To continue, or shall I move on?
Hey, just a question for everyone out there, I have been at this for about 7 months and have only had about 4 organic search results, a ton of spam bots attacking my site and my analytics and about 2 sales (from social media).
I have given up on social media and am focusing on trying to get my blog recognised by Google, some of my keywords rank as high as #4 and some are on the last page, I have 63, high quality posts, ranging from nearly 2,000 words to 500 words.
I have changed my writing style a little from the beginning to now as I have evolved and have updated a few older posts to fit in with the keywords and how they should be also.
You can check out my site here, http://www.freedomweightloss.net
After talking with a few very successful people in the industry, I was told that the fitness and weight loss niche is super hard to crack and perhaps I should try another one.
What is everyones thoughts on this? I am really at the point of standing still, where I don't want to waste time on a site that isn't going to rank or make sales in an industry that is too hard to crack, but I also don't want to abandon all the hard work I've done and start a new website unless I know that that direction will work.
There are 2 options here, either it's me that's the problem or my website. Take a look and answer this question for me, positive criitcism expected and welcome.
Recent Comments
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Hi Aiden, I agree with some of the answers you've had regarding the fitness niche being very saturated and difficult to crack. However, your site has a lot of great content on it, but it lacks "one" thing. If I am looking for information about ketogenic diets, I would try to find a site all about "that", for example. You could possibly work in comparisons of various diets, pros and cons of low-carb, low-calorie etc. Perhaps try to funnel it a bit more - I wouldn't get rid of the content you already have worked hard to write, research and publish, but possibly consider taking it in a more specific direction, i.e. a more targeted direction, if that makes sense? It may seem counter-intuitive (based on your supermarket example below) but when people visit your site, they are generally looking for a specific answer to a specific question e.g.. how to lose fat after the holidays. Or how a skinny guy can gain muscle. Not that I am any expert on IM, but I would say niche it down, and have a target audience in mind - as a large scale consumer of fitness/fat loss/supplements stuff, I visit different authority sites to answer different questions I have. Just my 2c, hope it helps :)
Thanks Clare I appreciate that! I think I'll do that!
My problem before was that I didn't realise I had to niche down 10 fold lol.
Me too. I'm learning so much here at WA and on a couple of other platforms and it seems that niching down is the way to go :)
Women over 40 who want to lose fat and build muscle whilst sitting at their desks working on WA :) lol - I'll join that one...
Aiden, I just didn't see much written content. Look at some of the top 20 or 30 Ambassadors and take from them. They are good...Dick
Want a comment from an average internet user who also lost a bunch of weight? BTW, new member here, so take what I say with a grain of salt, sugar, steeva??LOL ok, looking at your site and your competitor...off the bat, your competitor's site looks much more authoritative. It is packed with info like yours, but looks more...organized, accessible, etc. Like what I have read above, your posts are quite random, I understand that is kinda what youre doing, but there is really no set theme going on here. Graphically, I like your banner and it is a good start visually. Can you make the rest of your site as visual? There is quite a contrast in page design. Because your traffic cannot hear your voice, you must appeal to the other senses as well. Think of it like...when ordering food, chefs (and I am a culinary trained one myself) must appeal to all senses, smell, sound, sight, taste...this blog is your special of the evening, present it well! These are just my thoughts, and I know I may be stepping on some toes, please consider this as just an opinion, you write well. I hope great success. -average internet user. also, could you do two blogs? one with nutrition and the other with workouts, etc, then you have narrowed the scope of each blog.
Great advice and it does make sense.
I guess my thoughts are that the more types of articles I put out there the more chance I have of selling something.
Take a supermarket for example.
A supermarket was devised because some smart cookie decided that by putting all different businesses under one roof they could
Profit from them all instead of one. This us been adopted by every single business model there is... Except this... Which makes no sense to me.
Think about it. I bet you cannot name one company that doesn't own or produce or sell different types of products on different niches.
I tried to start a business with only one colour and one design of t shirt, boy did that Fail quickly.
People like variety I suppose - this is the way my mind sees things anyhow.
Still if I was to start to be more narrow in my niche idea would I delete my old posts and start a fresh? Or would I keep them and move in a new direction from here?
thanks for the follow! yes variety is nice, unless you are in blockbuster...lol. Most of those companies started out knowing something, then branched...I would narrow your scope, get the following you need, become authoritative, then branch out. I do like the food pic lead ins to some of your posts, could you maybe single page those and enhance the graphics? less confusing and more narrow...you see? I am new to wanting to blog, so That is why I ask if you can...this niche is difficult, but I will mention the word again, where you will fit in best is with your authority. Why should people listen to you? Create a following with other types of reviews, get a name, i am not sure if i can mention other platforms...but use video reviews, etc, then drive the traffic home. as far as how to manipulate what you have already...I am sure more experienced people will have an answer beyond my suggestion to create two blogs and migrate. I say this because you have blogs that are for women as well as unisex ones. those all need their own place for easy navigation. you mentioned and linked your competitors site, look at it, ask yourself why it works, where can it be improved...you have the tools. nice to meet you :)
Hi Aiden. The site looks good and you seem to have a fair bit of good content. What was the competition like for the key word you chose? As you say, this niche is pretty high in competition. It's case, I think, of finding an angle that can make you stand out. One with low competition that can bring visitors in. Keep at it, you don;t want to waste the good work you've done.
Thanks Pisquali
I usually choose keywords with about 10-50 searches per month so they are very low competition but not a lot of them seem to be searched for which is weird, perhaps the WA keyword tool isn't as good as I thought and I don't really want to fork out for Jaaxy until I am making a few sales.
I hear you. Maybe mix it up a bit and got for some higher search / competition keywords to see if that changes anything. Can't be much worse, right?
Hi Aiden,
The very first thing I noticed was a very minimal level of content and content as you know is king. Yes imagery is considered content and very important but the written word is a must. Dick
Hey Dick..
I don't get what you mean a minimal level of content? as mentioned above I have over 60 posts where only about half of them are directly related to selling something.. please elaborate.
Just had a look st your site -
Well lots of info but it seems like you are not quite sure of what you are really promoting are you helping people to loose weight are you helping them to build up muscle are you into skinny theropy or what??
I think your site is weak and needs work the logo is not inviting or interesting and colour a are cold so does now have and appeal
Now never give up an you just have to revamp Ok
Hey Paul,
To be honest you are the first person out of hundreds that has said my logo is crap lol.
My banner I agree needs some work, that was done by someone else and is sub par the logo of the muscular man and women in the circle I made and I am very proud of it.
I guess you are un-aware but it was made to psychologically attract people, and it does.
It has been proven that logos that contain circles make people instantly form a bond of trust with the brand (not full trust as this is impossible but the basis for trust), the colour blue is a colour that represents calm in the brain and at ease, the colour white represents purity and truth.
I have done a little research lol..
That, I do not know.
My keywords aren't generating traffic I guess is the main reason.
I use the WA keyword tool and it tells me that there is between 10-50 searches per month for that particular keyword and my pages rank starting at #4 but yeah, not idea beyond that.
The Yoast tool gives you a far better control for SEO when I changed all my pages were 2/10 and I am working as we speak and have got 7 pages now up to 8/10 so a really big difference for SEO ratings
I can't judge your website. Mine is something like yours. I have been here for almost three months, and just starting to get traffic that I had to pay for. I've been thinking about a different niche as well. It seems mine is extremely hard to move. Best of luck in your decision.
Barry
Success comes to those who persevere but like you I'm wondering whether to persevere in the same direction.
What niche is your site in?
Go to my profile page. My sites are listed and the first one is the main site. If I tell you what it is here I may be accused of spamming.
I would be interested in knowing what the outcome of this is as my niche is similar (sport supplements). I've been on here for just over 6 months and got no where at all financially but I do carry on making the most of social media. I have given myself 1 year to try and see if WA makes me an earning.
I have 53 blog between 850 to 2000 words and are all over the place with Google site ranking.
There is one main website that dominates the health and fitness industry online and that is bodybuilding.com, one of the most visited websites on the internet with about 2-4 million unique visitors per month.
It can be done though, Scooby (google him) did super well with his little 90s style website full of information on nutrition and home exercising, not sure if he made any money from it but he got a ton of loyal followers that loved his non promotional style of teaching, aka he wasn't a "i got big on cell-tech" when they really got big on steroids.
I will check him out....thanks. What I'm trying to do is include WA promotion within my site getsportsupplememts.com.
You are right bodybuilding.com is the big daddy in this niche but I kinda thought it wouldn't be this hard to try and achieve just $1! But it is! All out goings and no incoming.
Lol yeah.
From what I have been told you need to be super specific as to your niche, it can't be sports supplements, or fat loss or whatever it must be narrowed down to sports supplements > protein powder, l-cartinine, creatine etc or fat loss > fat loss for women, fat loss after pregnancy, fat loss for kids, fat loss for the elderly etc.
My way of thinking is to use a broad spectrum for my log and then narrow it down into sub categories for my posts.
Sounds like a plan, can't hurt and alliances can only make us stronger, perhaps some guest posting or something like that would work best for back links?
Lets keep in touch anyway, perhaps it would be beneficial for us both to write down every thing we have tired and what is working and what isn't and then narrow it down to a plan of attack that could help us both achieve growth, sound good?
Just food for thought but maybe we could work together doing back links to each other's fairly similar sites to enhance traffic and try see if 2016 brings us both any luck???
I'm defiantly up for that intact I've been trying for a month to this someone I'd be happy doing guest post with. Two is better than one!. I'm from uk and it's nearly New Year's Eve so partying! Email me direct on admin@getsportsupplements.com and we will go from there
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Aiden,
First, I don't think you have an either/or scenario here. It's not either you or the website. Your writing is excellent and the website looks great. It's actually something in between (more on that in a moment.)
I agree with the people you spoke with. Diet/Fitness is saturated because everyone thinks they know something about it. So, yes, it is a hard nut to crack. But I see that merely as a challenge, not a problem. You have the beginnings of something great here, so I would hate to see you abandon it as well. Of course, if you wished to start another site in an easier category there is nothing stopping you; but I wouldn't necessarily give up on this one just yet. You just need a few tweaks...
Where are you getting your article ideas and topics? If you are not using a keyword tool to isolate what people are searching for I would recommend starting there. Also, you can look at successful competitor sites and see what they are writing about. Remember, to borrow from one is plagiarism, to borrow from many is research. lol
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, now the bad news...
You have a good looking site. Your writing is excellent. So what's the problem? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, what you have is what I refer to as a METOO site... as in, "Me, too."
In other words, I don't see anything here to differentiate you from thousands of other sites out there. It's not that your site is bad; it's just rather generic and that you are competing with all the other "general" fitness sites out there. And that, my friend, is a tough road to travel.
I would suggest you take a few days off from writing and creating and just think. You need to find what is called a USP: your Unique Selling Proposition. What do you have that separates you from everyone else? What can you offer that no one else can offer? What makes you "unique"?
For example, you once weighed 300 pounds and now you're an expert on how to take it off and keep it off. Or maybe you have diabetes and are knowledgeable about how to match foods with the disease. Perhaps you were a personal trainer and have experience working with elderly women and helping them stay active. Etc.
The point is that you have to find something that solves a problem for your readers and establishes you as THE go-to guy for the answers. Instead of looking at it from the health and fitness side, begin seeing it from a "What's my brand?" angle. Stop selling "fitness" and start marketing YOU.
Make sense? I hope this helps. Good luck, and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. :-)
Note the above, the man makes a lot of sense
Perfect James,
Lol I know all of this but I guess my website is already established and I have a ton of articles on random subjects.
A lot of my articles are done by problems I see people around me facing or from keyword research within my niche.
In regards to my personal side I used to be a body builder and know a lot about nutrition, training etc but as started in an earlier post to Kirby34 that niche is dominated by bodybuilding.com which is the superstar within the health, fitness, bodybuilding, training, personal trainer, meal planning, advice, everything niche lol. So not sure if that would work out.
I suppose I could come up with a "hypothetical me" like some experts tell you to do (this helps differentiate you if you are running 20 blogs so your blogs don't become generic). They tell you to create a person e.g. Sarah.
Sarah is a small part of your personality, say a small part of you loves chocolate, then your blog is about chocolate and you only allow your Sarah side to write from her perspective of having mouth orgasms over chocolate, the rest of you stays dormant.
This could work I guess but what about all of the content I have already created? Does that get deleted? does that stay and remain a weird after thought as I begin my decent into the chocolate (or whatever) side of weight loss, or what would be the best way to proceed?
Auden let's talk in January and see if we can together stand out from the crowd.....I'm well up for it. Check out the about me section of my site to see more of me as a person.
What you have said makes perfect sense, there are sites out there in every niche, so the angle of aproach is what makes the difference USP is key