re right, it can be overwhelming. There is so much info packed in the software; but, there is a learning curve. I did learn something here already. I had never used Google’s Keyword Tool before. It gets right to the point. It doesn’t give all the analysis that MS can provide but it is real good place to start.
I see where my niche has a tremendous amount of searches and a lot of competition…I hope I didn’t bite off too big of a keyword. I’ll try it anyway. One thing I am learning is that you can’t be afraid of going up against what appears to be a lot of competition. Instead of immediately backing away, look at the top 10 websites and see what your competition is really offering. I am finding that, more times than not, they have stale information and are not very well organized.
So now that I have my posse behind me (that would be all of you), I can take them on! LOL!
Now…back to working on some content…
Dee
BANG!
There you go…
Stale information – and we KNOW how much Google loves stale info, right!!!!!?? NOT!
My niche also has a hell of a lot of competition – but, in this case, where I am focusing on Adsense as my primary income source, thats a good thing, as it means plenty of PPC clients! More ad’s = more clicks….
Stick with it, and keep an eye on the competition. If you do that there is no doubt in my mind that you can:
a) stay on top of your game
b) will eventually dominate the niche
It’ll take a while to get there, but its a lot easier to maintain it.
C
Dee,
I’m finding similar things with my niche…fairly competitive the top players but I’ve done a good benchmark of them all, and I either find them really bad web design, very little detail, and even many with incorrect information!! Also, from talking to people “around town” it seem that this incorrect information is a sign of a general lack of knowledge, both from the general public, but also the “expert sites”! Amazing! Let’s hope that helps me to kick their ….
Posse power indeed!
Joanna
That’s the spirit, Joanna! Good for you…
And glad to see you got your gravatar sorted out, too.
C
Hi Chris:
One more thing…since your VA is putting together the website info on all of the participants in this challenge, what about including the City/State/Country for each participant. I would find that of interest since we will be a community of friends learning together. What do you think?
Dee
Sounds like a good idea.
I dont have time to go back to everyone now – there are around 15 or so confirmed with details in. But, when the page goes live later in the week, if there are any mistakes, etc., people can easily email me.
Not touch, Dee.
Thanks,
C
Hi Chris:
I am LOVING this! I am getting the questions that have been roaming around in my head answered/confirmed! Some sites are just made for Adsense…I think mine is too. The key is learning how to determine what goes with what. I’m about 9 months into Internet Marketing and, while I’ve come a long way, I have so much further to go. I don’t know what I don’t know…which is scary.
I want to retire next year, but need about $5K a month in passive income to be “comfortable”. Unlike you youngsters, I am retirement material…a mother…a grandmother….plus I care for my 95 year old mother. I am lucky to have a sharp mind and I’m a bit of a computer geek. I work a 9-5 FT job and am working on my websites in the evening after work. I am so very hopeful that we can help and learn from each other.
I am willing to help others if I can.
Dee
Kudos to you Dee! Love it!
Great to hear you’re in LA. I will be there in early November for BlogWorld, and might even be doing a one-day seminar on virtual business before BW’s kick-off somewhere – but, still early days. If you’re on my mailing list, you’ll hear about it – if you’re interested…
Love that you’re getting invoved with all of this, too. Sincerely, its great that you’re a grandma and youre doing this – how cool are you…?!!!
$5k a month is so, so, so do-able in this day and age on the internet. You simply have to work hard at it for a while, and diversify your income streams. Niche site for adsense here, a niche site for an affiliate product (or two) there… I would seriously consider starting a blog, too – your voice, and age is rare… However, I get tons of emails from people 50+ wanting to get into the online marketing world… You could be a bit of an inspiration for them, I reckon.
Anyway – back to work, and thanks again for joining us here at VBL.
C
Hey, I hope your not suggesting a) over 50 is old or b) over 50′s are technically challenged
LOL im over 50 (i know i only look 60 but hey)
regards
I think you know EXACTLY what I meant, mate.
Don’t try and G it up!!!
C
Hi Chris:
I am based in sunny Los Angeles/California/USA.
Dee
Hi Chris and everybody
I feel the need to make a comment about keyword research and som eof the views given.
As an SEO guy (and link builder) I have to say taht doing a quick keyword research using google adwords tool and looking at the comp level there can and often will lead into a failed site or project. Many peopel buy domains and try to develop them based on taht data and its very misleading.
The comp is competetion in Adwords NOT natural search. whilst it gives a flavour for the level of interest for advertisers it tells you next to nothing about the strength of natural search comp.
There is an argument that says low comp in adowrds tool is a BAD thing. its shows a potentially low OCI (will people buy goods or products) if there high demand the comp should be high in adwords Also if your monetising using adsense you want comp in adwords as no comp will yield low CPC and therefore low adsense click costs.
I’d rather have a CPC at $4 and 1000 searches rather than 10,000 searches at $0.3
If you dont have a lot of time to do a through research job does it make sense to spend enless hours producing great content AND painful backlink building only to later discove rthere is not PAYING market.
If your really limited on time at least use the free samuri watch the training on the SEO comp module and test your concept tehre it often kills projects off of mine.
I hope thats taken as constructive and usefull.
regards
P.S. I have many domains and 10′s of hours of domain names/sites ive bought that just su** as i didnot do enough research. One had 4,000 searches when i bought it from an adsense expert… problem is that was broad. The exact is 180 per month and i only found this out after 40+ hours and $100 invested. so far after 11 months its made… $4.75
Great additional info, Steve.
Its insights like this that can allow newbies (and we have plenty of ‘em taking part in this project), to save valuable time, money and resources when starting out.
Thanks for posting this.
C
Steve, what do you suggest as a good combination of things to look for?
I’ve been using Google Keyword Tool and Market Samura to research the same keywords and everything seems promising until you get to the Domain Age, and Domain Referral/Backlink columns on MS. They light up in red and it’s mainly because they are larger sites that cover many topics (I tested Chris’ keyword and found the same to be true).
For example, About.com may have only one page regarding a particular keyword and no backlinks to that page but the domain itself is a powerhouse of links. That’s pretty much the wall I’m running straight in to. Any thoughts?
Hi Adam
Great question.
A couple of caveats,
a) SEO is a series of continuous conflicting compromises
b) All rules are set to be broken or compromised by a higher goal
c) these are my thoughts and I guarantee others will disagree
Chris’s keyword and domain break quite a few of the “rules” specifically the rule of adding up the top ten PR scores and ensureing that is less than say 25-30 chris’s scores 43!! yikes.
However dig deeper and teh following turn up
look at the site in position 2 its a .info with a PR of 5 how can that be.. info dont rank normally.
The .info has over 1000 backlinks BUT 97% are PR0 (could be using SEnuke or Xrunner or a lot of work).
what that tells me is this is not as hard to rank for as it might seem. A fair number of quality PR4+ links will out rank the number 2 fairly easily (a PR5 link is worth exponetial more than a PR0 which is more or less of no value)
So given that Chris is in the gane for the long run (months rather than days) it should be doable to get to 1 or two.
With respect to yoru specifc question I only look at columns
PR – Page rank (just to add them all up to get to less than 30
RDP – number of unique refering domains point to a page
BLP – BACKLINKS TO PAGE
BLD – BACKLINKS TO DOMAIN
then all four of the on page factors
TITLE
URL
DESC
HEAD
Now its down to interpretation. Essential im looking to see as little red as possible with just those columns selected say 30% of segments light up in red ignoring the PR column, but thats not a hard and fast rule.
Using this I have an exact match domain with 4000 exact phase searches per month. it has all the on page, a PR1 (its 15 month sold just got PR1)
Its outranking site with PR’s of 4 and 5, 1000x times as many domain links and 100 times as many page links BUT its got exact onpage and more imprtantly great quality inbound links with relevant diverse anchor text.
so the point of that part is also look at the PR of the links to that page (on teh edge of the page ulr there a little drop down arrow click it and then hit PR analysis and also look at the anchor text option it will tell you alot about their back links.
Phew im tired now
This is awesome Steve, thank you! I’m sure I’ll be seeking you out with more questions later so rest up, sir
I’m so excited about this community challenge and grateful to Chris for just putting it out there for the masses.
Keyword/Market research and SEO are two areas that I’ve always been challenged in and those skill sets have benefits far beyond niche sites. I’m hoping this will allow me to elevate other businesses I’m a part of.
It’s nice to have a place to learn openly without having to pay some ‘guru’ $997 to have him show me photos of his sports car.
As promised I would like a little more advice. If anybody has any thoughts I would love to hear them.
First things first, what’s the rule on apostrophes in keywords and ranking? I’ve searched the web with contradictory advice.
I’m not going to reveal my key phrase yet be let me give you a hypothetical. Let’s say you were looking for the key phrase “Father’s Day.” The Google tool doesn’t even list that as having competition or search data. But, “Father Day” does seem to bring back ideal info (competition, search volume, etc). If you tried to rank for “Father Day” would you be also competing against “Father’s Day” or “Father s day?” I mean if people are misspelling it at a rate that works then would that be something to pursue?
Second, I have a niche that seems to be pretty good and the Market Samurai numbers seem to add up based on the advice above. However, there are a few things that still concern me.
1. All the PR’s add up to 29. High, but under 30. Columns come back all mostly green but there are 3 PR 5 sites but none are devoted to my niche (1 gov, Huff Post, and a general help guide). Further analysis shows that each has about 1-2 PR5′s linking to it but the rest are all PR3 or way less (and it’s too the domain, not the page).
2. My potential key phrase has 8,000 + monthly searches and MS estimates the SEOT for my key phrase to be only 112 but with a AWCPS of higher than $3.
3. MS places the Phrase-to-Broad at 16% which seems bad to me except I think the previously mentioned apostrophe situation applies here.
I can purchase the domain with the exact key phrase which is a plus.
Does anybody have any thoughts? Should I pull the trigger or is it back to the drawing board?
Have a great day everyone.
LOL
Well I dont want the label but $997 and a Ferrari F355F1 would be nice.
with the 8000 searches are those broad or exact? as the seot suggests that might be broad in which case you need to look at exact.. worth while clickon the search option above seot to check as well.
feel free to jump in guys ! and girls
regards
Thanks Steve. Good call. Exact dropped down to 73 global and phrase was at 1300. It’s back to the drawing board. Getting a little frustrated but I’d rather struggle to find a niche than waste 6 months developing content for a site that doesn’t pay off.
Anybody have an opinion on hyphens in domain names? As a brander, I hate it because it’s not easy to remember but if I’m relying on SEO/search traffic I’m not sure its a big deal. I’ve looked all over the web and have seen differing opinions.
From what I can tell:
1. Non hyphen domains preform better
2. Having a hyphen does not negatively effect you
So, to me, it’s reasonable to assume that a hyphenated site with better content, backlinks and optimization can out-perform it’s non hyphenated counterpart.
Anybody disagree?
You could have a point, Adam…
But, I have to say, I hate domains with hyphens. I dont own a single one. And I own a LOT of domains!!!
C
I feel the same way, Chris. I own a lot (not nearly as many as I’m sure you do) and I’ve never even looked at a hyphen option. It always seemed unprofessional to me or less legit.
I’m thinking that I might go with the plural version of my main key phrase. It has about a third as much search traffic but everything else looks good. I’ll develop content toward the main key phrase (the singular one) but use the plural as a secondary key phrase. I think I’m thinking correctly… unless you or Steve tell me I’m an idiot
One, kinda cool, thing I stumbled on is the SEOmoz URL Spam Detection Algorithm. Basically you can plug in the domain you would like to purchase and it gives you a grade on whether or not it’s too “spammy.”
Not sure how hard and fast it is but it gives people another thing to consider before tying their next 6+ months to content for a domain name. Here is the link to check it out if you’d like. http://www.seomoz.org/labs_tools/spam-detection/ (no affiliate/no squeeze)
Thanks again for everything Chris.
Hi
Hypens are a legitimate element od the domain name and CNA be used. Mr cutts said it should present no problem (hum).
I have several – sites some are just to test ideas one has 3 dashes in its domain name. They all rank and do fine. HOWEVER they need more links to rank as well as none – and a rule i dont buy them.
If you wanted a domain with the main keyword as This is My site then its better to register http://www.ThisIsMySiteS.com than http://www.This-Is-My-Site.com from an ease of ranking perspective.
with respect to readability one of my ex-wives suggests dashes make it more readable! also how often do you verbally comunicate a domain name anyway? Other than large brands its rare, we find sites via text formats (email etc) or search engines not verbal exchange (typically)
So convention says stay away from dashes. But this is the same as saying .info cant outrank .com , they do and can its just tougher to do and the return on investment is not worthwhile often.
Im moving gradually toward buying domain names that CONTAIN the main keyword where possible or just building a brand. So as an example idea if i wanted to chase the traffic for the kweyword Dog Training (lets not go there) the domain names and varaitions are taken so you could register xyzataersa.com and create a post calll dog training. the URL for the page is xyzataersa.com/Dog-Training now whats neat is the keyword is in the URL and that is powerfull for ranking. Indeed the vast majority of search results show the match in the URL not domain name and intrestingly its standard practice to put – in the page/post name part of the url…
When you think of Brands such as CokeCola, Virgin, Mercedes, Ford etc they have created demand for searches not been created to attract traffic. And with Google looking into why exact domain names outrank none exact there easy of ranking maybe limited.
Quick Note : Never buy or register a domain name with a trade mark or name in it. I bought WarholPosters to promote the sale of andy warhol posters seemed legit. The Andy WWarhol foundation disagreed and requested a cease and desist.. I ofcourse did
For those interested, Market Samurai Tutorials can be found on YouTube (just type in “market samurai tutorials” in the Search field), or you can download the free podcasts from iTunes.
Dee
@Steve! OMG…my head is spinning…but you’ve explained it well. Now I can’t wait to get home and play with MS using what you’ve suggested. I didn’t know about the 25-30 formula.
Yeah…so what to do about those About.com sites? I thought I saw something about you should link to them to get some link juice from them…any truth here?
Amazon.com is another one taking up juicy top 10 spots. Do we have to run from them all or can we stand and fight? …just asking…((giggles))
Dee
Hi Dee,
Any pages like ????.about.com are usually not optimized landing page. It could be accidentally optimized but it can be taken over by a landing page with regular optimization. It is all depends on effort and quality content.
Anyone using Traffic Travis for Keyword research and analysis?
How about backlinking strategies? Any advice?
I’m planning on trying Pat Flynn’s backlinking strategy. There’s also a link wheel strategy I’ve used in the past with some success but I want to give Pat’s a run.
Help! I am using WordPress for my website. MS says my keyword does not appear in my “description meta tag”. Where do I put this? I’m lost.
Dee
Hi Dee
You need to add a plugin caled
All in One SEO Pack
Its free just go into you dashboard then Plugins then Add new then search for All in One SEO Pack
click install and activate the plugin.
Now go to settings and All in one SEO. enable the plugin Enter a title and description these are for your home page or root of your domain. Ignore the keywords field
make sure th eoption (further down the page) Canonical URLs: has a tick next to it.
you may want to change the page and post titles but its not an issue for now.
Now you need to go back to each of your pages and posts. Go to the bottom of the page and enter a title and description into the All in One SEO Pack fields.
Make sure that when you edit pages an dpost that you Scroll back upto the top and click on update after you have entered the title and description.
When ever you create new pages or post ensure you do this for each of them.
regards
@Steve:
Got it! Thank you soooo much! Now I have all red Ys for my on page optimization for TITLE, URL, DESC, HEAD.
I had All in one SEO pack installed but did not know how to configure it. Duh…
Should we start a lively discussion about the basic/should have and nice to have WordPress plugins?
Try not to laugh, but here is my list of plugins (I don’t know how to use some of them):
Akismet
All in one SEO Pack
All in one Webmaster
AWeber Web Forms
BackWPup
Clicky for WordPress
Google XML Sitemaps
Like
Pretty Link Lite
Print Friendly and PDF
Redirection
Social Share
Video Press
WordPress.com Stats
WP Admin menu
WP Super Cache
WP Widget Cache
Are there others I should have? Better ones? What’s missing?
Dee
@Dee have you setup your permalinks so that they show your post/page titles in the address and not the standard WordPress page numbering?
A lot of people make that mistake and it effects the SEO as well as the overall professionalism of your site. If you’re not sure exactly what I’m talking about just let me know and I’ll be more than happy to walk you through it. It’s VERY easy and I’m more than willing to help out.
@Dee
firstly I’d not use the webmaster plugin it doesnot add anything you need right now.
Also deactivate any plugins your not using (they create unneccasry overhead.
I have a list but its not to hand Ill try to post later
Heres my plugin list
http://www.cloudventuresgroup.com/wordpress-plugin-list
Hey Chris,
I really like what you do and have been following you for several months now, including your podcast, and have learned heaps!
Question, starting with your key word research, how long did it take you to identify your niche and generate all the core set of keywords?
Keep it pumping mate!
Hi Scott
It took me around 2 hours of research on a number of potential niches. When I found the one I eventually went with I guess I spent around another 2 hours checking out the PPC costs, competition, etc., plus a little more here and there.
So, all-in-all about 4-5 hours, roughly.
Thanks for the kind words, and glad you’re now on the blog, commenting. That’s what this place is all about.
Chat soon again, I hope.
C
Could anyone point me to some examples of established successful niche sites (from you guys or elsewhere) that are NOT based on employment or qualifications for employment? Thanks
How do you define successful ?
I started doing niche website end of May and i started to generate small income in June : nearly hit $10 for June with 2 websites. It’s not that much money, but when you start and you know nothing, it’s a great feeling to come back from your own 9 to 5 and see that you made additional money during that time. Or that you wake up and money appear on your adsense account. It’s a really really good feeling, even though it’s not that much money.
You can find some websites sold on flippa.com with “proofs”, that can give you ideas.
Other topics possible are relationships, travel, hobbies, weight loss, health, nutrition, food, dating, marriage.
As for your idea of starting a non-english website, i though the same thinking that there might be less competition in french, but i decided against because SEO seemed easier to do in English. Also outsourcing the writing was more expensive in french for me because of the EUR/USD.
Cheers,
Hi
Took me a few hours to think of an answer that did not expose any of my own sites. Then i did a DUH. Flippa.com is a good place to see the answer to your question.
take a look at this auction
https://flippa.com/2623440-105-per-month-4-adsense-sites-no-work-passive-income-1-no-reserve
these guys have been at it for some time but they can even find a niche like constipatedcat.net and make a few dollars a month!
The problem with niche sites is imagination tons of research time and then building links really.
regards
I have my url which is made up of three words. For demonstration purposes here, let’s say it’s xxxxyyyyzzzz.com
Now, the primary keyword is zzzz. On it’s own, it is high traffic, lowish SEOC, but fairly strong comp. The commercial value is, what I think looks good SEOV $2764.41
Of the competitors, which are fairly strong, none of them has zzzz in their URL. They mostly appear as http://www.something.com/zzzz
Now the other two words in the URL, xxxx and yyyy are there to specify and narrow the concept of the site better. (Otherwise it opens a really huge field which I don’t want to have to create tons of content for) BUT the phrase xxxxyyyyzzzz studied in Market Samurai looks pretty bad for traffic or SEOV.
Q1: How does the google hierarchy work in this case? Would google recognise and rank a url higher for having the primary keyword IN the url, instead of .com/zzz ?
Q2: As the exact phrase with the three words seems to be pretty dire, should I ditch this URL, or is it worth carrying on based on what could be directed to the site via the primary keyword zzzz ?
@Joanna
Ok, first things first http://www.something.com/zzzz DOES have the keyword zzz in the URL so it counts and in fact is how most keywords exist on most domains on the web. If you run the SEO competition in samuri you should see that site DOES have a tick for the keyword phrase (given that its exact)
However http://www.zzzz.com http://www.zzzz.com/zzzz will typically outrank http://www.xxxxyyyyzzzz.com/zzzz for a given level of link building and onpage seo etc. its when the domain name is the same as the keyword phrase that we appear to get a boost at the moment.
You dont need to worry about narrowing the field! in fact you want to do the opposite.
This example cant be done as it uses a copyrighted trade name but it works to illustarte the point
If i could register
http://www.fender.com
http://www.fenderguitars.com
http://www.fenderguitaramplifiers.com
http://www.fenderguitarstraps.com
I would register http://www.fender.com I would then, create categpries for each area of the niche and create posts in the sub niche i wanted to work on first so say http://www.fender.com/guitar-amplifiers
When i had established the site and gotten trafic and given time i would then develop each other subniche inside the site.
This is a complicated argument BUT by using categories inside a single domain as you build authority to the sub niches the new niches get the benefit and you dont have to start from scratch. The counter argument is exact domain names rank easier and quicker. SO it depends upon the journey your on. In a competative market the authority site approach is required. Hence why most niche site developers dont chase competative markets. they want quick build set and foregt Flippa sites.
short answer
Q1 Yes. Typically when looking for a domain if i wanted http://www.fender.com and its not available id register (i would not copyright law) http://www.fenderhq.com i would not register http://www.hqfender.com
Q2 No. The exact match on the three words is irrelevant in your case.
Lastly lets not loose sight of the fact that if I registered http://www.xxxxyyy.com and cretaed a post at http://www.xxxxyyy.com/zzzz AND I did better SEO work on page AND built more better quality links to that specific page than my competitors I would out rank the exact domain name http://www.zzzz.com after all if that was not teh case fender corp would hold all number one slots for all fender keywords and they dont.
regards
I’ve just started to add articles to my site and it occurred to me that a lot of the words I will be using (eg. mum, programme) are spelt differently in the USA. This started me thinking as to whether spelling words a certain way may impact my readership. Any views?
Secondly, I see either affiliate marketing or selling advertising space as being my source of income from this site but from physical goods that mums-to-be buy. Does this mean I should to choose my market now (USA or UK) because obviously a US mom-to-be will not buy a car seat for her baby from a UK based company.
Sharon
Hi Sharon
The US market is going to be huge incomparison to the UK markey (check this out in google keyword tool just to be sure)
I would write with american spellings as this will effect rankings in the US, i.e. if your target market is teh US speel the way they search.
You affiliate marketing on the product side can most easily be done through Amazon (probably) and they are local version of amazon so that takes care of a UK reader wanting to buy the product. Just make sure you use a plugin when building amazon links that allows you to cope with the different countries having different affiliate programs. I posted this morning on the plugins i use
regards
@Adam:
Regarding your comment: ” you setup your permalinks so that they show your post/page titles in the address and not the standard WordPress page numbering? A lot of people make that mistake and it effects the SEO as well as the overall professionalism of your site.”
Adam, you may be correct, but your comment conflicts with information that I found elsewhere. Actually, there are some WP plugins that will not work if you use the permalink default of standard numbering. I have alos seen where others suggest you create “custom” permalinks.
This is an interesting topic…anyone else have any thoughts on permalinks? Standard vs. the other options?
Dee
in the permalink section click on the radio button next to custom and in that field paste on it to /%postname%/ job done
@Steve:
Thank you for sharing your plugin list. I see some interesting ones I may try.
One of the plugins I’m using solves a problem that could be solved if i knew where to put those little snippets of code that Google requires to prove you own your site. Others, too, want you to put some code between the HEAD and BODY of your webpage.
Okay…this makes me crazy (here’s the novice coming out). If the websites were written in straight HTML that would be easy. But now you have PHP pages and CSS Stylesheets and so on…. I don’t know where to put those little bits of code.
So……I found that All in One Webmaster has an area where you can paste in all those code snippets that need to be in the HEAD of your website. There is also a place to put code in the FOOTER of your web page.
So this may be a great post subject… “Basic WP Plugins..which ones and how to set them up”.
Thanks for your help!
Dee
cool with respect to all in one webmaster. However I use teh google analytics to take care of that problem. With webmaster tools you can now link to analytics so you dont need to worry about that code any longer. And.. cant think of any other uses for all in one that all in seo doesnot do better
Just my take – your mileage will be different
Bits of code can just go in the header and footer files as required its a lot easier than an normal HTML site
WordPress is coded in HTML anyway isnt it ?
I put adsense code into the bottom of the header file often.
Plus widgets in sidebars of course..
Many of the themes out there also provide places for you to put codes in.
Your making good progress keep on going
Hey everyone, if you still need a domain for your new niche site you can buy a .com domain through GoDaddy for $7.49 Just use this coupon code: cjc749dom
I just tried it an it works.
@Steve:
So when I go into the Admin side of my website in WordPress, I see where under THEME there is an Editor. On the Editor page, on the right, there is a list of TEMPLATES, one of which is called HEADER ( header.php). Is this the “header” file where I add the code to? What threw me off was the .php extension. I also heard you weren’t supposed to touch the templates…you can really screw things up if you don’t know what you are doing (that would be me).
Dee
Hi
realy its pretty ok Andy if you do just relaod the template and off you go again 
yep its possible I have
or just go ahead and use the plugin for now
regards
Hi Chris – I have the 4HWW bug and your website is exactly what I’ve been looking for regarding outsourcing. I attempted to start a niche site from bare bones recently, but I’m TOTALLY lost on almost everything including web design, keyword research, backlinking, content writing etc. Is it possible to outsource the ENTIRE niche site so I can get started and learn along the way? If it is possible and not a terrible idea, how long would it take a fully outsourced, talented team to create a niche site like CNAHQ and how much do you think the investment might be? Thank you so much for all of the information.
Hey Casey,
Congrats on getting in the game and starting to build a business online.
I’m not gonna step on Chris’ toes here as he is the expert on outsourcing but I will share with you my experience with outsourcing and maybe that can guide you a little.
I think it is possible to outsource everything from the start but I’m not sure it’s a great idea. In American business we’re taught to hire better people and more knowledgeable people than ourselves. There’s an old saying “if you’re the smartest person in your business, then you’re in trouble.” I still believe that. But here’s the thing, when you’re just starting out it is important to know at least a decent amount of what you’re doing so that you can guide your VA’s and help them do their best. I’m not saying you need to learn PHP, HTML5, etc but you want to have a working knowledge of everything.
When I started, I really hated SEO and didn’t understand it and that was the first thing I tried to outsource. It didn’t go very well. My VA was a good guy but had learned SEO from another internet marketer who he worked for which meant that he only knew what this other guy taught him and that was really just enough to complete his tasks. With me, I was looking for expertise because I had none and this guy was very limited. As I started to learn more about SEO and other aspects a marketing online, I started to see the flaws in how my VA was doing things and how I was spending money for no results.
Outsourcing should enhance your business, not replace your brain. Product production, design, those things can be outsourced easily but I would caution you not to outsource your entire operation right from the start. You’ll miss out on some very important aspects of the game.
Even in 4HWW, Tim mentions running certain parts of your operation yourself for months so that you can get a good grasp on what’s going on before you hand it off. Remember, in sports, the best coaches are the ones that have played before. When you have VA’s you’re the coach and you want to get the best from your players. Taking the time to be on the field yourself first may go a long way.
Those are my two cents. Best of luck to you.
Good advice, Adam.
Casey – what you might want to think about doing is at least getting to set up the site, tweaking it a little in WP, etc.
I did this myself when I started out with blogging a little under 2 years ago and its certainly helped me when working with my staff, thats for sure.
However, as Adam points out – yes, its entirely possible to outsource the entire thing – it will take several people, but its do-able, for sure. Have a pop at it yourself, at least a little, and then bring the outsourcers in to finish things off / tidy up your mess!!! (I made soooo many mistakes the first time around!). And if you need ‘professional’ help, let us know at Virtual Staff Finder, and we’ll look after you… PLUG OVER!
Thanks for the comment, buddy.
C
@Adam
You hit the nail on the head. You dont need to know everything but you do need to understand all the basics.
I would recommend doing a google search for free basic wordpress training. Setup a test blog at wordpress.com and just play for a day or so if you really feel uncertain.
Theres tons of free info out there such as Pat Fynn’s site and nichepursuits.com. The otehr thing about this niche site business is youd be extrodinarily luck to hit a big enough earner on your first site to realy justify the cost of outsourcing the work. Especially as youd not be learning how to do it yourself.
regards
@Steve..a question about something you mentioned a few comments ago…
“I put adsense code into the bottom of the header file often.”
So do you mean you put the Adsense code at the very very bottom of the Header file? In my Header file, the last few lines look like this:
So do I put it at the very very bottom?
@dee
The codes mising from above.
This is one of those it depends answers. Often with the themes i have Im putting it just before the
you rmileage may vary. as long as you track where you put it you can try it see if its where you want the code and if not correct just cut it out and move around.
Im moving toward more adsense freindly themese myself or ones with better widget contols than i have used in the past. I really like a FREE theme called magazine basic. some new stuff to learn but worth it.
Last tip of the week is to look up this information on Heatmaps it shows that using a left menu is more important than using a right menu ! im using both a lot going forward. http://www.dynamicmedia.com/ultimate-heatmap/
its written by Michael Campbell. Not one of the new wave of Gurus but old school solid Guru. Michael was instrumental in “designing/inventing” Mini nets that we think of as Linkwheel amongst many other things. And ofcourse still working away today
regards
Thanks for the heatmap link, love it!
I’ll join in with blues piano sheet music dot com. I’ll send you an e-mail anyway. Already some great discussions below your post, Chris! Looking forward to this community challenge!
@Steve:
I guess we can’t cut and past html code into these posts…both yours and mine were missing so I can’t see the code you referred to. I appreciate all the great tips. I left a comment on your site. Thanks for the link to heatmap. I’ve been considering changing my theme anyway…
@dee, thanks for the kind comment.
I didnot paste the code just described where i put it (just above the typically.
I see chris has started the project page
Does anyone have any ideas about using Twitter when you run multiple blogs/websites? So far, I have avoided the whole Twitter thing. I’m more of a Facebook person. But since I want to maximize exposure…and I feel pressured everytime I setup a website and it wants Twitter account info for social icons, I am beginning to weaken. So, is the answer multiple Twitter business accounts? or ??? What say you???
Hi Dee, I attended a networking meeting on Wednesday evening where we had a speaker talking about social media. She didn’t go into it as in depth as I would have liked but there is so much social proof that it really really works! If you have multiple accounts you can manage them more easily through sites like Hootsuite or Social Oomph. Coming up with a Twitter strategy is on my to-do list!
@Sharon
Yes, I will jump on the bandwagon. I just need find the right tools for this. I think there is a WP plugin that will automatically post to your FB page and a Tweet, but I can’t remember what it’s called. Anybody…what is best for this?
Hi Dee
Perhaps you should also check out http://www.ping.fm – great little service!
C
@ Steve,
On one of my sites I have the widget on a “hidden” page which is purely for my own purposes. On another I have a link to a page within my site, which is a couple of clicks in, with the widget in a sidebar so visitors will already have got a little way into my site before they get it. I agree, it is tempting visitors to click out of my site so I am potentially losing them, but they would hopefully have seen whatever I wanted them to see before that stage anyway.
At the very least, if I make it public on my site, I would have it below the fold…
However you use it, it’s great for finding relevant content to base your posts on…
@Dee – I use the Word Social plugin to have the option of auto-posting updates of blog posts to Facebook and Twitter.
Anyone else suffering the dreaded Google Dance when launching sites? My site flitted back and forth between page 2 and page 11 in the last couple of days!
Hi Chris! It’s nice to see entrepreneurs like you here in our country! With your Live2Sell Group of Companies, you are really helping a lot of Filipinos.
As of now, I am thinking of joining your niche site challenge. This would be my second niche site if ever since my main site, is already a niche site itself in terms of investments, personal finance, and self-motivation. And I have established a brand for it for the past 2 yrs.
Cheers for all the success!
P.S. I am looking to hire VAs to write articles for me. What could be the “cheapest yet quality” rate for a VA who would be writing articles of at least 300 words per article. Topic is any international news whether be it on entertainment, technology, science, etc. I am looking for a rate on a per article basis. Any thoughts?
Hi Tyrone
Absolutely, you should join, buddy.
And thanks for all the kind words for me/my company – much appreciated.
Mabuhay!
C
Here’s a couple of useful-looking plugins I’m trialling at the moment. SEO Rank Reporter sites in your WP Admin screen and reports on Google SERPS rankings so you can keep an eye on your ranking. The other is Google News Widget/Shortcode. This can sit in a widget in yourt sidebar and has real-time updated links to Google News Alerts for whatever search term you use (I suggest using it for your main keyword).
Firstly, this is adding some good, constantly updated content into your site in addition to the content you are posting, but it’s also a great source of backlinks. For most of the news updates, you can click on the link to go to that site and either leave a comment or otherwise engage with the community there if appropriate. You can also use that site for inspiration for content for your own site. For example, you can copy and paste a news story and put it on your site, so long as you include the relevant links to that site and details of the author, etc. You might also be able to trawl the originating site for other content that you can use. All good stuff… try it out…
@Tim
Thanks for the tips on these plugins. I like the idea of the Google New updates and the backlinging opportunity it presents.
If anyone is sitting out there just reading this (I can feel your eyes on me) don’t just sit there…jump in on this tremendous learning opportunity!
Tim, I’ve had a look at the SEO Rank Reporter plugin but can’t workout where I insert my keywords – can you point me in the right direction?
Ignore my last post, I’ve just figured it out!!
@tim
Its great stuff sharing info and ideas here. However Im sorry to appear negative but i really really hate the idea of the news plugin and heres why. So somebody comes to your site. see the widget and goes else where. Or at least goes and read that other source. Whats that telling Google. Its saying hey this info is more intresting that what i have go read it. If that was an adsense ad and they clicked and you got paid fair enough but your getting no benefit in fact you getting a loss of traffic.
Going forward Google is looking at bounce rates and time on page metrics to evaluate content (its really coant tell teh difference between stale and great writing it simple cant (yet)) so if people hit your page and hang around wandering from page to page (such as a wikipedia site) then you must have great relevant content.
If you want to put links in sidebars then make them NoFollow ensure they only open in a new window (so you sit eis sitll up and google will count how long its open for !!!) and when people close otehr wondows they will still see your open and might wonder more. And also ONLY point to authority sites so for a gout site for example youd link out to Gout society of america or a major univeristy Google sees these as relevant related links and your seen as being in a good neigbhood of great sites.
The rank report is interesting idea Ill take a look. It can be real time updating or crawling though not from a server (dashboard) enviroment. cool idea though,
As always my take, i live and breath SEO stuff way to much
Replied to wrong post above!
@ Steve,
On one of my sites I have the widget on a “hidden” page which is purely for my own purposes. On another I have a link to a page within my site, which is a couple of clicks in, with the widget in a sidebar so visitors will already have got a little way into my site before they get it. I agree, it is tempting visitors to click out of my site so I am potentially losing them, but they would hopefully have seen whatever I wanted them to see before that stage anyway.
At the very least, if I make it public on my site, I would have it below the fold…
However you use it, it’s great for finding relevant content to base your posts on and also harvesting keyword ideas and backlinks…
Tim
@Tim
Thats cool. Your using in a more sophisticated way than i imagine most people would i.e. they would have it on side bar of everypage.
Your comments are well made and taken. For the newer people to Niche Sites etc Im just urging caution over the potential loose of link jouice to non related sites. Its tough enough building links when you atrt out without dilluting the jiuce you have.
In the spirit of sharing ideas however I great way to keep current and find out whats hapening in your niche is to use Google Alerts ste up a google alert for your keyword/keywords and when somebody writes on that topic you will get an alert which can be set to daily for example.
I have alerts running on anylthing to do with research pages on Gout (as a sufferer and website owner) but having alerts set to highlight anything in teh scholars area of google.
Hey Chris – best of luck with your project! I actually already have a site in the certified nursing assistant niche believe it or not! I am NOT targeting the keyword you are, but I am targeting one related to CNAs. I actually have the #1 position in Google for that term and the site brings in about $1k per month from Adsense. So I think you have chosen an EXCELLENT niche and can confirm your suspicions that there are alot of advertisers!
I think it will take you quite a while to rank well for “certified nursing assistant” as the competition is quite difficult. It might not ever happen, BUT I think you should see some pretty decent numbers with the long tail keywords you are targeting with your large amounts of content. Anyway, I love the project over here and I’m glad I finally checked it out…you make me want to join the project
Thanks, Spencer… Appreciated.
I’m aware its a competitive niche. But, I do love a challenge, and it if was ‘easy’, it wouldn’t be any fun, would it..!!!?!!
Thanks for droppin’ by.
C
@Chris (or his VA):
On the Niche Site Project tab, I am listed as “NA”. I assume that means “North America”? Can you change that to “USA”? Picky, I know….
Thanks!
Dee
Done!
any updates Chris/others?
Chris, what tools are you using to get page ranks/SERPS ranks to publish n the updates?
Hey Tim
Well were either both sad souls or great minds think alike!! I was just check there was nothing i was missing like comments onthe nice site project page.
If it helps heres a quick summary of where i am.
Registered domain around 28th of june. I have a few pages up and the site is indexed in google. Both category keywords are in top 100 and a few product keywords in top 20 1 product keyword in top 5.
Ive got the sites RSS into a number of aggreagators and built probably 15-20 manual high quality links from Blogs with high PR pages (PR4-7 Note : PR Pages not domains).
Building out longtail keywords andd have around 150+ backlinks in place. by teh end of the month I’d like to see the category keywords in top 30-40 and a bunch of product keywords intop 10.
Hows your progress?
Hi Steve, should I be working on backlinks while I continue to add content to my site or should I wait until my site is more complete?
Sharon
All updates will be user submitted, to make everyone a little more accountable.
I will simply be publishing MY monthly report, and then everyone else will comment on the post with their numbers. This way each and every month, the comment section of every update will become a varied, yet focused ‘community chat’, so to speak…
Hope that makes that part clear!
I cant wait to see everyone’s results. I know I’ve been making steady headway…
C
@Chris…so for monthly reports what would be our “reporting date”?
a) Would it be due 8/1 since the Niche Project was kicked off on 7/1?
b) Or, should we count from 7/11 since that was the date the original rank data was posted for the Niche Challenge?
c) Or, should each individual participant calculate their own “start date” based on when they started/joined and report every month from that date?
Sorry this is my 9-5 job mindset kicking in…details, details, details!
Also, can you redefine the monthly report parameters, so we all report the same data elements using the same tools? Here are the “rules” as per your original post; refine from here…maybe it’s too much…you decide:
1. Your Name/Location/ Niche Site URL
2. Number of site visits (use Google webmaster tools/Analytics):
3. Google Adsense earnings (use Google webmaster tools/Adsense): $ xxxx.xx
4. Google PR for Primary Keyword (use ??? what tool do you want us to use?):
5. A summary of your activities during the past month, such as:
a. Number of pages created and /or number of posts created to date.
b.Social Network activities such as: Facebook page setup; Facebook landing page created; Twitter Account created, etc.
c. Web 2.0 sites created (Squidoo, WordPress.com, etc.)
d. Backlinks created
e. Setup RSS feeds (Feedburner, etc.)
f. Added monetization (whatever method…Adsense, Affiliates, etc.)
g. Other
h. Successes, challenges
Hi Dee
You’ve pretty much nailed it here.
The list will be a little shorter, and I’ll lay it out in MY first update, and yes, I think it will be the 11th of each month. It’ll work out better like that.
I’m so jazzed that you’re as excited as I am! And I sincerely hope that the comment section will light up with ideas, concepts and support – every month – as it has with this launch post!
Just incredible……
Thanks again, everyone!
C
anyone have any tips on making Adsense ads 100% relevant to your site? I keep getting an ad for mattresses on my Will Writing site!
Phew! I am nowhere near close to Steve’s process….I’ll be a few months behind everyone else I think. As I am a total, 100%, complete beginner, I am busy absorbing tutorials on just about anything and everything! It’s pretty daunting, I must say. The learning curve is very steep, but I will get there eventually, I hope.
I am seeing this as a serious summer intensive course.
A couple of questions:
Is SiteLock essential?
Is Wordtracker worth investing in, if I already have Market Samurai?
Thanks!
Hi Joanna
its not a race
Ive been learning this stuff for years and there always new tricks to learn.
Site lock – No not essential or even needed in these niches
Wordtracker – No Samuri will do more than you need for a long time to come. my only caveat is your working in spanish so i dont know how well the keyword research part will stacjkup but i assume it wil
If i was you Id focus on content. Get more pages writtenand up on your site fatten it out. You can always re-edit or completely replace the content of a page. indeed its no bad thing as google see new pages and content that way.
Then or at the same time you want to start building links back to you site from relevant blogs etc.
The biggest problem with nuche and IM developement is there is so much distraction you can spend all day reading and learning and realise youve not done the basic step of getting content up.
hope that helps
Thanks Steve,
After reading all about backlinks I have seen that, yes, better first get the content up and running. I was hesitating before writing the content just in case there was something more that I should consider before getting it out there, but no. I’ve got my keyword and article plan…so time to get writing!
By the way, I don’t know if others are doing this, but I am interviewing “experts” in my field to add to the credibility of the information, and then of course link to them too to build traffic. Anyone else doing similar?
Enough of the distractions now
Hi Joanna:
Don’t feel badly, I am not that far along either. The learning curve for this stuff is huge.
So far, here’s what I’ve done for my website:
Design: Change the theme and layout to take advantage of the info I learned from the “heat-map” info.
Content: Published 2 posts; one more in draft.
Backlinks: Left comments on two high PR sites; I should have 2 backlinks showing up soon.
Keyword research: I discovered my approach to keywords was totally “bassakwards”, so I spent some quality time in MS researching keywords for my sub-categories.
Setup my Aweber Form to collect email addresses.
Setup FB page and added AWeber form to collect email addresses; I have a custom landing page but it sucks and needs to be redone.
I found two affiliates; I have links to both within my content and pages for each. Now….I have a question.
Is it a baaaaad thing to have a tab on your main navigation bar (let’s call is ONLINE TRAINING) point directly to your affiliate’s URL? The desired result is that when the user clicks on that nav tab, they are taken directly to the affil squeeze page…the URL would contain my affil info. Is this an IM sin? Will I lose points on my bounce rate if people leave my site this way? Is there a better way to do this?
Anybody have an opinion on this?
good work on getting going. the end of the month reports might shock you as to how other have or have not progress so far.
The FB etc is great stuff.
Your menu item link is fine.. i dont see it as a bounce its an exit of the site to another website thats fine. a bounce is more hitting back or just closing the window. IMHO. if somebody takes 1 second or 10 to decidd to follow a LINK off your site thats not an issue again INMHO
after all you want people to go to the affiliate site
thats where the money is.
regards
@Steve,
Thanks for the reply. So is the best way to do this via an htacess file to do the redirect?
I found this website I thought had some good tips on how to get (legit) .gov and .edu backlinks using SEO Quake. Good instructions, but time-consuming. I think I got 3 good high PR backlinks tonight; they do hold them for moderation so your comments can’t be BS and must be relevent.
http://alexwhalley.com/seo/get-edu-gov-backlinkbuildingtips/
Hi Dee
You should look out for Alex here at the VBL Blog… He’s a regular!
C
Hi dee
good work. Note of caution. Bear in mind that even when the links are up they may not show up in market samuri. None of the tools will show all links, google simply doesnot count them all nor does yahoo etc
With one tool i have 49 links to my domain url with another i have 149 I know for a fact there are 274 live.. so its the nature of the game that reporting tools will differ. Simply go ahead and build more links.
One thing you should loo at with MS is to go into seo comp and look at the pr profile for each of the top 3 sites. They should collectively then a) form a pattern you should aim to beat (i.e. they have 4 PR5 you go get 5+) and seondly and more importantly THIS is where you can find relevant high PR pleaces to put your links!! afterall they did so you may be able to
regards
P.s. Hey chris do you think that this thread will go past 500
i would if other chipped in their progress 