I just wanted to update you on my progress for my niche website experiment that I announced about a month ago.
Publishing Content
So far I’ve created about 12 pages for the site, but I have not officially launched them yet. I still need to fine tune some things, proofread and add more images. So right now, the site is still set to noindex/nofollow even though it’s live.
In other words, the site has not been found/indexed by the search engines yet.
As a reminder, I’m using The StudioPress Focus Theme (Genesis Framework). The site will consist of Posts and Pages, but definitely more pages than posts with a static homepage.
For the record, this decision has less to do with search engine optimization and more to do with what makes sense for the structure of my site. I know some people argue that Posts are better than Pages for SEO or vice versa. I disagree and spoke about that here. Content is content. If it gets natural backlinks (internal and external) and becomes popular (social media shares), it will rank. Google doesn’t care whether it’s a Post or Page and I don’t get caught up in the difference from an SEO perspective.
I also want to point out that static does not mean stale. I’ve heard a lot of people say they don’t like using static Pages because Google sees them as dated content.
As long as you are updating your content, your site will be seen as “fresh” in the eyes of the search engines. Also, as your site gets comments, that will also add to the freshness of the page.
So I’m not worried about the site being perceived as “stale” because I’m using more Pages than Posts.
Keywords and Internal Linking
I’m being very careful to make sure my site isn’t over-optimized.
No, I’m not calculating keyword density, counting keywords or anything like that, but I am not repeating the same phrase too often and using lots of variations.
Back in the day I would interlink my pages using the same keywords in every link, but this time I’m making sure to vary my anchor text (the keywords inside the links) so it looks more natural.
My Domain Name
The domain name I chose is not an exact match domain, but it is a partial match.
You may have heard that Google recently penalized some partial match domains. Some argue that you should not register exact or even partial match domains anymore.
I disagree. It’s not that Google is penalizing exact or partial match domains. It’s just that you aren’t going to get the same benefit you would before. So websites that lost some rank did so because there weren’t enough other quality signals to justify the ranking.
So yes, having the keywords in the domain is not as important as it was years ago, but I do try to include them as long as the name isn’t too long and doesn’t sound awkward.
In other words, I would strongly avoid doing something like this…
DeliciousMealsForPeopleWithCeliacDisease.com
I mean really?
Having said that, if you can find a catchy name that is relatively short and includes your important keywords then go for it! Just don’t drive yourself bananas trying to get an exact or even partial match domain name.
Also don’t forget about social media. Even though I am not going to be focusing on that right now, I did make sure to grab a domain that was under 16 characters so I wouldn’t have to chop/abbreviate the name for Twitter.
Tip: If you haven’t started your site yet, check the availability of your potential name on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. before you commit. It’s bad for branding to create different spellings of your name for various accounts.
Google AdSense and Other Monetization
I will not be adding AdSense ads for quite some time. It will be hard to know how much of an impact this will have on SEO but it certainly won’t hurt anything to have fewer ads.
This is the first time I’ve ever done this. Usually I add AdSense ads right away, but I want to try something new with this experiment.
I will be adding a few affiliate links, but I want to keep overall monetization very light — especially in the beginning.
YouTube
I can’t imagine creating a site today without a YouTube channel, so of course that will be part of my strategy.
I have already created four videos and plan to launch them this week when my site officially launches.
Once again, I’m using my “keep-it-real” approach that I believe is missing in this niche.
One of the keys to building up my main YouTube channel in the early days was doing the opposite of what everyone else was doing.
What I mean is there are thousands of videos on YouTube where people talk about how to make money online.
Some of them are legit, others are downright scams. So instead of creating these hyped up videos about getting rich quickly, I created ones that focused on how much time and hard work it actually takes to make money online.
Sure, this doesn’t sound as exciting as “Make $10,000 in Seven Days!” but these videos resonated with a lot of people because there was so much get-rich-quick hype and scams in my niche. People appreciated the honesty.
So I’m taking this same approach with this YouTube channel by tackling some topics that others have already touched upon, but I’m adding my “keep-it-real” approach and addressing more of the myths, dangers, etc.
I really like going this route because it does help you stand out.
Ranking Expectations
As I mentioned in my first post about this experiment, my goal is to get this site to rank on the first page of Google for the main keyword I’m targeting.
This is not going to be easy, especially since SEO has changed so much and as many of you know, I’m not much of a backlink builder.
That’s not to say I won’t do ANY backlink building, but I won’t be doing anything aggressive that could be considered gray or black hat. So I will keep you posted on my strategies in that department.
Right now, I’m just focusing on content.
This is the same approach I took with my experimental site I launched in 2011, and I just noticed this site had a record day on July 7th according to my WordPress.com Stats Plugin.
In case you’re wondering, no, I’m still not manually building backlinks. And even though the site does have some that were naturally created, it doesn’t have very many.
In fact, Google Webmaster Tools is showing ZERO backlinks (odd for a two year old site!) but I know there are some because the referrals show up in my traffic reports and other backlink reporting tools show them.
I guess they just aren’t “important” enough for Google to list or recognize. Who knows?
I’m in No Rush
My methods for building a site are often undesirable by some of my followers because the results are slow. And for the record, I do believe there are ways to rank a website quickly. I’m not denying it’s possible.
I just don’t engage in those aggressive tactics because I believe many are short-lived.
The site referenced above is now two years old and it took about 6 months before it received any worthwhile traffic.
But you know what? I’m OK with that. So far it has escaped all Google updates, and even though the traffic isn’t climbing all that fast, it’s stable.
I’m in no hurry and would rather see results come slow and steady than fast and temporary.
So if you’re following this experiment to see me rank a site in 1 month, you are probably going to be disappointed.
Time Invested
So far, I’ve spent about 5 hours total on the site over the course of a week. That includes writing the content (most pages are between 700 and 1,000 words) and creating/editing the YouTube videos. The video creation and editing took up most of the time.
So I just wanted to give you an update on where I am. I’m getting ready to remove the noindex tag and officially launch my content and videos soon.
If you’re also participating, I’d love to hear about your progress so far!
Good stuff. I don’t blame you for keeping the site private. So many people are too lazy to do their own research and their own work. Screw ’em.
LOL. Yeah I was really on the fence with this decision but glad I did. I’m really tired of copycats and when you have a decent following, it’s inevitable that people will copy (especially if the site does well). I have enough of my stats public, I think it’s OK to keep some things to myself from time to time. 🙂
Like you, I have learned so much by reading your blog. It always amazes me how much there is to learn. I will apply all what I have learned here. thanks for sharing.
It’s so funny because that’s similar to the approach I’m taking with my sites. I gave up the SEO ghost a long time ago but keep up with keyword research just to help me craft the site. I did that with my main site along with commenting and just working to get the word out and I wound up getting PR ranking and more comments. It’s amazing how we get more when we move away from the SEO rigmarole and more towards the “keep it real” approach. Great post, Lisa!
Hi Lisa
I have often wanted to contribute to your article discussions but never had the guts, until now.
Your “howtocreate” blog and website ideas have been inspiring me for about a year now, so much so that I launched my first site on July 1st of this year. And guess what?
Nothing happened!
A month has passed by and Google/bing/yahoo have only indexed a third of my pages and my visitors trickle through. What a relief it was to read this article!
I am happy with the “slow and steady” style you talk about but at the same time it was a relief to know what is in-store for both the short and long term when using this approach.
Hi Lisa,
How do you plan to keep spam off of a new website ? I have like 3 posts on a website that is like a personal blog and I have about 16 users ( all bots ) and I removed the spam posts that were waiting for me to check :/
I plan on creating lots of websites, but spam is gross.
Are you using an Anti Spam plugin like GASP or Aksimet?
That was a dumb question I asked… 😛
Interesting article, I am not working on a niche site. I am working on my own personal blog. It is still fairly new, less than two months. I don’t focus on building backlinks either as I have had several sites penalized in the back. Instead I am focused on writing content.
I will be checking back to see how your niche site goes. As for the YouTube videos, I would much rather watch yours on it takes a lot of hard work to make money online. We all have been lied to in the past by people who say it can happen overnight.
The truth is so much better, although it does not sound as good as overnight success.
Another question. I have revolution slider on my homepage. Can I put adsense in there ?
Please Help.
thank you!
Is there any way to earn money from google adsense besides CPC?
Hey, Lisa thanks for this awesome information. I have question for you, I am new to google adsense and having a bit trouble understanding how system pays me.Especially, RPM i know it fluctuates but am I getting whatever amount of money per 1000 visit at end of the month?
Thank you Lisa for sharing your advice with me. But I don’t know to write to increat rate and traffic! I will study more!
Thank you Lisa for sharing your advice with us. Found your article very informative..
I’ve been doing some experimenting and I noticed my longer pages tend to rank higher and my smaller pages don’t rank as well UNLESS they have more social shares.
I’ve noticed the exact same thing.
Hi Lisa I have done a couple of niche sites to see what I could do with them with mixed success. The world of the niche site has turned out more complicated than I thought it would be. Lee
I am really like your writing here. I am a new blogger. I don’t have much experience on SEO. What i know is posting an article everyday and hope that some of my post will be rank in first page on serch engine. I like to hear and learn from you.
Finally got around to reading this post Lisa, interesting. I recently built a new site concentrating on just content and will wait to see over the coming months how this site does. Looking forward to your results.
Hey Stephen, so what have the results been like so far?
Hey Lisa I’m liking your approach to building websites but will be sharing the url of your site once its complete and ranking in google?
I haven’t decided yet.
Main difference between you and normal niche blog owner is YouTube channel, only few people create YouTube channel for their niche blog to generate traffic and to promote new blog.
Thanks Lisa for sharing this information. Infact that has made me more determine to continue to be patient with my new blog.
Sometimes i feel am not doing enough to promote it.
But i think we all need time to work on things that are important, so at the end we get the desired result (outcome).
Thanks. My blog is sandalili.com. Let me tell you, your blog is never boring…continue the good work
Thanks Lisa for sharing this information. Infact that has made me more determine to continue to be patient with my new blog.
Sometimes i feel am not doing enough to promote it.
But i think we all need time to work on things that are important, so at the end we get the desired result (outcome).
Thanks. My blog is sandalili.com
I always love niche sites and eager to follow your progress. I’m always stuck at link building, maybe cause I’m weak in that area. Hopefully can see your following post soon.
I’m weak in that area too. I never do it so it’s going to be interesting. 🙂
Great post, thanks for the update. I’m checking out the Google Webmaster Tools, thanks for the tip. Looking forward to your next update.
~Cate
Hmmm I think I might be following your progress more than Smart Passive Income’s. As impressive as that monster post on launching a website he created is, I immediately got overwhelmed. I’m not ready to tell everyone about it just yet. I can quietly build the content for now. The slow and steady pace works for me in this case. Thanks for the reminder cause I’m in no rush either, don’t want to take the fun out of it so soon.
You seem to have a talent for site building Lisa. I’ve almost given up on niche sites because I find it hard to constantly churn high quality content. Good luck with your website and Google’s mood swings.
I really like your approach on the YouTube strategy. Every one is always looking for the easy way to make money. I think most people just dont know how, but are willing to put in the effort. I believe your plan will really take off.
Thank you for all the information Lisa. You are one of the best out here. I love the way you break it down so simple even I can understand it 🙂 PlumberX
Noticed how you mentioned this may not be for everyone cuz it’s a slow method.
Your “tortoise over the hare” has certainly worked for you!
darlene
I have read over ten posts on your website today, I have to say you are a really good writer. I am a little new to this blogging thing, I was thinking of starting a new website with a paid webhosting as currently you see i am using a free webhosting. So i just wanted to ask which webhosting are you using and which one’s you would recommend to a new blogger as I was thinking of going with godaddy webhosting.
would you like to give some advice me before i start my new website, and would you please take a look at my current website and tell me what you think if there can be some improvements that I need to make.
I know this is my first comment on your blog and I am asked a lot of questions but your response would be greatly appreciated. and btw best of luck for you new website 🙂
I sent you an email (with helpful links to your questions) cuz I wasn’t sure Lisa wants links in her comment section. The email to you is from VisitDarlene.
About your website:
1) Overall it looks good.
2) Delete left scrolling ads.
3) Your site redirects to something that I have no idea what it’s about. Get rid of that!
darlene
wow really inspiring. and you’ve got a great guide written there. do let us all know how the progress goes. we are all interested
Hi Lisa,
I’ve been trying to create a web sites for a while but I’m still really a newbie at it.
I look forward to following your progress with this one to see how it evolves from nothing to something.
Always inspired by your advice Lisa.
John
Thanks for clearly guide! But I don’t know to write “Call Action”, to increat rate!
Not participating as of yet… but cheering you on!
Thanks Lauryn and I appreciate the share/tweet!
I also agree with all the Tiroberts. Slow and steady really wins the race but, most still don’t believe that. If it comes quick then, it will either not last or, its not legitimate. I’m also happy with your progress Lisa, ride on. Thanks for sharing this with the bizsugar community.
Val
Hey Val, yep. I’m in no hurry. Thanks for the comment!
Great update, Lisa.
I’m glad to see that your project is going well so far and I agree with the approach you’re taking. Slow and steady.
I can’t stand the negative connotation that online marketing has: instant gratification of literal overnight results. That’s so played out and lame. You’d think people would know better by now, but I guess there’s some still in the dark.
Rushing for overnight results is why you have those IM’ers who are raking in 5 figures one month and then barley bringing in a few hundred the next.
Long-term results are much better and more sustainable. I’m glad you’re such an advocate for that and your experiments are great examples of how “slow and steady” wins the race. 🙂
Ti
You got it, Ti! Thanks for coming by. 🙂
Hi Lisa! Thank you for all the information and inspiration you give.
I do have a question though, how many content pages do you plan on adding with in a year? I am just curious about your planned content growth rate. Thanks!
You are a great lady in terms of blogging, I have learn so much from you, especially in having content up to 700 and above. I just need some time to grow and been able to get some of the tools you also use.
Thank u so much Lisa
Hey Lisa,
Great to see the project coming along so nicely. It’s so true that YouTube is a must these days. I’m glad I learned that tip from you 4 years ago. 🙂
Thanks and best wishes.
Hey Ileane! Yes, plus I find video to be so fun. So gotta luv something that is effective but also enjoyable. 🙂
Hey Lisa,
Thanks for posting your experiment. I’ve been brainstorming ideas to participate in the experiment as well. I have found a niche and a domain name that I like very much but the name is more than 16 characters and I don’t know much about SEO competition.
If I go with what I have in mind, I won’t be able to grab the exact same Twitter name but I think I’ll go with it anyway.
In the past I’ve read your stuff and I’ve just been very impressed with your results but I never really asked questions that could help me move in the right direction. Here’s my first question for you in years 😉
Instead of striving to rank #1 for very competitive keywords I’m thinking of going after long tail keywords with a lot of keywords with less competition and fewer monthly searches.
If that’s my objective, do you think I should bother trying to include some of the keyword in the domain name? or can I go with something general enough to account for all the pages that will be included in the website?
Your opinion would be appreciated.
Hey Steven
Long tail is the way to go. I honestly wouldn’t worry too much about getting the keywords in the domain. If you can do it and the name sounds fine, go for it. But it’s not going to help you rank that much anymore. Outside factors like links, etc. count so much more than on page. Go with what you think makes sense for your brand.
Thanks a lot for your answer Lisa. The experiment is on. I am getting my domain name tonight 🙂
Hey Lisa, I know you from the Natural Hair Community, but just recently (last several weeks) became familiar with this website. I’ve enjoyed the site thus far and see that you’re obviously very talented. Like you, I have a few niche sites and have followed Pat, Spencer and a few others. Even though my natural hair site takes the most time, I make most of my money from niche sites. So, I will be following along to see what tips I can pick-up along the way. I wish you best. Take care.
Kenneth
Hey Kenneth,
I will have to check out your natural hair site. Thanks for stopping by!
Well done Lisa, i have the same experiment as you. because i’m creating a new website so it requires a lot of work in the beginning.. in today’s niche selection, you have to be very careful what you involving yourself in.
Yes, it’s not as easy as it used to be. Good luck!
Thank you for sharing this to your readers Lisa. This is very informative. And this is so timely, I plan to create a niche website, and I guess I will follow this experiment of yours. I mean, I will gonna use more pages than posts… I guess it would be to obvious for me not updating my site if I am using posts… yeah, it’s better this way! Wish you another success Lisa! Anyways, thank you again for providing us the updated html color code generator… I always use it and I bookmarked that page!
LOL, that is one of my most popular pages on my site! Glad you found it useful. 🙂
This is a great way to inspire others to start a site and what to expect Lisa. I may be doing a new one in the coming year and this is good stuff to follow and understand. Interesting about the longer posts not always ranking higher too.
Hey Lisa,
Yeah I’ve heard others say the opposite but there is definitely a correlation when I look at pages that rank the highest. Those pages also tend to have more shares via social media so it may be that the more detailed pages are getting more shares, thus causing them to rank better.
Hi Lisa,
You are a great inspiration for me. I’ve had a dedicated Youtube channel a few years now in the past had received several requests for some videos from my trip to Egypt. My new site is in Norwegian and is the theme small family trips. “Minitur” I’ve called it. I use many of your tips and follow intently on what to do in the future.
1-Have you ever got in trouble with google over adsense? I’m reading reports all over the place that google’s a messy business partner. What’s your take?
2-Seriously, you write all your contents yourself or just some?
I’m particpating in this niche site project, it’s my first one and I’m far ahead of you 🙂
20 articles posted by now…all were outsourced. The editing was killing. No backlinking at all
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to howit goes with you.
Hi Viv,
I would love to know how you get on with posts/a blog outsourced. My skills derive from seeking out the very best people to do a job and building an awesome team around me. I’m the glue that sticks it all together if you like.
I’m worried an outsourced blog won’t be as good. What are your thoughts Lisa?
Hi Emily
Good question. Outsourcing can be tricky. It depends on the tone of the blog. For example, that wouldn’t work here because I blog about my personal experiences. So I want it to have a personal approach.
What kind of site is it going to be? If it’s more of a corporate/professional feel then outsourcing may be fine, but if it’s more casual/personal you might want to reconsider this.
Hi Lisa, I can’t wait to see your post about link building.
You are doing all things in right ways because it is true if you will do over optimization for your site/blog then you can need to pay something which will hurt your site/blog and once your site/blog will hurt by Google then you will need to give more time to maintain site’s or blog’s reputation again.
Hi Lisa,
even though this is the first time i have seen this article. I am building a site the same way. I am not in a hurry to backlink. I am in a niche that i love. My content is the very best that i can write. Hopefully this website will do good,as i spent a lot of time on it.
I would wish you good luck, but I doubt you need it, haha! On my blog I make casual posts that are hardly more than 300 words long. Is this bad for rankings? I really don’t want to have to write essay-long posts every time I want to mention something on my blog.
I’ve been doing some experimenting and I noticed my longer pages tend to rank higher and my smaller pages don’t rank as well UNLESS they have more social shares.
I am finding that out also. And i found that i rank high for other long tail keywords other than my post title. Less than two weeks and my site is number 5 in Google search for a long tail keyword that wasn’t in article. So i added information about what the long tail was asking.
I mostly do smaller posts as well and have only just started increasing the amount of content in each post. I always thought that many smaller post were better than one very long one, but I guess I will find out which is best soon.
Great post. I am trying to work my new site in the same way and hoping
to get video up and going soon. Very interested in your future findings. My site is in a competitive niche so it’s getting traffic slowly..but it is building. Just put adsense on it after it had been up for about 5 months. We’ll see….
Great to hear Lori!
Good information Lisa, it is good that you are applying some of the lessons you have learned in the past.
I am also designing a new project so I try to read good perspectives and ideas. Thanks for sharing. This is a well written article and inclusive.
Good luck on your new site Michael.
wow very interesting i got some new ideas here thank you lisa and I wish you success in your career take care lisa
Mourchid : Morocco Kingdome
Thanks Mourchid