ISSUE 87

Programmatic SEO; Link Building Strategies; Heatmaps; Orphan Pages; Silo Structure; Site Architecture; FAQ Pages; Free Online Courses; and Much More!

Author

Yoyao
June 18, 2022 • Est. Learning Time: 16 minutes

Issue 2

FIRST…

issue 87

So...I started this new niche site exactly a week ago on June 11th and published 4 articles.

The next day, I shared the screenshot above of my Google Search Console showing 0 search impressions. I wrote:

I just started a new site. Published 4 posts yesterday.
They're all indexed. But no traffic yet?
Why isn't there any traffic yet?
Are niche sites a scam? This is stupid, I quit!

I was a little surprised at the number of replies and DM's I received with advice, but also to sell their SEO services.

I assumed that by reading what I wrote, people would've seen the fun I was having with the Tweet. I didn't think about the non-native English speakers who would've taken it seriously. But then again, I did say "Published 4 posts yesterday."

I really appreciate the ones who responded with helpful information and offering some advice not to worry. After all, it was only a day since I started the site.

But then there were all the replies and DM's of people who were looking to sell their SEO services. They didn't read or maybe had some automation to reply to target keywords in tweets. That got super annoying.

I think we've all seen the spam emails that say the Sender came across our sites and loved it, but that the site has so many problems too, and they're the only ones who can help us. This situation is just the Twitter version of it.

There are so many people out there who color in the dark gray and black areas out there. Maybe it's just because I've been trying to spend more time on Twitter, but it just seems to be like the numbers have increased significantly recently.

Here's the Tweet if you're interested in seeing the Tweet. I did share a couple more screenshots, including another GSC on the 5th day with some Search Impressions on the 4 articles. I've published 12 articles as of now.

NICHE CREATORS

This week's two Niche Creators - Dan and Ryan - are very active in sharing their knowledge on Twitter. Both of them really went to town with their answers, offering lots of tips.

Check out their interviews:

SEO

ISSUE 87

When the Google Search algorithm updates, does it roll out in all countries simultaneously, or not? John Mueller discusses the process of rolling out algorithmic updates and gives some valuable insights into this process!

Answer - "It depends."

Great article from Matt Diggity on Silos and internal linking. He made a video about this a while back, but now has an article out about it.

Definitely check it out to learn about site architecture and internal linking.

I share his SEO silos video with everyone I coach/consult because that's how I structure my topical maps too.

ISSUE 87

Mushfiq and Charles Sipe put together a great guide on programmatic SEO to learn more about it and how to implement it.

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

Affiliatable is a popular platform and plugin to create product boxes and comparison tables.

They will be increasing their prices significantly in 2 days, so if you've been looking at getting a tool to create those good-looking tables and boxes, this is a good tool.

I've been testing them and like it a lot. I'm going to be switching from AAWP to Affiliatable because I'm able to create Amazon and non-Amazon buttons/links. As Google wants Publishers to give visitors more diversified options for affiliates, this is one to look out for.

Here's an example of their current and new pricing structures: $89/yr for unlimited sites is increasing to $249/yr. $399/lifetime for unlimited sites is increasing to $899! The current pricing has a free and 1-site for $39 plan. Nothing in-between 1 site and unlimited. The new pricing will have the a free, 1-site for $49/yr, and 3-site for $149/yr. So the current $89/yr is still the much better deal.

The lifetime is a good deal too at $399, but you will be able to be grandfathered in for the yearly rates and renew at $89/yr. If you plan on being in this game for 5+ yrs, then the $399 is worth it.

ISSUE 87

Frase offering 60% off the 1st month! Not a bad time to take it for a spin.

If you're interested in testing out Frase, they have some free tools on the affiliate page. Checkout a sandbox of what Frase looks like and a few AI tools there to try out.

CONTENT

ISSUE 87

FAQ pages (when done well) can be a double win: They provide valuable content that users want to see and Google wants to rank. However, when rushed, FAQs can easily become lazy data dumps of loosely linked questions and half-baked answers.

In this guide, you will learn how to create useful FAQ pages for humans and search engines.

  • What an FAQ page is

  • Five page examples

  • Three ways to find questions for your FAQ page

  • Best practices for SEO-friendly FAQ pages

  • How to add FAQ schema in three steps

  • Common questions about FAQs (aka FAQs about FAQs)

ISSUE 87

July is home to much more than Independence Day! This article has 37 free, fun, and fruitful July marketing ideas (with real examples!) based on the many awareness causes, holidays, and observances of the month.

For example, July is National Grilling Month. If you have a site in a related niche, you can probably do something extra for your visitors in July. Some other interesting things for July:

  • Ice Cream Month

  • National UV Safety Month

  • Everybody Deserves a Massage Week

  • Pandemonium Day - July 14

  • World Emoji Day - July 17

  • National Get Gnarly Day - July 30

ISSUE 87

Fellow Niche Creator Brandon Saltalamacchia is the latest guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast. Brandon shares advice on using a video first approach succesfully.

Brandon really knows how to build a brand and not relying solely on organic search for traffic. Definitely check out the podcast.

LINK BUILDING

Loganix offers up a guide with 7 methods to try and get backlinks.

  1. Transform unlinked brand mentions

  2. Become a source on HARO

  3. Salvage broken links

  4. Set up a free web-based tool

  5. Establish yourself in directories, forums, and social media

  6. Perform backlink gap analysis

  7. Get featured on resource pages and link roundups

ISSUE 87

Orphan pages have no internal links, which impacts your SEO and user experience. This article covers:

  1. How orphan pages impact SEO

  2. How to find orphan pages

  3. How to analyze orphan pages

  4. Optimize orphan pages

For the easiest way to find and fix orphan pages, I use the Link Whisper WordPress Plugin.

ISSUE 87

In this Ahrefs video that's been part of their Link Building Course, they cover and show what a link building campaign’s workflow might look like in reality. They cover the three main roles that make up a team:

  • Prospector

  • Vetter

  • Outreach Manager

Here's the [complete playlist for the Link Building Course], so you can start from the beginning.

EDUCATION

Aleyda Solis has collected many of the FREE online courses out there that you can sign up for in these categories:

  • SEO Fundamentals

  • Technical SEO

  • Content Optimization

  • Link Building

ISSUE 87

Competitive SERP analysis is based on understanding the broader ecosystems of your ranking keywords. This is great if you’re an established business, but what if you’ve got a brand new site or are still developing your SEO strategy and aren’t ranking for many keywords?

Dr. Pete walks you through how to research competitors with a fictional site about dice. He uses these strategies:

  1. Aspirational keywords

  2. Aspirational competitors

  3. Aspirational analysis

  4. Aspirational automation

ISSUE 87

Heatmaps are tools to understand user behavior and can be real assets for improving your SEO strategy. Heatmaps will help you:

  1. To understand the user’s intent and behavior

  2. To determine the quality of your content

  3. To combine SEO with CRO

  4. To improve internal links and site navigation

  5. To optimize SEO for UX

  6. To optimize meta title based on user behavior

A Free way to get heatmaps and screen recordings of how users interact with your site, you can try Microsoft Clarity. You just need to add some code to your site, similar to Google Analytics for it to record.

NEWS

ISSUE 87

Google Search Console came out with a new report design to help you focus on critical issues that affect your visibility in Search, and help you better prioritize your work. They're still rolling out the changes, so you might not see them yet.

For me, I still like the old/current design more. it's more compact and not broken up into multiple sections that would make me need to scroll more to find information.

I also don't like that the yellow "Valid with warnings" number appears to be rolled into the "Valid" section. I prefer the warnings in the general count on top. It's split in the details section though.

LIKE NICHE SURFER?

Be sure to also join others riding the passive income wave in the Niche Surfer Discord group.

Have questions? 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 taking your niche sites to another level!

Reply

or to participate.