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  • 📈 I bought a struggling niche site — here's what happened

📈 I bought a struggling niche site — here's what happened

Can you still buy promising sites?

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Niche Site Digest
February 19, 2024

Hello earners, welcome to the Niche Site Digest weekly recap!

Here’s what I’ll cover in this edition:

  • 📈 I bought a struggling niche site — week 1 update

  • 📝 I created a free AI Content Creation Checklist for my readers

  • 💰 Matt spent $97,819 to learn Digital PR. What did he learn?

  • ✋ Are (website) comments back on the menu??

  • 🙈 1 hidden factor of affiliate marketing

Let’s dive in!

📈 I bought a struggling niche site — week 1 update

Earlier this month I purchased a struggling — but promising — niche site.

Here’s my plan to get it going again and make some money! I’ll share what I do with my readers.

Current revenue: 0$/month

My plan:

  • ⚙️ Rework the design, structure, and fix any technical SEO issues

  • ❌ Remove all ads — I’ll figure out monetization later on

  • 🧹 Revamp the current content (refresh, re-edit, or purge)

  • 🤔 Find out what’s working — what is it currently ranking for? Which topics? Where is it the strongest? Then attack that with the next point.

  • 🖋️ Publish 50 new articles using a blend of AI content written by Koala AI, human editing, and my AI checklist below

    • Koala AI lets me publish 50 (2000-word) articles for $49! Of course, I’ll heavily edit them.

My progress so far:

  • I removed all ads (they weren’t helping or earning much)

  • I discovered that the site is still ranking pretty well (10-15) for a certain topic — this topic is now my target. I’m going to create a bunch of content targeting variations of this topic.

  • I prioritized putting my content pipeline in place before doing anything else. I did this to jumpstart the site back up and show Google that there is a steady stream of fresh content being published.

  • So far I’ve only published 1 new article — it took me a bit to get the template right for the first one. The next 49 should be quicker.

  • My first article is already ranking #12 for my target KW — this site looks like it’s still got some juice left in it. (It’s not the highest volume KW — 200 searches per month — but these will add up quickly.)

Next week’s goals:

  • Do a technical SEO audit

  • Rework the logo and add EEAT elements

  • Publish 5 more articles

📝 I created a free AI Content Creation Checklist for my readers

As I mentioned above, I will be heavily editing the AI content I create.

I don’t think AI is a good writer. I think it needs a lot of human touch to provide actual value.

That’s why I created my FREE checklist for you guys (the same one I will be using for the site above.)

Get the Google Doc below

💰 Profitable Niches Database

Struggling to find a niche?

Everybody does at first. This single decision determines whether you’re successful, or waste months of your life.

Here’s the solution:

My database of proven and tested niches that are both profitable and relatively low competition.

Check out my private Profitable Niches Database.

  • Hand-picked and vetted niches in all industries

  • Detailed analysis of every niche - I show you where the money is being made (and how)

  • Includes keywords, competitors, monetization methods, and a lot more

📰 This week’s digest

💰 Matt spent $97,819 to learn Digital PR. Here’s what happened…

When I’m working on bigger sites with an established brand, digital PR is my favorite linkbuilding tactic.

But don’t be afraid to try it out even if you’re a smaller site.

The key is to have something (data) that nobody else does and share it with the world (outreach).

It doesn’t matter how small your brand is, if you put in the hard work to come up with interesting data, you could score tons of high-quality backlinks and skyrocket your growth.

✋ Are (website) comments back on the menu??

This is an interesting development.

The guys at Authority Hacker have noticed that sites that thrived during Google’s algorithm update all had their comment sections enabled and were actively responding to comments on their pages.

I used to turn comments off simply due to the amount of spam I’d receive, but since Google is rewarding UGC (user-generated content) and engagement, it makes sense to keep them on and interact with your readers.

At this point, I’d recommend doing ANYTHING that encourages users to engage with your content. That is the way of the future in SEO.

I’ll see if I can find a good spam filter to recommend for you guys in the future.

🙈 1 hidden factor of affiliate marketing

If you’re doing any sort of marketing, you need to understand INTENT.

Intent should be the first thing on your mind before starting any new site, content piece, offer, etc.

Before you create any new piece of content on your niche site, you need to answer:

  • WHO is searching for this? (your target audience)

  • WHAT are they searching for? (what you will provide)

  • WHEN would they search for this? (i.e., right after retirement, or a month before their baby is due)

  • WHERE/HOW are they searching for this? (where will they discover your content?)

  • WHY are they searching for this? (what needs or wants are they looking to fulfill?)

An example of thinking through proper intent:

Target keyword: gardening tips for seniors

  • WHO: older people interested in learning gardening

  • WHAT: helpful information on gardening but geared towards older people who are more frail and probably looking for less labor-intensive tips — but have more time on their hands.

  • WHEN: They could be newly retired and looking for hobbies

  • WHERE/HOW: At this point most seniors know how to use search engines, but may also be using older ones like Yahoo. They also tend to gravitate towards Facebook.

  • WHY: They are retired and looking to fill out their day with a healthy activity. They want to eat fresh. They’ve been dreaming of gardening their whole lives. They want to connect with friends/family members who also garden.

Always keep in mind who is reading your content.

✅ What To Do Next

That’s all for today!

Stay tuned for:

  • More updates on my niche site purchase

  • A How To Create a Niche Site For Beginner’s Course

  • A Do’s and Don’ts Checklist for publishing niche content in 2024

When you’re ready, here are more ways to level up your niche site game: