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Niche Surfer hits 100!
Happy 100th Issue! Topical Maps; Topical Authority; Google Core Update; Toxic Links And Link Farms; Profitable Niches List; and Much More!
Yoyao
September 17, 2022 • Est. Learning Time: 12 minutes
FIRST…
Niche Surfer hits 100!
Unbelievable how time flies (especially as I get older)!
I looked back at how far the newsletter and the community have come since Issue #1. I went through a few iterations of the newsletter as well.
If you've been with me since #1, you may have noticed slight changes. That's just how it goes. Making small adjustments along the way. The same is true of my niche sites as well.
I find ways to optimize the technical side of the site or in the content. Always striving to improve them and never settling. I'm not saying that sites have to be perfect or that you have to be a perfectionist at all. I'm saying that you should always be striving to improve.
I see way too many people and sites that are "amazing" and "have no issues," so there should be no reason that they were hit in the Google Update - BUT they were still hit.
When I audit their sites, I often find many ways that the site can be better. Most of the time, the site owners will realize what I see, but that's only because I pointed it out. It's hard to look at your own sites objectively.
I'll continue to look for ways to improve the newsletter, as well as getting feedback from all of you. I listen to everything and want to make the newsletter more useful to you.
Now, with that out of the way. I can't go 100 newsletters without giving away some things!
In the past, I've given away keyword research credits and SaaS licenses, but those were always products and services from others. This time, I'm giving away something of my own!
I'm giving away 2 topical maps!
More information in the next section!
NICHE CREATORS
To coincide with the 100th issue of the Niche Surfer newsletter, I am also launching TopicalMap.com!
It's a topical map service to help you build topical authority with your niche and authority sites. There are 3 different packages that go along with the hundreds of topic clusters you get:
Expansion Pack - Best for expanding into new topics on your existing sites.
Starter Pack - Perfect when building out new sites because this gives you the mind map site structure (image above) and internal linking strategy for your topics.
Authority Pack - The Most Ready-to-Use package as all the research for each topic is done for you with SERP difficulty, search intent, content type, and SEO Titles.
All you need to do is enter this code at checkout: HAPPY100
For the 100th Issue Giveaway, there are 2 Expansion Pack topical maps!
To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is head over to the Niche Surfer Giveaway Page and enter your email.
The contest ends on Friday, September 23, 2022 at 11:59:59 PT US Time.
I'll announce the winners in next week's newsletter. That's all there is to it!
Good luck!
SEO
Learn how to remove a web page from Google index. Need to get it down as soon as possible? John Mueller shares what tool to use in Search Console.
Keep in mind that the page will also drop out of the Google index over time, but if you want to submit the removal manually, you can use the removal tool.
Google is rolling out a HTTPS report in Search Console over the next few months. The report is used to get insights about your HTTPS pages served on Search. The report also lists the issues that prevent pages from being served as HTTPS, along with sample URLs.
Honestly, setting up HTTPS is so easy now, it's a wonder why some sites still don't have it set up. The only sites that I see not using security certificates are the sketchy ones. That includes link farms and PBN sites.
TOOLS AND RESOURCES
List of 31 WordPress themes that are SEO friendly. Although I'd argue that the majority of WP themes are already SEO friendly, including the stock themes that come with WP.
I haven't tried 90% of this list because I've been using GeneratePress (GP) for every site for the last few years now that I've stopped trying out different themes. Before settling on GP, I was a theme hoarder! But I realized the time I was losing from testing out different themes, so I finally just stopped.
I now have a system set up to install GP and a handful of plugins on each site automatically. I'm able to set up a new server and site very quickly. Get your process down and focus on growing your site through content and other more important things.
CONTENT
Find out why and how to improve your click-through rate in Google Ads through keyword targeting, ad copy, testing, and more!
Wait, Google Ads? Yep. Even if you're not purchasing ads, the same principles go with trying to increase CTR.
Of course, your site still needs to rank well for the changes to have a better chance of being seeing by users, but these principles can be used with emails, social media, and other channels where your audience will see your content. Here are some of the key tips:
Target the right keywords
Use negative keywords
Narrow your audience targeting
Keep it simple and skimmable
Actually have a CTA
Create emotional ads
LINK BUILDING
As site owners have become fully aware they can make a full time income JUST from selling links, the quality bar has never been lower.
But with these link farms becoming more and more difficult to spot, how can you keep your link profile clean and avoid the risk of a Google penalty as a result?
If you're wondering whether the backlinks to your sites are coming from link farms, check out this video to get a 101 overview on how to analyze those sites.
EDUCATION
This is a detailed and super informative guest post by Ugis Balmaks on the Diggity Marketing site on how to hire a team. Even though it says for an "affiliate marketing team," it's really for any type of site.
He discusses hiring for different positions and how to find qualified candidates for the positions. The main roles he focuses on are:
Virtual Assistants (VAs)
Link Builders
Content Writers and Editors
SEO Managers
PPC Managers
Anne Moss has a great interview on the Niche Pursuit podcast. She talks about website building and how she earns $200k each month.
If you read her Niche Creator interview, you'll want to also check out this interview that goes into much more detail.
This is a great, in-depth post about B2B content marketing. Understanding many of these principles will be helpful with your niche sites, especially if you're trying to earn affiliate commissions.
This post will help you understand different content types within the 3 stages of the buying journey: top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and bottom of the funnel. So many of the content types are valuable even on display ad driven sites.
Another Google Core Algorithm Update and another Matt Diggity video discussing what to do. I much prefer his videos talking about various things to look at because he does it from a data-driven point-of-view.
While others focus on just the content, he takes a more holistic approach - which is what SEO is. SEO is not just good content. There's a whole lot more to it that will help drive traffic.
BUSINESS IDEAS
Mushfiq and Charles Sipe over at The Website Flip analyzed 5,000+ Adthrive and Mediavine sites to cherry-pick the most profitable niches.
Choosing a niche can be the most difficult aspect of this business, so this is a great data-driven list of niches that have at least 50,000 visitors every month!
NEWS
Google's "Search On" even is happening on September 28th at 10am PT US Time. It's an online event, so just get on your computer at that time.
This is the even when they announce various things that have to do with Search. Last year they announced the big MUM upgrade and other ways they're using AI to make Search more helpful.
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