5
2011
Niche Website Development 09 – WOW it’s been a while…
An article by 
Wow indeed! It’s been an insane amount of time since I’ve last posted on Bloggers Journal. Fortunately I haven’t forgotten about this place. I’ve had a pretty hectic time of it off-line.
I think it was about time I did an update on the niche website. I’ll put it out there first – I’ve been a little lazy because I’ve been letting Google take care of business for me. I’m not a fan of link-building – it’s a little tedious, so I’ve done the minimum. This is what I should have been outsourcing!
Irrespective of this, the last time I updates you, my site was ranking middle of the run. Nowadays things have improved a little.
The website currently ranks,
- #6 – USA
- #4 – UK
- #7 – AUS
At present the website is receiving over 500 visitors per month, with 75% coming from search engine keywords. Of this 75%, 40% is coming through my targeted keyword phrase.
This difference shows that 60% of my search engine traffic is coming to the site through keywords which are not my primary target. It is this that demonstrates quite clearly that you must write your articles in a natural manner. By doing this the content is naturally filled with long tail keywords which are quite likely to be entered into the search bar by the reader.
On the site I have implemented a variety of monetisation strategies. The first, and probably the most obvious, is Google AdSense. To date I’ve made an estimated £16 (about $24). It’s not mega bucks, but then, making money in a niche about frugality seems quite the uphill challenge.
I’ve tried other networks for advertising discounts and vouchers through Commission Junction, CheckMyStats and Chitika. Each of these ad systems have generated plenty of impressions, but as they are Cost Per Action, I haven’t yet earned anything from them. I’m currently working on trying to figure a method of using the adverts to convert.
Most recently I’ve implemented an opt-in. I’ve decided to create a mailing list with Mail Chimp. I’m currently working on the auto-responder series. However, what I aim to do with this is develop an enhanced set of tips that are from the website, providing them in a better structure, more useful to my readers. The mentality behind a list is that you have people opting in to read more from your site. The hope is these targeted readers will be more likely to purchase through affiliate links because of the added level of trust, established through the email series.
One final aspect I’ve only recently (2 days ago) adjusted is the site template. Before I had templates which were incredibly organised and looked a little expensive. I’ve reduced the theme to a more simplistic one, with the hope that a more frugal appearing site may convert better on click throughs.
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About the Author: Mark Bell
Mark is a research engineer by profession, with a passion for helping people succeed. He is a self-taught web developer. At his Bloggers Journal, Mark writes openly about his efforts to realise the "internet lifestyle".
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what website are you referring to as being #6 – USA #4 – UK #7 – AUS I also use long tail key words and find that buy matching the keywords to the human language you get more searches and also less window shopping, thanks for the reassurance that we are doing the right thing..
Hey,
I am ranking my site in the frugal niche, Frugal Living Tips.
With longtail keywords I’ve found I’ve got a lot more search engine traffic. The beauty of it is you can write articles that are coherent, yet are full of SEO keywords at the same time.
Good job on the page ranks! A friend of mine does SEO for people and continually tweaks until he gets the right combination. Unfortunately for me, I get hung up on the idea of, “just because I’m typing this in a search, doesn’t mean everybody else is.” I know google has tools for that to prove otherwise, but it still runs through my head.
Hi Jason,
I know how you feel. If you start looking into longer keywords you will be able to write content that is related to your main keyword. To use the analogy of a tree, your main keyword is the trunk, and all your long tail keywords are branches. They all feed together to your main keyword.
You’ll find that some keywords have lots of longtail derivatives which means you can write fantastic articles. Other times it’s a little more difficult and you have to get creative.
Good luck though, keep at it, as it pays off in time.
Hi Mark,
as you can see from my website I am also in the business of SEO. (Applied SEO I should say). I had a similar experience to you. I was in position 2 for one of my main keywords for another site but the traffic I got from that was minimal. Other keywords that I had not targeted, however, were bringing in more traffic in total than the keyword in number 2 position.
Call me naive, but I still believe in long-term success (still hoping). That is why I always aim to write content of high (well, in my humble opinion) quality that is creating real value to the reader.
SEO is a necessary task but it should only be used to promote valuable content.
Where do you get your stats? Do you use Google Analytics to generate your traffic data?
I use Google Analytics for stats.
I’ve just read all your niche challenge blog posts and have already picked up so much useful information. I have set up two niche sites but didn’t really know what I was doing so neither have made money – plenty of views, no clicks. Time to start another one using your helpful tips. Thanks!
I’m also using mailchimp…Started 15 Days back