ISSUE 42

Niche Site vs Startup; 500+ SEO Tips; Best Niches; New Search Engine; Beating AI Writers; Gold on Flippa? and More!

Author

Yoyao
August 14, 2021 • Est. Learning Time: 14 minutes

Issue 2

FIRST…

Not many of you may know this, but I used to have a startup and worked in other startups. I was heavily involved in the startup ecosystem for some time.

I was talking to the founder of an early SEO tool yesterday about the state of his startup, because he also offered a lifetime deal on his software. The deal has been over for 9-10 months now and the platform is getting a lot of use from its current user base (including me). But they've been having trouble getting MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) subscribers, even though they get a lot of trial users.

I asked him why they aren't converting, and he said the feedback they've received is it's too confusing for people. There are too many tools and people don't know how to use the tools for their needs.

Many months ago, I suggested making videos, documentation, and case studies of how to use the tools on their platform, so people know how to use their tools. Did they ever create them? Not really. He said they made them, but I didn't see anything helpful. For example, there are livestreams, but no bite-size, easily digestible how-to videos.

One of the biggest problems that startup founders have is explaining to people the Why and How of their product or service.

  • Why do you need this software?

  • How does the software fulfill those needs?

That gets lost so often when startups are marketing. You need to understand your target audience, their needs, and how you're filling those needs. Many founders can't do that objectively. They think that they have this amazing product (and they could have it), but if no one understands it, they're not going to use it.

As niche site builders, we need to think about similar things. Every single website you build, treat it as a startup. Sites are made because you want people to use your site. You want them to click an affiliate link. You want them to stay on the page and read. But do you know your audience and are you fulfilling their needs?

You need to ask and answer some questions as objectively as you can. Many of us have blinders on when it comes to something we've made ourselves, so feel free to ask others to help with assessing your site:

  • Who is my audience?

  • What do they need?

  • Is the site or page providing them with the information they need?

There are many more questions, but these are the key ones. If you can answer those questions objectively, you're well on your way to success.

SEO

ISSUE 42

Last time I shared this, it was 400+ SEO tips. It's now up to 500+!

Mark Williams-Cook shares a SEO tip every day on his LinkedIn page and this is culmination of all the tips.

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

ISSUE 42

Neeva is the only ad-free, private search engine that's on a paid model. They generate revenue from searchers, instead of selling ads and tracking searchers.

I'm trying it out and it does have a clean look. I've been looking up keywords that my sites are ranking for in Google. It's interesting to see how they show up on Neeva. I do have to say that it is cleaner.

Neeva also allows you to connect to your Google Account (Gmail, Gdrive), Microsoft Account (Outlook, Office 365), Dropbox, Slack and Notion. You'll be able to use their tech to search through your connected apps.

LinkWhisper - WordPress plugin to get your internal linking on point. They're doing their biggest deal besides the Black Friday deal with $20 Off. Sale is only for 5 days, Mon-Fri., August 16th to 20th.

SerpWatch - Rank tracker lifetime deal that's ending in ~2 days. The monthly limits are by keyword checks, so 4,500 means you can track 150 keywords daily for 30 days (4500 / 30 days = 150). You can check keyword rankings weekly, which would mean you can track 1125 keywords (4500 / 4 weeks = 1125).

123RF Stock Images - Stock image deal that ends in ~10 days. Has over 170 million quality stock photos, illustrations, and vectors. I already have many credits on Deposit Photos, but this has been a nice backup for added variety. It's been good for my niches that are harder to find photos for, other than on Shutterstock.

Studiocart - If you sell products on your site, Studiocart allows you to build sales funnels and checkout pages.

TopicMojo - Added new updates, including wildcard support and tabs for YouTube, Forums, Tweets, and News.

CONTENT

ISSUE 42

Brian Dean and Backlinko have updated their Content Marketing Hub. This resource covers pretty much everything you need to know about content marketing all in one place:

  • Content Marketing Fundamentals

  • Content Production

  • Blogging and Written Content

  • Multimedia Content

  • Content Promotion and Distribution

  • Content Marketing Tools

Lots of useful templates in there if you're looking for one. Bookmark it and come back to it later for future use.

ISSUE 42

Here's a thought experiment: every search result is now contested by 100 AI-generated articles. How do you respond?

...the difference between AI-assisted writing and AI-generated writing. The former will lift content marketing to new heights; the latter will trigger the “search singularity,” an implosion of homogenous, copycat content on an unparalleled scale

This is a good article that takes a look at how to get ahead of the hundreds of AI-generated articles out there:

  1. Focus on “information gain” in every article you create

  2. Diversify beyond search and invest in thought leadership

  3. Share the same information but create a new experience

ISSUE 42

Good guide on a 3-step process for strategically implementing FAQ Schema to drive more clicks.

  1. Prioritize answering questions that people are most often asking

  2. Write your answers to maximize user satisfaction

  3. Add relevant links to your answers to entice the user to click

ISSUE 42

Ahrefs video on how to create content that's better than your competitor's by focusing on the four attributes that make content great.

  1. Content Clarity

  2. Content Depth

  3. Content Usefulness

  4. Presentation of the Content

EDUCATION

ISSUE 42

Matt Diggity teams up with Empire Flippas to break down 300+ affiliate sites to find out the top niches that offer the best ROI based on:

  1. Revenue vs Content Investment

  2. Revenue vs Link Investment

  3. Revenue vs Time Investment

He also looks at affiliate revenue vs. display ad revenue for sites. He dives deep into multiple niches to see what kind of return there is for each.

ISSUE 42

SEO Fight Club discusses whether SEO has changed with AI generated content. People are talking about ranking more multiple, unrelated keywords in the same article. Is that possible?

It's an interesting look because I'm actually seeing and hearing about people who are keyword stuffing by using AI content writers.

ISSUE 42

Search Console Insights is an experience that makes both Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Analytics (GA) data available and tailored to content creators and website owners.

It's actually a useful tool to see how your site and pages are doing at a glance. Google's blog post describes many of the insights that you get.

ISSUE 42

Mark and Gael from Authority Hackers go through Flippa to review sites that are being sold to see if there are any good deals out there.

Whether you're looking to buy a site or not, these videos are always great, because they give out 'gold nuggets' in the midst of reviewing sites. I like listening to these types of videos in the background while working on my own sites.

NEWS

ISSUE 42

Jim Harmer is leaving Income School and Ricky Kesler purchased Jim's shares. Jim says he's going to be working on the backfire.tv site with the goal of 1 million visitors in 24 months.

Income School has been big influencers in the affiliate site space for many years now. They'll still be continuing on with Ricky, Nate, and Anna. We'll see how much changes, if anything at all. I doubt much will change in terms of the great content they provide, but the dynamic will be different.

ISSUE 42

Shaun Marrs goes through different places to look for communities for others on the same blogging journey we're on.

  1. Builder SocietyForum

  2. Blackhatworld

  3. Reddit

  4. Affiliate Fix

  5. Facebook, Discord, Slack, Skype Groups

LIKE NICHE SURFER?

Let me know! Reply or email me at [email protected]. I’d love to know what you think and if you have any ideas.

I’d also appreciate it if you shared it with fellow niche surfers.

Have a great week with taking your niche sites to another level!

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