Let's say you have a ton of knowledge about a certain subject, say golf. And you know how to get your information across in a personal and unique manner. So, you decided to build a content site, and earn $ with Adsense and affiliate products. Would you: a) Build a massive golf site. Include golf strategies, golf schools, golf lessons, golf memorabilia, golf equipment, etc.... OR b) Build several content sites, a golf strategy site, a golf school site, a golf lessons site, a golf memorabilia site, a golf equipment site, etc.... As you can probably tell, I don't know much about golf, however my question is the following: Is it preferable to build a large content site about inter-related subjects, or to build several seperate-yet-related sites? Anxiously awaiting the wisdom of your posts! Cheers, Ellen
Ellen, I am by no means more than a newbie developer, so please take what I say with a grain of salt, but if my experience is helpful, good. I created a website "about all things outdoors," an affiliate site devoted to fishing, hunting, camping, climbing, skiing and snowsports, GPS, paddle sports and outdoor clothing. It was created in early November. I think it was a collossal mistake to try to capture so large a swath, especially in this industry. My adsense is about $2-$3 a day, and I have gotten $0.00 in affiliate sales. Now, maybe, if I put the effort into it, in several years, it may become a powerhouse in outdoor marketing - but then, I wouldn't expect the existing powerhouses to play dead all those years, either. It may be my site is just crap, but I don't think that is the main problem here. I think I just bit off too much for one site. And I would think golf, in your example, is just as competitive if not more so. In your example, I would think (b) would be a better option. It does beg the question, though, "what defines niche?" In your example, "golf" is certainly more of a niche than mine, "outdoor sports." Golf is a niche in the general category "sports." But my rule of thumb from now on will be to try to grab as much low lying fruit as I can with each site, by defining as tightly as possible a niche. If I can't say "conversion" with the general theme of my site, I won't develop it. I'm going micro from now on. My $.02. Paul
Thanks Paul... that does make sense! My Niche is actually Parenting Advice, and the related-niches that interest me are educational toys and games, and activities for bored kids, etc.... which I believe that every parent reading an advice column would also be interested in... still I'm going to try the global site first, and if necessary, sub-divide later.
What I would do is get a good general domain name for golf. But when you create the site, create it for the niche market in golf that you think would work best for you in terms of knowledge, how it would sell, affilate programs available, ppc costs etc. When creating the site make it so it is easy to add other golf niche markets (ie allow for tabs at the top) in the future. You will probably do this when: - You run out of material for your current niche and you need to add more keywords to try and get more traffic - Your current niche is doing well and you want to expand your income while taking advantage of your current related traffic (hopefully this is the case!) Adding niches will help you capture more users when say, someone finds your site using the keyword golf but he was actually looking for golf shoes and your site only sells golf clubs. Now I haven't really set up seperate sites and domains for each niche before, this probably does work if you do it right but I have found the global way does work (sometimes!).
I hadn't thought of this angle, and it makes sense to me - but I wonder if this strategy may run into a problem of backlinks. Most links are to index pages only, and deep linking is not always a possibility. If you intend on adding pages to a given niche site, with other niches making up your tags, then you will be adding deep pages to an existing site, and I wonder if you'll have trouble getting links to them. If you will look at my site, you will see, in effect, this is what I have - with 8 "niches" as product categories. And I think this is what has bit me in the keester.
Personally, I think golf is a specific niche. There are many aspects of the game you can cover but as a previous poster mentioned, I think going "global" would be like covering all sports. In this case, I think sticking to a particular niche would be better to start. Focus on one niche and create a lot of high quality content as opposed to coming up with mediocre content for 8 related niches.
I am basing the idea that golf is not as "niche" as I, personally, would want to go, on an idea Shoemoney posted in one of his threads: Shoemoney's Tips on "Niche" and other things... Using his example, a google search for "golf" yields 704,000,000 returns. A lot of competition. When you factor in wordtracker searches, 228630 per month for "golf," you end up with a "niche" score of 3079. Not very "niche." "Myrtle Beach Golf Packages" yields better, if my method is a good one, at least: 7,290,000 google results, and 24330 searches per month, for a "niche" score of 339. Better (though still, I would look to something else altogether, where there are simply less pages devoted). And I would think that people in the last example are more predisposed to take action, in one way or another - it is low hanging fruit, when compared to "golf."
My main site is a "niche", but you could almost consider it global with such a large market...affiliate marketing advice. I think whether you choose global or niche, the most important thing is offer people something they want/need and come up with a "twist" that no one, or very few use. For me, I offer rebates and generous bonuses on everything I sell. I also make myself very accessible to my viewers by displaying my email address, mailing address, and telephone number so people can easily contact me. I also go "against the grain" in that I do not do SEO, do not exchange links, have no adsense ads, do not keep an opt in list, or sell back end products....many things the gurus tell you you must do. I make 1-2K a week from this site. (Yes, before you all respond, I know I could probably make more if I did these things, but I am quite comfortable with my online income, and I know I am doing better than 95% of the people out there.) I guess what I am saying is, I really don't think it matters what type of site you build.....just make sure you offer people what they need/want, be accessible (nothing ticks me off more than when I can't contact the site owner for questions), and come up with a "twist" that is unique, or damn close. Jim P.S. BTW...I think you are off to a good start using your real name as your forum user name and posting your picture. People love transparency. It gives them a sense of comfort and makes you more genuine to them. People will flock to you if they feel they "know" you.
Hi Jim - Interesting post. I like your site. I'm a bit confused by one thing - did I read you right, in that you don't maintain an opt-in list? If so, I am puzzled as on your site, you write: Q: "Why is it so important to build an opt in list? A: Out of all the possible approaches to affiliate marketing, lead capture and list building represents the smartest and most effective option...." I might have missed something...
Good point! I probably should update that. That was a FAQ question that a visitor asked many months ago. If you are going to follow the "popular advice" out there today, you probably should have an opt in list, but I don't follow the "popular advice". In fact, I have a form on my site that invites people to join my mailing list, but I have never sent out a mailing to them...I always seem to be so busy with many projects and I almost consider it a "relic" now. I still have some "self doubt" about my "methods" (even though I am doing well) and it is really a "hold over" from when I thought you "had" to follow the gurus and the crowd. When I get the chance, I will revise my answer. It wasn't until I made my site "unique" and stopped following the "popular advice" that I started to make good money. Have you ever read the 22 Imutable (sp?) Laws of Marketing? One says, loosely, that it does not pay to be better (that's what most people are trying to "market"...their site is "better"), it pays to be first. How do you become a "better" affiliate advice website? My site is one of the only ones I have ever seen that offers such generous rebates and bonuses. That has made my site very popular. Jim
Couldn't agree more. And nice, succinct way of putting it. Where my time is going to be spent moving forward. Especially in this industry, where entry and exit is fluid and fast, doing what others have done successfully seems somewhat futile, to me.
And, if I can be of any help, please do not hesitate to contact me via PM, email, snailmail or my phone number on my site. Most marketers work in "secret"...afraid to say or share...like it is going to hurt their business. I find the more I share and help, the more my business grows. If only people could get that through their heads!... Jim