Making Cash from Niche Online Websites - Diary

[Jay-UK]

So I decided to spend some time on 5 new domains with the intention of them being micro niche and to earn me some money.

My goal is to get at least £250 a site a month in commission and to have them all on Page 1 Google within 3-6 months.

Now I am not an SEO Guru but with a few other online businesses I have picked up a hell of a lot of information over the past 6-12 months. I have been doing various SEO related activities on my other online businesses over the past 3 years and so have learnt a hell of a lot from trial and error. With that I also did a course with Tin Solider on Content SEO [have to say his course is one of very few that is very high quality and you can get results by applying what he says]

Anyway - my reason to post here is a] for information and to maybe help myself and others b]to maybe get ideas on how to better their ranks

Ill be happy to post what I do here and why - as a lot of it is trial and error from experience.

I guess I have got more confident with SEO and Link building after getting some good results with another business of mine which has 5 million plus search queries a month and I am on page one on a lot of them and edging to top 3 very soon.

The domains that I will and have registered will, where possible, have parts of the search term in its domain. I know there is mixed opinion on the true value of this - but from observation and research I would suspect it weights very well when you perform the wider SEO across the site.

So far

- I registered the .co.uk domain, installed WP and added quality content
- Added SEO Platinum Plugin
- Submitted Site Map to Google
- Waited 10 days and then Social Bookmarked to 50 sites

Today I am ranked number 7 in google.co.uk for the products search term which is in the low 1000's per month and have made 7 amazon affiliate sales giving me £36.

I will now create an Article and distribute it to a network that Ive used with great success and then 10 days later bookmark them using BMD and leave it for another 14-21 days

My eventual goal is to have maybe 30-50 of these sites allowing me to make £250 from each per month.

 

[RedEvo]

Good luck with this, it looks like you will make a nice passive income once all the hard work has been done. I guess the main risk is Google removing your sites, by that I mean sites like yours, as they are effectively duff search results, the actual product sites being what the engines should be serving up.

d

 

[Jay-UK]

Good luck with this, it looks like you will make a nice passive income once all the hard work has been done. I guess the main risk is Google removing your sites, by that I mean sites like yours, as they are effectively duff search results, the actual product sites being what the engines should be serving up.

d

Agree - there is always a risk. When the May Day update occured there was a buzz on the web that these sites were all going to be removed. But as you may know, this was not the case. Many people just had affiliate sites on "setup and run" and those sites are the ones that got hit - going from top of page 1 to page 10+.

What I intend to do is make them blog based with quality information so whilst there is a common theme - the actual content will be controlled and updated.

Also, another reason why I feel that these sites will not be at risk is that many of the top online sellers have affiliate schemes - if google decides to devalue or remove them - it would have a drastic impact to these multi billion dollar revenue generating businesses - something I am confident Google wont be doing in light of the stuff Yahoo-Bing is currently doing.

 

[Ranks]

Looks like its going to be an interesting thread, nice one! What link building are you planning for the sites and are you going to use different tactics per site?
Jay

 

[Kingdingle22]

Great stuff.

So how did you social bookmark to 50 sites?

 

[freelancesam]

i can say now that the odds of them earning £250 a month and hitting page page one in 3-6 months are slim, especially if you're using white-hat marketing techniques.

The reason I say this is because if you manage to hit page one and stay there for a niche within 3-6 months, the chances are its a very small niche with not enough traffic to make £8 a day. in my opinion you should be grateful for anything above £2-3 a day.

Good luck though

 

[Coppock]

the chances are its a very small niche with not enough traffic to make £8 a day. in my opinion you should be grateful for anything above £2-3 a day.

Good luck though

I guess it depends on what Jay-UK is intending to earn commission on...
I'm in a meeting tomorrow regarding a similar project, it's incredibly niche but has a good number of searches (one of the keywords has fairly low competition and about 15000 uk searches per month). I'm hoping to arrange a deal to acquire £50 per order, so if in theory we get to number 1 for that particular phrase, it could work out to be very beneficial.

It will be interesting to see what happens!
Keep up posted.
Jen

 

[Jay-UK]

i can say now that the odds of them earning £250 a month and hitting page page one in 3-6 months are slim, especially if you're using white-hat marketing techniques.

The reason I say this is because if you manage to hit page one and stay there for a niche within 3-6 months, the chances are its a very small niche with not enough traffic to make £8 a day. in my opinion you should be grateful for anything above £2-3 a day.

Good luck though

Without sounding arrogant - I like to prove people wrong...but am happy to be wrong as it means ill go at it again till I succeed by reviewing where I went wrong

BUT - to answer your question seriously - the niches I am going keyword searches LESS then 75,000 per MONTH. So for example it could be a particular brand of LED TV [just an example].

This approach is based on something similar a fellow colleage of mine does in the States but he does niches in the 150k a month and, well, makes a very tidy sum indeed - but I understand that UK and US are different from an Internet behavourial and purchasing perspective.

To also add more information - I may also leverage CPA which pays per action.

 

[Jay-UK]

I guess it depends on what Jay-UK is intending to earn commission on...
I'm in a meeting tomorrow regarding a similar project, it's incredibly niche but has a good number of searches (one of the keywords has fairly low competition and about 15000 uk searches per month). I'm hoping to arrange a deal to acquire £50 per order, so if in theory we get to number 1 for that particular phrase, it could work out to be very beneficial.

It will be interesting to see what happens!
Keep up posted.
Jen

Thanks Jen - Ill update once a week unless I see or do anything worth mentioning on Site A [the one I am focused on right now]

Interesting as my search profile for the term I am using is similar to the example you gave. On diff is I get around £9 per sale.

 

[Jay-UK]

Great stuff.

So how did you social bookmark to 50 sites?

BDM - Off various IP Addresses [Book Marking Demon]

Again, a tool, if used right - can have immense value.

 

[Jay-UK]

Looks like its going to be an interesting thread, nice one! What link building are you planning for the sites and are you going to use different tactics per site?
Jay

Hi Ranks

Link Building is going to be Article Marketing now that the Social Bookmarking has settled. I left it a little longer to settle and its remained in the 7th spot for over 2 weeks now so happy with that. Will now write a quality article about the product and get it socialised in a blog network, ping the blogs and then RSS bookmark them but will go in detail next week on this if its of interest

 

[Tin]

With that I also did a course with Tin Solider on Content SEO [have to say his course is one of very few that is very high quality and you can get results by applying what he says]

Just happened to come across this thread and noticed your comment, thank you for your kind words. Trouble is I'm scratching my head trying to figure out who you are as I don't recognise your username and I have a mind like a sieve when it comes to this sort of thing. Anyway, good to hear you got something out of it

i can say now that the odds of them earning £250 a month and hitting page page one in 3-6 months are slim, especially if you're using white-hat marketing techniques.

The reason I say this is because if you manage to hit page one and stay there for a niche within 3-6 months, the chances are its a very small niche with not enough traffic to make £8 a day. in my opinion you should be grateful for anything above £2-3 a day.

Hmmm, that's not my experience I'm afraid. Depending on the ticket price and niche it's very doable to get to page 1 with a new domain and little seo within 3 weeks or less and be bringing in £40 per day, not the £2-3.

Like everything else in life, the devil is in the detail.

Ray

 

[Jay-UK]

Tin - Just emailed you

I may not be as good as you - but I'm learning FAST

 

[Jon236]

Really interesting thread Jay. Without meaning to jump on the band wagon, I know how I'll be spending my next few evenings

 

[Jon236]

out of interest, and without asking you to blow the cover on your chosen niche, in general terms what tactics are you using to monitize your websites? Is it stuff like affiliate links and advertising, or something a bit different?

 

[Jay-UK]

out of interest, and without asking you to blow the cover on your chosen niche, in general terms what tactics are you using to monitize your websites? Is it stuff like affiliate links and advertising, or something a bit different?

Hi Jon

My strategy for these sites is as follows

- to sell advertising space [eventually]
- to make sales via Amazon
- To make sales for Clickbank
- To make sales via Ebay
- To build a list for future promotions
- To flip the site and maybe sell it whilst I raise my minimum "earn" Id like from each site as I progress.
- Adsense - Hmmm not too sure - they have got very militant in there adsense terminations this year and IMHO.

Hope this answers your Q

I wont reveal the domain names yet tbh, or in fact at all, as Id like to keep the niche areas exactly that - but I have two domains which I will be building for blogs and information with Click bank sales and that I may reveal in the months ahead as I add it to this thread.

But I will provide screen shots of Awstats and Ranking information to see how well its doing and what works/ doesnt work

J

 

[garyk]

Thanks for sharing Jay and just shows how doing the 'basics' and applying them consistently can pay dividends.

 

[Jon236]

Hi Jon

My strategy for these sites is as follows

- to sell advertising space [eventually]
- to make sales via Amazon
- To make sales for Clickbank
- To make sales via Ebay
- To build a list for future promotions
- To flip the site and maybe sell it whilst I raise my minimum "earn" Id like from each site as I progress.
- Adsense - Hmmm not too sure - they have got very militant in there adsense terminations this year and IMHO.

Hope this answers your Q

I wont reveal the domain names yet tbh, or in fact at all, as Id like to keep the niche areas exactly that - but I have two domains which I will be building for blogs and information with Click bank sales and that I may reveal in the months ahead as I add it to this thread.

But I will provide screen shots of Awstats and Ranking information to see how well its doing and what works/ doesnt work

J

Thanks Jay, that's great. Really interesting stuff. I wouldn't dream of asking you to spill the beans on your niche... otherwise it won't be a niche anymore lol!

Keep up the good work, and I look forward to hearing more about your Niche Marketing adventures.

 

[JayB]

Hi Jay,

One quick question, are you using brand names in your domain names?

Jay

 

[OldWelshGuy]

my tip here, set the brandnames up as subfolders or subdomains, that way when the brandaratzi send a C&D letter, you don't lose your entire site.

Also don't forget to split test pages between each type of earning stream, then dump the lesser performers and keep the top performers.

All basic stuff, but often overlooked.

 

[JayB]

doesnt Google see subdomains as a seperate site though, thus loosing out on PR juice?

 

[OldWelshGuy]

subdomains are pretty much the same as subfolders nowadays.

 

[Jay-UK]

Hi Jay,

One quick question, are you using brand names in your domain names?

Jay

Hi JB

No, anything "protected" I would avoid in the domain name, unless you will be solely selling their product and have even ran it past them. There's a number of watch websites that have names in the domain but they only sell the manufacturers watches as a reseller.

J

 

[James.Dunford]

Really good read thanks for posting, if only I could do something similar with my site..!

 

[Jay-UK]

Domain 1 Update

Right, have taken a snap shot from a SERP tracker and my 3 main keywords have stabilised in Google as you can see below

Work to be performed this weekend

- "Do Follow" Lens created on a Web 2.0 Site with a 500 word article about the product which will link back to the website

Anchor Text will be will be the search phrase that is sitting at position 7 in Google. One will be exactly the same, another will be synonymous with it.

- Ezine article created which will link to the Lens AND Website

Anchor Text will be will be the search phrase that is sitting at position 7 in Google. One will be exactly the same, another will be synonymous with it.

- Ezine Article and Lens will be social bookmarked to 50 sites

- RSS will be submitted to 50 RSS Feed Aggregators

Will leave for 2-4 weeks to see results.

Will update results on here every 7 to 10 days

Sales Update - Last 2 days have had total 3 sales, so very pleased with that. Means another £27, so total 36 + 27 in 14 days. Not a bad start.

 

[Kingdingle22]

How are the sites going Jay?

 

[Jay-UK]

going in the right direction - had a slight hiccup on work front which delayed my last article link - but will take some screen shots and post this week. Thankfully - all going well. Orders not that bad tbh -11 in the past 13 odd days which I cannot complain about

 

[JayB]

without giving too much away Jay, what are you selling, is it ebooks or electronic info type thing or physical products?

 

[Jay-UK]

without giving too much away Jay, what are you selling, is it ebooks or electronic info type thing or physical products?

a niche electrical item linked from my Amazon affilaite ID on their site and I get commission on its sale. Nothing too laborious

 

[tranquilsenses]

May one ask which SERF tool you use ?

 

[Jay-UK]

SERP: Sure Rank Tracker - simple to use, stays in your local ip range, and does what it says on the tin.

http://www.link-assistant.com/rank-tracker/

 

[Kingdingle22]

Couple of quick questions Jay-


You've posted your article on Ezine

Is that the only article database you are putting it on?
Why Ezine in particular?

With the social bookmarking, is that to get do-follow links or traffic?
Do you do this manually or using a programme?


Do you only put two links per article?

Thanks,
Zac.

 

So I decided to spend some time on 5 new domains with the intention of them being micro niche and to earn me some money.

My goal is to get at least £250 a site a month in commission and to have them all on Page 1 Google within 3-6 months.

Now I am not an SEO Guru but with a few other online businesses I have picked up a hell of a lot of information over the past 6-12 months. I have been doing various SEO related activities on my other online businesses over the past 3 years and so have learnt a hell of a lot from trial and error. With that I also did a course with Tin Solider on Content SEO [have to say his course is one of very few that is very high quality and you can get results by applying what he says]

Anyway - my reason to post here is a] for information and to maybe help myself and others b]to maybe get ideas on how to better their ranks

Ill be happy to post what I do here and why - as a lot of it is trial and error from experience.

I guess I have got more confident with SEO and Link building after getting some good results with another business of mine which has 5 million plus search queries a month and I am on page one on a lot of them and edging to top 3 very soon.

The domains that I will and have registered will, where possible, have parts of the search term in its domain. I know there is mixed opinion on the true value of this - but from observation and research I would suspect it weights very well when you perform the wider SEO across the site.

So far

- I registered the .co.uk domain, installed WP and added quality content
- Added SEO Platinum Plugin
- Submitted Site Map to Google
- Waited 10 days and then Social Bookmarked to 50 sites

Today I am ranked number 7 in google.co.uk for the products search term which is in the low 1000's per month and have made 7 amazon affiliate sales giving me £36.

I will now create an Article and distribute it to a network that Ive used with great success and then 10 days later bookmark them using BMD and leave it for another 14-21 days

My eventual goal is to have maybe 30-50 of these sites allowing me to make £250 from each per month.

Blimey that sounds like a lot of hard work.

why not 6 decent sites selling your own products instead of settling for the leavings of others.?

Earl

 

[Jay-UK]

Blimey that sounds like a lot of hard work.

why not 6 decent sites selling your own products instead of settling for the leavings of others.?

Earl

total time spent so far I would say is 8-10 Man Hours.

Not that bad tbh and certainly not shy of hard work

 

[Jay-UK]

in caps mate

Couple of quick questions Jay-


You've posted your article on Ezine

Is that the only article database you are putting it on?
Why Ezine in particular?

EZINE, HUB PAGE AND SQUIDOO LENS

With the social bookmarking, is that to get do-follow links or traffic?
Do you do this manually or using a programme?

PROGRAMME

Do you only put two links per article?

YES - NO MORE THAN TWO

Thanks,
Zac.

 

[MASSEY]

I dont think squidoo lenses are do follow anymore,

But some people seem to think that links from sites that are no follow still offer benefit to the site the lens links to.

Is that what you are thinking jay?

 

[Jay-UK]

I dont think squidoo lenses are do follow anymore,

But some people seem to think that links from sites that are no follow still offer benefit to the site the lens links to.

Is that what you are thinking jay?

No Follow DO have value...its a misconception they dont

Also - you need to have a certain score after which they are Do Follow anyway but I dont get too bogged down in that.

 

[marieluy143]

Nice Tips.. Try to use google adsense og adbrites..

 

[MASSEY]

im suprised a site in place 7 earnt you 36 quid, what sort of products are you choosin? i might use you as a template and attept 4 myself, 250 is to much effort and i wouldnt have the time.

 

[Jay-UK]

im suprised a site in place 7 earnt you 36 quid, what sort of products are you choosin? i might use you as a template and attept 4 myself, 250 is to much effort and i wouldnt have the time.

interestingly enough 4 of those sales were on long tail phrases that I didnt even know was ranking well for [Analytics]

Its a site for ONE electrical item in different colours