Home » Choosing a Niche Market, Planning Your Niche Website

Planning the Site Content Just Blew Me Away!

18 July 2009 15 Comments
Image from: http://www.gfn.com/sowhatsyourpoint/?cat=105

Image from: http://www.gfn.com/sowhatsyourpoint/?cat=105

Having been involved in building just about every type of website from ecommerce, to CMS, to portals and niche sites, over the course of the last 15+ years… I can honestly say, I just learned something new from the Build a Niche Store Guide! Honestly… Wow! Great Job Adam and Kelvin – Thank you!

I wish I could share all the details of the methods they used… but instead, I will just prepare you all by saying the three “Types” of content they focus on building is amazing when it all comes together. I was able to drill into high enough volume terms, that had a high amount of products, and had little demand… Granted it took me about 3 solid hours of work (they said it would take about 30 minutes) but I can immediately see it was well worth the time!

Keeping the CopyCat Readers at Bay

Before I get into the exacts of this new site, I want to stress that as I prepare to build the site, some crafty reader is going to take what they read here and develop a site of their own, ahead of this one ever being live. Ultimately, theirs WILL rank in search ahead of this one, simply due to their launching of the site first.It won’t be the firs or last time this happens…

With that said – I am not going to publish ALL of the site categories, guide categories or many of the sites details, until it is all out here for the taking, or.. the site is launched! Instead, I will provide generalized information for now. :-)

Planning Your Niche Site Content

Based off the research in the Number 1 Way to Make Money Guide, I have determined the following will be built to get the site off the ground, and fill the need for information:

  • 17 Product Brand Pages
    • Nike Putters
    • Wilson Putters
    • MacGregor Putters
    • 14 others (to get started)
  • 8 Product Type Pages
    • Wedge Putters
    • Heavy Putters
    • 6 others (to get started)
  • 68 Answer (Money) Pages
    • Wilson Harmonized Putters
    • Wilson ProStaff Putters
    • MacGregor Face Off Putters
    • 65 others (to get started

This makes the initial “Launch site” a total of 92 “Money Pages” in size, not counting the standard pages like About Us, Privacy, Contact, etc.

Using the basic guidelines provided… the Winner of the Niche Site Contest can reasonably expect that with NO ADDITIONAL PAGE CREATION, they should earn roughly $460/month by this time next year from the Golf Putter Guide website!

How Is Your own Research and Planning Coming Along?

15 Comments »

  • Sean said:

    Mark, I admire you for a lot of the honesty and dedication you put into your sites, with that said I have never copied your work. I’m sure there will be alot of golf sites springing up, but each will have something unique. Yesterday I started a site on a fishing niche. Probably skipped some planning on the Answer section because I don’t know how many there will be – probably do something different, but with the same concept. But I spent alot of time on just getting used to the template, layout and organization of the site. Created the pages – just need to fill them. Do not know how many products (300+ on ebay) I will pull in-haven’t dived that deep yet (probably half of what you have above), but there will be at least 11 makes. Using wordpress is something new to me (going with WP instead of the BANS route this time – want the expansion capability – plugins, etc.), so spending the time right on this site will help me with others – and I want to get this one right. Organization of this site is important and I am liking the way it looks right now.

    Wouldn’t say this is as much fun as it is challenging!

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #1, 19 July 2009 at 8:11 am
  • Rochelle said:

    Once again, we wrote about the same thing at the same time! I just added a post to my blog about how I had not ever seen their method of adding content or building a site, and it really works for me.

    Like you, I actually learned something new from this guide. The info on how to build a site and add content totally makes sense to me and I am using it for the site I am currently building for my daughter. I look forward to seeing how you put your site together with this knowledge.

    And, unlike, Sean, I am finding this fun :)

    Rochelle

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #2, 19 July 2009 at 9:17 am
  • Dave said:

    Hello all

    I am enjoying having a dedicated plan to work from its proving to at least feel a lot more constructive than wading through a field of differing opinions etc.

    The one problem I find is when doing the product research in the ‘mapping out the products that fit inside your market segment’ section is that when looking in google at the top 10 results, you get different results when using the plural of the term you are targeting (obviously).

    If I go through and make note of all the products using the singular term I get, say 40 products and with the plural say 100 (alot of which are old products no longer available… I just don’t know how to tackle this.

    This will be the first site I will have made via this method and I really want to get it right as I plan to spend on the content.

    I understand there can be no hard fast rules on this section, I just don’t know, if to rank well with the site if I need to cover every single product I come across with the term singularly and plurally.

    Any help much appreciated

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #3, 29 July 2009 at 6:17 am
  • Dave said:

    Hi Mark

    I have commented before about the planning section, but at the mo its one im having trouble getting my head around.

    The N1way, to me, says include every product in your choosen niche that comes up in their ‘11 access points’ for the product reviews ie ebay and googles 1st 10 pages.

    The issue im having is, not everyone seems to agree on this! One of the top pages in my niche is the top manufacturors site. It includes all their products some of which are quite old and never seem to be on ebay.

    Should I fully satisfy the niche and include all the products in the top 10 google sites i can find or would you use some nouce and include only the most recent/ones still in production?

    Also when it is said to use googles top ten pages, should I only look at them as they come up, or would you dig around to find as many products in the niche as possible? ie i google ‘bin bags’, amazon is in the tip ten with a green bin bag, but i research more and find the yellow and pink bin bags….

    :s confused!

    Thanks for your time

    Dave

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #4, 3 August 2009 at 11:29 am
  • Mark (author) said:

    @Dave –

    When I am planning – I list ALL of the products, then I narrow the list of the FIRST REVIEWS I am going to write, to those actively listed and selling.

    I DO leave the others in place and will decide in the future whether to include them or not, based on past selling history (90 day history trend).

    Just because there is no item today – it may very well be there in the next week… AND if search demand is high, it will bring in traffic, that can be moved to the other items, with the “Related Items” below the review.

    Also – if “Bin Bags” (It have just been your example) are the niche you are going after… you may want to read the latest post on 5 reasons to avoid a niche, and do some extra research on sales before you get too far into it.

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #5, 3 August 2009 at 12:30 pm
  • Dave said:

    Hi Mark

    Thanks for getting back to me, that all makes sense!

    I will follow what you said.

    I have read your 5 reasons to avoid a niche and have done an estimate of sales using Terapeak, not ideal im sure, but I cannot afford to put in much money at the mo and have already got quite far with my content. My niche isnt bin bags and, whilst isnt, from what i see now the best i could have gone with, it doesnt look to dire!

    Still leaning!

    Thanks again

    Dave

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #6, 4 August 2009 at 7:48 am
  • Dave said:

    Hi again Mark

    1 more point I dont quite get in the N1Way…

    My niche brings up Amazon as one of the top ten in Google. Say my niche is ‘big cameras’, Amazon brings up the Pentax 4244 big camera. As amazon becomes one of my access points, do I then fully research Amazon for big cameras?? Or leave it to the first pages only in the 10 Google results?

    Thanks for your time,

    Dave

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #7, 5 August 2009 at 3:18 pm
  • Mark (author) said:

    @Dave –

    I don’t see Amazon in my own search results, don’t forget search results are very specific to the USER. I use hidemyass.com to do anonymous searches.

    Let me see if I can help digest this a bit… Remember – we want to work from the BOTTOM – UP.

    Is there a Market – Yes.
    Is there Competition – Yes – Moderate-High when looking at [DIG CAM BRANDS]
    Are there PRODUCTS to Fill the Niche – Yes.

    So – we know there’s a market, we know the competition is moderate, NOW you just need to identify the products that qualify as “Big Cameras”, and review the competition and market for the PRODUCTS, not just the OVERALL NICHE.

    Ex:

    - Digital Cameras Niche is WAY Over Saturated. BUT…
    - Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera Review – is NOT!

    [keywords and text like d5000 review, nikon d5000 review, d5000 reviews, etc, has little competition!]

    Pay the MOST attention to your PRODUCTS – not your overall niche!

    Mark

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #8, 5 August 2009 at 4:58 pm
  • Dave said:

    Hi Mark

    Thanks again for a timely reponse! Its very good of you to take the time.

    Maybe its just me but I read the N1Way to say to pay most attention to fulfulling a whole niche section. Making that perfect parcel for google that ticks all the boxes.

    It however makes more sense, to look at the induvidual products and evaluate whether they are viable for use in the site and to go forward using the ones with least competition and good ebay supply.

    Thanks again Mark, if your ever in the UK il buy you a beer! hahah cheers

    Dave

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #9, 5 August 2009 at 5:56 pm
  • Mark (author) said:

    @Dave –

    Just to be sure – you are correct in fulfilling the whole niche – but you want to fill it from the bottom up, or likewise, like a reverse funnel.

    The longer the tail – the easier it will rank – in the shortest amount of time… eventually, spitting your short phrase rankings right out the bottom!

    Ex: You will rank sooner for the phrases at the TOP of this list – which over time – leads to ranking at the bottom of the list – a Keyword Funnel! It takes TIME, Quality content and effort.

    1 – This Website Has Canon D500 Digital SLR Camera Reviews
    1 – It Also Has Minolta M400 Digital SLR Camera Reviews
    1 – It Also Has Nikon N200 Digital SLR Camera Reviews

    which over more time and with enough reviews, leads to..

    2 – Canon Digital SLR Camera Reviews
    2 – Minolta Digital SLR Camera Reviews
    2 – Nikon Digital SLR Camera Reviews

    which over more time and reviews, leads to..

    3 – Canon Camera Reviews
    3 – Minolta Camera Reviews
    3 – Nikon Camera Reviews

    which over more time and reviews, leads to..

    4 – SLR Camera Reviews
    4 – Digital Camera Reviews
    4 – SLR Digital Cameras

    And hopefully, ultimately…

    5 – Digital Cameras
    5 – SLR Cameras

    etc…etc

    NOW – ALL SAID – if you find the right “Niche” you can skip past many of these steps and start out ranking right away… with little competition, consumer demand, and a steady supply of products to fill that demand.

    Mark

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #10, 5 August 2009 at 6:15 pm
  • Dave said:

    Thanks Mark

    I guess a lot of the time, as it says in the n1way, you end up tageting the longtails inadvertantly with quality content etc.. then as your site matures the funnel takes effect.

    Thanks again Mark!

    Dave

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #11, 6 August 2009 at 6:37 am
  • Bill said:

    Thanks Mark

    I think we all have a N1WAY Sites but we know we can depend on you for real relevant information on the n1way.

    Its all about the planning.

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #12, 8 August 2009 at 4:38 pm
  • Dave said:

    Hello all

    I have just been looking at a prospective market and think I have found a good one… However in the google keyword tool for some of the products, when doing a US search it tells me ‘not enough data’ and the global search is 16,000. The product is a US product however and sold primarily on US sites.

    Does the keyword tool get it wrong?! It doesnt seem to fit!

    Dave

    Reply – Quote
    Post Comment #13, 18 August 2009 at 7:13 am

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