My niche sites are a constant work in progress. Believe it or not, I’m always trying to make them better. Simultaneously, I work toward simplifying the process.
I used to try and do too much. My plugin count peaked at 75 for one site. While much of the fancy stuff worked to a degree, it didn’t generate revenue quite like publishing informational content targeting long tail keywords.
These days it’s all about content; well-written, helpful, informative, interesting content. As much of it as possible. Some is better than others.
I get plenty of topic inspiration from my life, Quora, various keyword research tools and existing articles/clusters already on my sites. If it’s a topic I’d be interested to read, It gets written. If it’s a topic I can write about intelligently, I write it.
Reverse engineer your topic selection
I’m all for using keyword research tools to find topics and clusters to write about. I’ve done it for years. It’s worked well. I still use them.
For articles I write these days, I start with topics I’m interested about or know about. If I stumble on something that could be good, I buy/take time to figure it out, although I prefer to already be knowledgeable about it. That makes it easier and faster.
For example, if you’re in the pets niche, chances are you chose it because it’s one of those high profile niches. Plenty of folks have done well in the pets niche. Even folks who don’t have a pet.
If you’re now a few hundred articles in on your pets niche site you probably don’t want to bail on it. I wouldn’t. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to take the site to the next level. You probably know what I’m going to say. It’s get a pet. Focus on that pet for the next 500 articles (or more).
If you don’t want a dog, get a cat, hamster, bird, guinea pig, fish, pig, lizard, boa, ant farm… anything.
It won’t take long once you have your pet to become expert. The photos alone will be worth it. You can publish all your own photos. You can buy all the pet stuff you can imagine and earn from affiliate commissions.
What about the auto niche? Focus on the vehicle you have. By the time you’ve exhausted every single topic possible, you’ll probably need a new vehicle. If I had more time I’d write a ton about my truck. Actually, I could squeeze it in but I’m not all that interested in writing about vehicles. I’m more interested in my other niches.
I have more interests and potential niche sites than time. I have to pick and choose. You probably do too.
It is by far the fastest way to crank out a ton of content
When you know the topic or niche well, article writing goes so fast. 1,000 words materialize out of seemingly nowhere. I remember way back when not doing any of this and instead focused more on boring commercial content. It was painful. I’d be tapping away, look at word count and it would only be 300 words.
When I write about topics I know and like, when I come up for air, I’m around 1,000 words. At that point it feels like I just started. Sometimes 1,000 words does the job. Sometimes I just keep on tapping until I hit 2,000, 3,000 or more words.
Whatever your niche, engineer your expertise. Buy, learn, do something relevant to your niche. It’s amazing how much content you can spin out of expertise!
What about content you pay for?
That’s a bit different. I definitely order content that’s based entirely on keyword research. If you work with good writers, they’ll do a good job. More often than, not I ask freelance writers what areas within the niche interests them.
I know many readers of this newsletter write everything themselves. That’s how we get started. It’s how I started. In fact, that’s what makes this biz so great. We literally need nothing except a computer and website hosting. There aren’t many businesses that require so little.
It’s hard enough so why not make it easier?
I’ll end with that when you write about what you know and like, it’s easy. It’s enjoyable. I was emailing a blogging colleague earlier today saying that sometimes I wish I had more time to just write. Some days get away from me running the business… keyword research, hiring, training, tech stuff, testing software, etc. I know I’m fortunate to have a business to run. I built it up as a business because I want to grow into a large publishing business, but I do enjoy the days where I can sit and write articles on topics I like and know… like these emails.
Jon Dykstra is a six figure niche site creator with 10+ years of experience. His willingness to openly share his wins and losses in the email newsletter he publishes has made him a go-to source of guidance and motivation for many. His popular “Niche site profits” course has helped thousands follow his footsteps in creating simple niche sites that earn big.
