Building Niche Websites – It Works!
Let's Build!
It has gone awfully quite around here lately…. I have been busy with other things! To be more specific, I came across a couple of posts on two of my favorite blogs, PeterLee’s Work From Home Business Blog and Paul’s Money Making Schemes Blog which sort of ripped the blinds of my eyes regarding something I have pretty much known all along. And that is – building niche websites is the way to go!
See, the first big thing I learned when starting out with making money on the Internet was how to build my own first niche website. I had it up and running about half a year after I started looking into earning money from home. It’s my site about Beach Theme Home Decor. It’s pretty much a static site, I have 9 pages up (plus a site map and a resources page), and each of the pages has been optimized for one keyword phrase. I was working on this site for a couple of months, did link exchanges with other sites, and submitted it to directories using Directory Maximizer. I wrote a few Squidoo lenses on different beach themes, a few articles and submitted them to Ezine articles, and that’s about it.
As I built the site on a WordPress platform, I created “pages” instead of posts, and I have a little blog running in the background where I post whenever there is anything interesting I have to say about the beach or related themes. Which I do about once a month.
Because I did my initial keyword research right and I optimized each page separately for one keyword, this site is on page #1 or 2 of Google for a few of my keywords. About 90% of all the traffic I get is from the Search Engines. That’s pretty cool! And with this traffic my website is making me between $100 and $250/month in revenue ($100 is on really bad months – not very often). That’s when you combine Google Adsense, Amazon and ebay affiliate earnings.
So to me, this is working. And I have seen this beforehand, I just got sidetracked into trying other things, to make more money sooner. Guess what, it hasn’t happened! So when I read the posts on PeterLee’s and Paul’s blogs about building niche sites, I came back full circle and went “YES – that’s exactly what I should concentrate on!!!! Because I can SEE that it works!”.
What I find extremely attractive about building niche sites is this:
- no need to constantly update or post new things – it’s not a blog! It’s enough to change something little once in a while, that’s it.
- you do the work once, and then can have recurring income for years to come. True, each site might not bring in much by itself, but over time the site building process can be repeated in your own time, and that means your income will slowly build up over time.
- you don’t have to build monster sites, or maintain a newsletter or email list – you just have your site up and let it do the work.
See, I hate to have to constantly think about “What am I going to write next” – it stresses me out (I hope you will appreciate my honesty here). I do not like writing. It might sound ok once it’s on paper, but it sure as hell costs me a lot of thoughts, time and sweat to get it on paper. It takes me a LOOOOOOOG time, and that’s something I really don’t have enough of. Same with list building. Fair enough, I believe that all the big gurus are making their big bucks by building huge lists and by marketing to them via email. That’s great. Just – I can’t (don’t want to) do it. It’s even more stress for me – something else to think about and write!!!! 😮
So I have decided to get back to what I can do and like doing, and that’s building niche websites, one at a time, and get them up and running properly, and start making some more money! And I am going to use niches with REAL things to buy, just like my beach decor site.
So here is how I have equipped myself now and what I have done so far to get the job done as professionally as possible, with the least amount of time:
-
Micro Nice Finder
I got myself MicroNicheFinder, a great keyword research tool. It has been recommended via several sources, and I actually had it sitting on my computer for about a year, unused (!), but I have decided to put it to good use now. Micro Niche Finder really takes a lot of time out of keyword research and comes with some great features. It will also tell you whether you should go for a keyword phrase or whether it will be fruitless and you might be wasting your precious time because of the competition! That’s extremely valuable.
I got myself XSitePro 2. This is a fantastic web design software even somebody like me can use to create great looking professional websites in a very short time (I always take a bit longer, but that’s because I am stuck with the content, not the design 😉 ) Sure, you could do the same with a WordPress blog – like I have done before-, but I want to do this on a professional level now, and XSitePro 2 still gives you more options than a WordPress blog. I have also read several times that Google really likes sites that have been created by the software, which is always a plus!- I have registered a new domain name (I’m not telling!) and have started building my next site. At the moment I am stuck at – writing content (who’d have guessed 😉 ) ! BTW, if you want to register a new domain, check out these Domain Coupon Codes – I registered my new domain for 2 years which would have cost me $21 but with the domain coupon codes it only cost me $14, and I think that’s cool!
So, this is what I am up to right now, and why it has been a bit quiet around here. As I mentioned before, some of my favorite fellow successful bloggers have started doing the same, and they know what they are doing. And I have seen the success you can have with niche sites first hand (mind you, mine is a very little fish!), so for me that’s the way to go from now on.
You should think about it – seriously. It works. Might not be bringing in millions for a while, but you can build yourself a nice and steady income in a fair amount of time.
Category: Niche Websites
About the Author (Author Profile)
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Comments (128)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
Sites That Link to this Post
- Outsourcing – It Can Take A Load Off Your Back – Petra-Weiss.com | November 1, 2009
- Building Niche Websites – Progress Report – Petra-Weiss.com | December 31, 2009
- Bump Up Your Niche Site With The Right Backlinks – Petra-Weiss.com | April 29, 2011
- Micro Niche Finder: Get Fair Reviews, Coupons and Special Offers! | December 24, 2011
Hi Petra,
Great post! Thank you for the information and the links on building a niche website. I do want to look more into this concept as I wrap my head around this whole internet marketing thing!
So much to learn, so little time! 🙁
John and Dave have just launched a new website software to help with niche website building called Multi Profit Websites. I have done a website in it. I still don’t know what I am doing yet but the admin is really easy.
I have heard of a few people recommending “Xsitepro” I think I should check that out also now.
Hope all is going great. See you back here soon.
Jacinta 😀
.-= Jacinta Dean´s last blog ..My Internet Business Daily Tasks 5-10-09 =-.
My main income also consists of niche sites and I think it is a great method to make money since your are helping the visitor at the same time.
The big question is how long it will work? Since more and more people are creating thousands of websites each day the niches are getting more and more difficult to conquer.
.-= Stefan´s last blog ..Todoist Saves My Day =-.
Yes, indeed. Building niche sites works. I use Micro Niche Finder and easily find more niches and keywords than I will ever be able to use.
.-= Margaret @ Wall Coat Rack´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.
MIcroNicheFinder is really a great keyword research tool and got wonderful features as well.
Hi Petra,
I like your post and how you lay it open talking about yourself.
Niche marketing does work if you know what you’re doing. You clearly do.
If you can keep on building small niche sites like the one you already have you will keep making more and more money.
But picking the right niche is where the test comes. Like anything else there is always a catch to overcome.
I’m glad that you can now focus on what you like doing insead of chasing the next thing.
There are so many things one can do online that other people have succeeded and are succeeding in.
Most of us, including myself would like to do all of them. Well. in the end we need to choose just one method and run with it.
This is what I’ll have to do as well but it is not easy to give up things that I’ve invested in.
Vance
.-= Vance@nutrition for young athletes´s last blog ..4 Ways To Stop Your Young Athlete From Eating Junk Foods =-.
Hi, I am really inspired with you about this topic you posted. I am wondering how you manage your time. Cause you are very industrious and you are not stopping from working online, and this really great. I am working online too, but I can’t make my works very good cause I am having a hard times in managing my time in working and in studying. Can you give me some tips on managing my time..? I hope you will give me some.. Thank you for this article..
Hi Zurich, I wish I could give you some tips, but I work in little snippets at a time whenever I have time, I am also very inefficient with my time. One thing I have just started to do though is instead of working long hours at night (unproductive as I am very tired), I go to bed around 10pm now and get up at 5am (I used to get up at 6:45m), that way I get nearly 2 hours solid work in every day. In those 2 hours I do whatever I need to do first – study, or work on our “brick and mortar” business, or work on my Internet Business. It seems to work for me so far. It gives you a better feeling for the whole day, too, as you have already achieved some of the things you had to do. Hope this helps!
I have always read about the good results of niches, but the real important thing is to target the right long tail keywords. I don’t know MicroNicheFinder, but these kind of tools are the first step for a successfull niche site.
I like your post and it truly help me out.Niche websites are typically small websites (usually less than 100 pages) clearly focused on a corner of a particular market. They are not only an ideal way to build an online business website, they are probably the best way.
this is great to earn from niche websites and MIcroNicheFinder is a fantastic tool , i must say.online money is the best option in this tough economy.
The idea of building niche websites is really wonderful.By having your own niche website, you have a lot of advantages:
1. You own a website on a specific topic – you are already one step ahead other webmasters
2. You have less competition – your website is created for a specific category of visitors
3. You can earn more money – you can earn much more money by owning a niche than owning an usual website
There are advantages to building multiple niche websites instead of just a single site. But first, consider if this is the right step for your internet marketing business. If you have several niche interests that you can truly, genuinely offer valuable service for, then multiple niche sites could be a good match for you.
This is completely off topic but I hope it will get approved.
Help raise money for cancer research, read my last blog post to find out how.
.-= Jim Clary´s last blog ..Help Drew Carey support cancer =-.
@Jim, I have approved your post even though it is off topic because it is for a good cause.
Love your post and it helped me tremendously!
I started to learn how to build niche sites & Squidoo lenses with the help of Amy Bass, The Niche Blogger and Pot Pie Girl, One Week Marketing. I only built 1 site and it didn’t do as well as yours.
So, since I lost my job 2 wks ago I found myself feeling desperate and that’s when everything seemed to fall apart. Like you, I was trying to find a better way or faster way to make money. (I don’t think there’s a better way, either.)
Even though my 1st niche site didn’t do well, it made a little which proved to me it can work. I just need to build more sites and pick better keywords, I believe.
My point is I wanted to say Thanks! Thanks for reminding me of several things and for helping me to get back on track. Your post couldn’t have come at a better time.
Thanks Again! :=)
@MK, have a look at building niche websites like I suggest in my post Building Niche Websites – It Works!. It might interest you because you will not have to update your site constantly. You will be able to start building a little bit of income at a time and it will become more and more the more sites you create. And again – literally no updating which is a biggie for me.
Really building those king of websites is really very impressive work because here you can earn lot of money and get a huge traffic by simply making a website. Anyways thanks for your interesting post.
Hi Petra, glad you “found the way home”, also if we use different tools we agree in one point, niche web sites are the way to go! BTW, kleiner Tip unter “Landsmaenninen”, viele Nischen die im englischsprachigen Internet schon ausgebeutet sind, sind noch voellig unbearbeitet im deutschen 😉 Unterstuetzt MicroNicheFinder auch andere Sprachen? Noch ein anderer Tip, Market Samurai tut auch das, SY
.-= hospitalera´s last blog ..No Blog Posts =-.
@hospitalera, I found your missing comment!!! 😉 Danke fuer die Tips….
Did my last comment eaten by akismet? SY
.-= hospitalera´s last blog ..No Blog Posts =-.
@hospitalera, I think the monkeys got it! I can’t remember seeing a comment from you, – I really value what you have to say on your blog so I would definitely approve anything you have to say on mine! Sorry about “losing” your comment….
Hi Petra,
Thanks for the mention. Yes building Micro Niche websites is pretty exciting because you are building a virtual real estate, an adsense empire. Build horizontally not vertically – it’s easier to make a large number of websites that do ok than it is to make 5 that dominate their particular market.
So far I’ve now built 4 niche sites and all of them are pretty much set it and forget it type. I’m also using xsitepro2 and I too am such a noob at creating templates so buying it was a necessity and I never regretted it. I rely on both MNF and xsitepro to build many more niche sites. I wish I could build more to grow my empire but as usual time or lack of time is always my biggest problem. How’s your niche site doing?
@Peter Lee, I have the same problem as you – TIME! I can’t believe you have already 4 sites up! But what I really like about this building micro niche sites is the “set and forget” part – I am struggling so much with updating my blogs on a constant basis, so a site which will have a few pages which I might need to slightly change once a month or so suits me fine! I am still in the process of building my first site, and I was close to launching the first 3 pages, but now XSitePro has crashed on me so I am trying to sort out what happened (maybe I went too wild with Amazon links hahaha..). But the support at XSitePro is really good so I hope to be up and running again shortly. I have not quite stuck to what XFactor says in his Adsense Mastercourse but am building a site with ebay and Amazon links and a bit more “depth” to it. Once that site is up and running, I will start driving traffic for a couple of weeks, and when it hits page 1 on Google (and it will!) then I am on to the next site, just like you. I am very excited about the whole thing!
Petra,
We could be related, lol! I have the same issue with writing, and I was an excellent writer in school and beyond. However, the past 4 years in my job, sooooo boring and unproductive and I don’t write in it, so you lose it! I also took the adsense mastercourse, and funny thing about that is he focuses on mini sites but has sinced said in the forum that he never supported thin affiliate sites! What? I quoted him directly from his course, but apparently he has since changed his tactics, said they start off small and builds each one up to 100 pages. I said let me know when the updated version comes out. Hmmm.
Lisa recently posted…Stop Spamming
Lisa, that’s interesting! I would like to know whether you have been able to build up any sites with the Adsense Mastercourse, and whether you are successful with them. Could you let me know? You can also just send me an email…
Lisa, that is kind of funny… Can you please let me know when the updated version comes out, too? That would interest me. If you don’t forget, that is… which I could totally understand! We have to have so much in our minds these days, a lot seems to fall through the big “siev”.
well great post.i am beginner in this internet marketing thing and i am searching for various ides and finally i got them and seems very useful thanks to you.keep posting.
Building a money making website is not very hard task, if you will follow some tips you can make it easily. About your post it was really very informative . Anyways keep it up and keep sharing.
.-= ANSH@ACDSee coupons´s last blog ..Special offer =-.
Hi Petra, doesn’t matter, I’ll try again 😉 I think what I wrote was along the lines of “welcome back to the club of niche marketers” and a reminder that a niche that is highly competitive in English might be far less competitive in our native language, try it out, it works like a charm 😉 SY
.-= hospitalera´s last blog ..What is WBSD? =-.
@hospitalera, thanks for the tip!!!
@Petra
Sag mir Bescheid wenn Du ein paar deutschsprachige Seiten online hast und falls du an einem Linkaustausch interessiert bist 😉 SY
.-= hospitalera´s last blog ..What is WBSD? =-.
@hospitalera, an einem Linkaustausch bin ich immer interessiert – meinst Du, wenn ich deutschsprachige Seiten habe, oder jetzt zwischen unseren Internet Marketing blogs? 😉 Habe noch nicht ueber deutschsprachige Seiten nachgedacht… Hmmmm… Hast Du welche?
Petra, I really enjoyed the honesty you shared in your post. Yes, writing is hard and takes a lot of work! I much prefer to spend my time researching niches and building simple sites. Welcome to the party!
.-= Rebecca@santacostumes´s last blog ..Santa Claus Costume =-.
@Rebecca, I think we are on the right track – finally!
Lot of interesting links and information in just one post. Can’t ask for more!!
.-= Gouri@quotes´s last blog ..PageRank updated for October, 2009 =-.
that’s great to earn from niche websites and MIcroNicheFinder is a fantastic tool , i must say.online money is the best option in this tough economy
@Ich meine hauptsaechlich fuer deutsche Seiten, und ja ich habe eine fertig 😉 Schick mal email, will die hier nicht so den Augen des Internets preisgeben. SY
really a great blog thanks for providing this wonderful information i was searching for this and finally i got it because i am a novice in this niche markets and i learned many key points here.thanks for sharing.
The problem with niche sites is you have to have the knowledge. If you do, then go for it!
.-= Tempo dulu´s last blog ..This doesn’t add up =-.
@Tempo dulu, that’s what I always thought, too. But that’s not true… you can outsource the content just like I did with my new site about Mens Wrist Watches, and off you go! I had no idea about mens watches (still don’t), and I could not write a thing about it. To me it is all the same. So let somebody else write and you put it on your site.
This is just a great post. I’ve been building niche blogs for the past year. Just like you said although they dont bring in much individually but collectively they bring enough to make a full time income.
.-= John´s last blog ..Do-Follow Blog, CommentLuv, KeywordLuv =-.
@John, you’ve got it! That’s what I am aiming for now. I see you have just started a new site on crockpots… 😉 Good Luck with it!
Hi Petra, great post. I only recently got into Internet Marketing, and it was actually through XFactor’s course. As someone more experienced at this, I was wondering if you could answer a question – do you find that it takes your sites a certain amount of time to mature in Google? Or can you expect to be hitting the front page within a few days? I’ve built a few sites, which are generally hovering around position 10, but I’m not sure whether I should put more time into trying to improve their rankings, or whether I should leave them for a couple of months to see if Google moves them up naturally as the sites get older. What would you recommend?
@Pete, that’s a bit of a hard one. If you are on position 10, that’s already a really good result, but I think I would try to work on the site a little to get it up higher. You might be lucky and Google decided to put your site higher, but if not then you miss out. It can’t hurt to put more time into trying to improve the ranking of a site. I think it’s an ongoing process, just once you are high up it might not require as much maintenance as before. Like, my blog about Beach Decor is high up on page 1 for several keywords, and I still build some backlinks to it occasionally. Work never stops, because if it does, your site will sure lose rank over time.
From my experiences, niche site / blog worked well before. However, as the quality of site keep growing, that is very difficult to rank for the site that have too few of pages. What is your opinion, Petra?
.-= Nebula@Digital photo frames´s last blog ..Kodak EasyShare S5101 5.6? Inch Digital Picture Frame Review =-.
@Nebula, I am actually not quite sure what you are asking…?
In order to get your site noticed on the Internet you need to get noticed on the search engines. for which you have to create niche websites.well i got many key points here.thanks for these tremendous tips.
Hi Petra,
Just a quick Thank You for finding my comment and to tell you that I got your email, unfortunately I was ill the last ten days or so and have to play “catch up with emails etc” again ;-( Will try to answer today! SY
PS Don’t understand this “If you register your site for free at show more” regarding keywordluv???
.-= hospitalera@Gummi Crib Rail´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.
Thanks Petra, I guess you’re right in that it can’t hurt to put some more work into it – if Google decides to give it a boost anyway then that’s just a bonus! Like I say, I’m very new to this, so at the moment I’m still learning the ropes and trying to figure out how to get a site ranked number 1 for some pretty uncompetitive terms. But I figure if I can crack it once, I can do it again and again, and begin to build an empire!
I struggled online for until I learned about tightly focused niche websites. I started making money right away once I started building them.
I use MicroNicheFinder for finding my niches. Before using MNF it would takes days of research to find several good keyword phrases. Now I can find dozens of them in under an hour. And the phrases I do find now start making more money faster. I highly recommend it!
.-= Steve @ Self Hypnosis Weight Loss´s last blog ..Hypnosis MP3 Weight Loss Programs =-.
Thanks for the advice Petra, I have been looking into Micro Niche sites for a while. I have been relying on Squidoo lenses or Blogspot so far but am dubious about the success you can gain form these.
Off topic slightly but I came across some research recently that had tested the relevance placed on Squidoo, Blogspot and WordPress.com blog/micro sites and the research posted some rather interesting results. Apparently, blogspot performs better in Google rankings! I should not be that surprised….it is owned by Google! Just thought that may be of interest for anyone thinking of using one of these as a source of traffic linking to their main site.
Back to my original question.
Do you think it is better to use X Site 2 rather than install wordpress and use their templates. I used X Site 2 for my original website and yes, it is very easy to use and learn but I had trouble with setting up a blog that would allow comments etc. WordPress allows you the functionality of using open source widgets and plug-ins and you can set up a professional looking site in a very short time.
In you professional opinion, which of the two would you recommend?
I have been thinking of changing my http://www.practicaldietarysadvice site from X Site 2 to wordpress due to the advantage of it’s plugins.
Thanks for your help.
Darren
@Darren, at the moment I am still in the very early stages with my XSitePro project – btw, it looks like you have the same template on your site as I have on mine, have a look: Mens Wrist Watches! How about that! Anyway, as I am still very new to XSitePro I am not quite comfortable with the system yet, I know WordPress a lot better. So I don’t know how setting up a blog would work with XSitePro. I will keep working with XSitePro as I want to learn to really master it, and I can see its benefits, but I am still a huge fan of WordPress also. Right at the stage where I am at now I would still recommend WordPress since I feel a lot more comfortable with it.
I would actually say to run a blog WordPress would be the better option. For a static Website go with XSitePro. How’s that?
Thanks for your reply. I have become pretty familiar with XSitePro now, though not an expert. I am reasonably new to wordpress but loving its ease and flexibility.
You are no doubt right, WordPress is easy to use and fast to set up but has limitations for big static sites. XSitePro I found pretty user friendly and easy to tweak, probably easier than WordPress and yes, Google does like XSitePro created sites. They have great internal linking/silo structures.
I will continue to use both.
We have indeed used the same template! Though as we have both adapted them they both look unique!
@Darren, I will continue to use both WordPress and XSitePro, too, they are both great platforms each with their own pros and cons. I think we have picked the best ones!
I learned of the niche website concept after I created my first website, some 7 years ago. My initial goal was to provide information – making money with it wasn’t even a thought. Since then, after learning of niche sites, I was able to tailor my first site to be more “nichey”. A hard lesson learned.
I don’t use any of the tools you mentioned, although I am strongly considering the Micro Niche Finder. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, as I have a few ideas that I would like to see if they are feasible.
I agree wholeheartedly Petra. Niche sites are the way to go. Being able to build a site that will earn you money for years to come, is a prime example of working smarter not harder.
I’m all about being smart!
Thanks for the post.
.-= David @ Inexpensive Gifts for Men´s last blog ..Christmas Gifts for Men =-.
My view is making money on internet is never easy & it’s not like get rich quick scheme, But hardworking & reliable resources are required. I have heard about keyword academy but haven’t joined it yet, But i think it’s time for me to join it. Thanks for you post, it was really helping.
Errr, this is a great article! You know, I’ve listened to podcasts and been sold to by sales letters and been emailed by numerous gurus, but this article really hits the nail on the head for me.
Fact is, for most niche sites, I’m lazy! I’m like you in that I hate having to think about what to write next. I’m so impulsive that when I’m writing something I’m actually thinking about my next niche idea and not the one I’m currently working on.
Niche marketing is a great way to build multiple streams of income and it just shows how great it is because you’re earning $100 – $250 on a beach theme home decor site. I’ve never even heard of that before yet people are buying stuff to make their homes look like an Hawaiian hotel, I guess?
I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to be one of those “list builders” too!
On a side note: I’ve had about 10 newsletter emails today from the gurus all recommending that I buy Product Launch Formula 2.0! I don’t want to be another one of them because I hate being told to buy stuff when they promised me their product was all I’d need in the first place!
.-= Roy@Hostgator Coupon HQ´s last blog ..How To Get Hostgator Hosting For $0.01 Using A Coupon =-.
@Roy, I get slammed every day with emails promoting more and more IM stuff. I’ve had it. I have had my overfill over the past 2 years and have FINALLY realized that it doesn’t hurt me one bit if I don’t get the newest thing out there. Heck, I often bought stuff just to realize a couple of months later that I still hadn’t looked at it! Guys, one advice: UNSUBSCRIBE!!!
@Roy
I can you understand you so well! I have a limitless flow of great new ideas and really have to force myself not to simply buy more and more domains, but also to actually build the sites and write the content! SY
.-= hospitalera@oes tsetnoc´s last blog ..Time is money, don’t waste it! =-.
Great advice, Petra.
Often, when I do buy the product I regret it anyway because it contains the exact information that I already knew and I’m left disappointed!
I don’t know why we all look for that magic bullet when the real recipe for success is looking within yourself and believing that you can achieve it.
I’m done with all these lists too. No offense to the people writing them, but they don’t provide much value and only serve to line their pockets.
.-= Roy@Hostgator Coupon HQ´s last blog ..How To Get Hostgator Hosting For $0.01 Using A Coupon =-.
@Roy, you are just so right! I have bought countless books just to discover that I know what’s in them already. And I don’t want to try and keep building lists, I am just not that type of person.
Great Post, I would like to exchange links with you, here is my Blog
.-= Mark Stoler´s last blog ..5 Proven Methods to Building Traffic =-.
Thanks Petra for a very informative post on mini-sites. It makes sense the way you have laid it out. By the way, is the secret new domain something “timely”? How is that going?
No need to reply to that, I found your post about the new domain. It is looking good so far then.
.-= Geoff@positive thinking´s last blog ..Jan 13, Power of Positive Thinking =-.
Geoff, I have the site up and running since about a month and a half, it’s Mens Wrist Watches Online and you can find a link to it in my sidebar, too. At this stage it is all about traffic, the site has not much traffic yet at all as it is so new. But I have earned a few dollars from it already, through ebay and Adsense.
Hi Petra
What a great site, I’ve just come across your site by chance having been learning the IM market for a few months. You talk in plainn English with common sense. I love your honest talk about your niche site and its progress – I wish you well.
You’ve inspired me to actually take the plunge and do something especially after your warm support for elance and outsourcers.
many thanks and keep up th egreat work.
Nick
Nick, thank you for your kind words! It is great to see that my site is providing value for others. 🙂
Hi Petra
I saw in your post that you aid you used wordpress for your site. I love the site and its unique design
Any chance you could give me a pointer or tip on how to do this. I’ve looked at some of their themes and third party ones too. Did you hav this designed especially or did you ake some alterations to an already existing theme?
any help would be great.
may thanks
Nick
Nick, I use PrimePress, you will find a link to the theme in the bottom of my site. I only changed some of the header graphics. If you do not know how to set up a wordpress blog, please contact me per email at petra@petra-weiss.com and I will see how I can help you.
$14 for 2 years? That is a steal! I am paying $10 per year for Blogger blog domains. You don’t need Micro Niche Finder because it is no different than Google’s free keyword tool. You can find out the Commercial Intent of the keyword with Microsoft Adcenter Commercial Intent tool, and you can find out the strength of your competitors with SEO For Firefox (free Firefox plugin). Save yourself some money!
.-= Kai@SEO Company´s last blog ..Keywords That Sell =-.
Hi,
Great post about niche websites. You’ve had fantastic results for your beach theme site.
I’m now following your blog and look forward to more updates on this subject, plus your other posts.
Best Regards
.-= Andrew´s last blog ..Food & Drink Challenge – Week 2 =-.
Neat! I know almost like nothing about niche building, so that is really great to hear more about it, and how apparently it is the way to go these days! I am gonna try this out, thanks.
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..How to Take Action Photography =-.
Petra, Glad to know I’m using some of the tools you recommend. They all work great – I couldn’t live without MicroNicheFinder! Thanks for all the great advice and keep up the good work!
Oops – I goofed on the KeywordLuv thing – neat tool!
.-= Seth@ETF Trading´s last blog ..03/05 – ETF Trading – Gains on FXI, FXP =-.
Petra, I’m glad I use all the tools you use. I couldn’t live with out Micro Niche Finder. Thanks for all your great advice and keep up the good work!
.-= Seth@ETF Trading´s last blog ..03/05 – ETF Trading – Gains on FXI, FXP =-.
I’d love to know more about your experience with the micro niche finder software.
Wow you’re earning $100 and above with your site I’m jelous I’ve not tried amazon and ebay just only adsense and my earnings per month is around $50-$60 only 🙁
Regards,
Vins
Petra i just wanna ask you one thing that niche blog is enough for making money or i have to do something different. I did all the keyword research related task and write relevant content for it.
Your post is really informative and i learnt a lot from it.
Marry, a lot of work goes into niche blogs at the beginning, and each of them will probably earn a fairly small amount of money, but if you have several blogs then the money will start getting more serious.
Hi Petra,
I love your site, lots of great content on Keyword Research and niche building here, and you put a lot of work into the site and that keeps one coming back of course. I wish you continued success with your sites. I am a CR member as well. Gotta love Brian Johnson.
I too recommend Micro Niche Finder, so much simpler that Google.
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Employer’s Market vs. Employee’s Market =-.
Niche websites are better for affiliate marketing, you will get targetted traffic from Seach Engines! I love Micro Niche Finder!
.-= Slim Weight Patch´s last blog ..Proactol Review =-.
Good information, I use niche sites myself and find them incredibly helpful. Also, making good titles and descriptions makes it all the better.
FreeMicrosoftPoints recently posted…How to get Free Microsoft Points
Yes you are right! There is no need to constantly update your blog, all you need to do is to update your readers once there is an update for your business. But if you really love writing, you can just create a sub-blog that you can then link to your main one. This is really great! Others keep on saying that you should have at least new artcles to keep your reader and follower but then, that may be true but not really the essential thing.
I have just started to do this a bit. I have been able to pick out a few niches I think I can do well with and bought urls that will hopefully automatically rank. Its just a test for now but if it works! I will be one happy camper.
Good Luck to you! My biggest problem at the moment is to find another niche I actually want to write about… 😉
That’s one good way to start, our best and cheapest niche finding tool would still be our brain. You may spend some time with all the research and all, but once you hit the jackpot, it’ll all be worth it. You can try choosing niches you think you have passion in, something you would love to spend hours talking about or teaching people about. People always come online for answers or solutions, most of the time, it’s the best way to get them.
niche websites still work but is hard to find a good niche, sometimes can go well, sometimes the niche is too competitive to rank high or you rank high but there is little traffic.
Cole Stan recently posted…Traditional Gifts for a 25thSilver Wedding Anniversary
Petra, you might get some great ideas from Amazon.com sometimes I get the best ideas from the products that interest me. Good luck
Lisa recently posted…Stop Spamming
What i like to add is use blogs to your advantage. Publishing your blog with RSS feeds and updating it regularly will ultimately increase the visibility of your website.
Guitar recently posted…Learn to play guitar – What Are The Parts Of Your Guitar
Hi Petra, I have read this article a couple of times in the past and then again today. I use it as confirmation to keep plugging away trying to find a niche market and to build a website. After 3 months of trying affiliate marketing my email box gets jammed now with all kinds of offers and programs that claim they will drive traffic to my site and make me millions. I also get inundated with claims from all kinds of people that they have discovered the key to making money online, there are always photos of cheques etc. If I discovered the secret to making millions on line, or even hundreds for that matter I’m not sure why I would want to let everyone in on the secret. I can only assume that most of these people have discovered the key to getting people to buy their various get rich schemes. As always, thanks for your posts.
Seb recently posted…Pedometer Watches and Pedometers Their Uses and Features
Seb, forget about all the offers you get in your inbox, unsubscribe from all the newsletters that just try to promote something to you, and concentrate on building backlinks to your site, commenting on other blogs and being active in forums. It’s the long winded legwork that will in the end succeed. Everything else is just hype.
It is not easy to build a website if you do not have any idea on where will you be placing it. But there are a lot of people who earned a lot of money because they had chosen an appropriate niche.
I’ve learned something new today. Though I’ve seen so many sites similar to this one, I never knew that this falls in niche website category. I hope I could learn more from it. Would you mind sharing us your ideas on how you actually choose your niche?
MikeRamsey recently posted…Tips On How To Stop Excessive Sweating
Hi Petra, Thanks for your response. I will do as you you recommemd . If I were to try and read all the emails I get, I would be reading all day. Part of me doesn’t want to miss out on something that might be good, but I wouldn’t know if it was anyway without spending a lot of money I don’t have.
Seb recently posted…Pedometer Watches and Pedometers Their Uses and Features
It needs an extensive research to create a niche website that can attract others. Worth the effort it become a huge success though.
PADI IDC recently posted…Career Choices As A PADI Diving Instructor
You need to put an effort for a niche website but definitely will give you a positive result once you found your most effective niche site.
Great article on “Niche” websites. I have several, and they all make me money, some more that others. I love Micro Niche Finder also. Have you tried Market Samurai? It’s a great tool, too. I use them both.
Matt recently posted…What is the Price of Kinect for Xbox 360
I have Market Samurai, and I still have to go through all the tutorials to be able to use it to its fullest potential, but I can already see that it is a fantastic tool for keyword research and SEO plus so much more!
Very good information. What I wish to tell is build a niche website with a reputation for good business practices, not just for ethical reasons, but because its success likely depends on earning your website visitors’ trust.
Hi Petra,
How small would you say is too small? I used to think anything under a 1000 local searches per month is not worth aiming for… where do you draw the line? I’m quite new to making money from niches so I’ve yet to attempt a truly micro niche (i.e less than 1000 searches).
John recently posted…Hello world!
Hi John, I kind of draw the line at 1000 searches, too, that’s what some of the “gurus” recommend. But I have also been thinking about going for the less searched keywords, but only if there is really little competition and it looks like I won’t need to build too big a site to start making money. If you can stick to a site for a keyword that is searched less than 1000 times a month, you need to make sure there is not much competition and then just optimize the site so you get on page 1 of Google, and you will still be making money. I don’t think I would go below 600 or so though.
the article and all posts are very nice and helpful. Thank You for sharing those informations. Not many people will do this.
Great article! Could not stop reading it:-) Will suscribe to the thread.
Great points, Petra! Great blog, too. One of the few I came across this week that contains relevant stuff.
Thanks Petra for this nice post. People like this you see 107 comments so far. I am loving it.
Lot of interesting links and information in just one post. Can’t ask for more!!
I’ve tried niche sites before but ultimately did not put enough time and effort into them. I think it is useful to concentrate on niches in which you have a personal interest.
Paul recently posted…Website maintenance
Really cool blog, this is my new post here, I book marked this, yet i don’t know about this blog, Now I will become a fan for this blog, thanks for the clear ideas about building niche sites. keep posting.
Thank you, Petra, for suck interesting and useful article.
It’s realy great! When i did my first site I saw that main thing is SEO – right chosen keywords. Your site may be very interesting, but users just will not find it in web search. Keywords and analytics + good content = good site.
Best regards, David.
Great to find out another very useful post for me. You promote new products that seems to help us with link bulding and talk about them so convincingly.
ella recently posted…slvr-660127 uk’s leading telemarketing!
great post have just bookmarked this page.Good and insightful stuff will bwe trying this out.
Just wanted to join everyone’s comments here and say thank you for sharing. Great read. David
Niche sites are easy to make but I wonder how long they will last in the eyes of google. I’m turning my way to bigger sites that cover a wider set of topics instead of niche sites. Just to make sure I have different kinds of sites in my portfolio.
Would like to see what kind of sites can be made with that software you mentioned.
Dave recently posted…Suosituin sarjakuva lehti
My view is making money on internet is never easy & it’s not like get rich quick scheme, But hardworking & reliable resources are required. Thanks for the helpful post.
Interesting Stories recently posted…Stalker Makes 65,000 Calls In A Year
I think building niches is always been the priority of Google and it will never fade because Google is assured us that they will give a relevant results.
Great article on niching! Niche to get rich, it’s so true. I’d rather have 1000 people to market to in a nich than 100,000 without a niche. If you don’t have a niche, how can you make money from it? It’s like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks
Tom recently posted…Dr. Barry Sears Interview – The Zone Diet and Healthy Weight Loss | Inflammation and Weight Loss | What Diets Work |
I think it is a great method to make money since your are helping the visitor at the same time. I’ve tried niche sites before but ultimately did not put enough time and effort into them. Thank you.
great source of info, and it gave me a bright idea on how to make extra money from my free time. many thanks
I wish to tell is build a niche website with a reputation for good business practices, not just for ethical reasons, but because its success likely depends on earning your website visitors’ trust.
What I wish to tell is build a niche website with a reputation for good business practices, not just for ethical reasons, but because its success likely depends on earning your website visitors’ trust.
Greetings! Used google translate to get my head around this (i’m a dutch lady)
Thankyou very much for the message.
Linda
Linda recently posted…Hallo wereld!
Hi Petra, thanks a lot for sharing and motivating to niche site building. I am trying to do some for years and failing with keyword research. But I am now motivated and will go after this seriously.
I have setup a few sites in the back and systematically building these sites. Hope to get success from these.
King recently posted…Online Money Earning with PTC (Paid To Click) Sites – Some Thoughts