Small Website So Far - If this can make money, yours can too
This post is all about facts and figures, no fluff, here we go - 22 posts, none of them are more than 1500 words, the first four articles suck and get no traffic, in fact I didn't even bother putting affiliate links in them. I say they suck because of the type of keywords I picked, they have brand names in them, so the first page is hugely dominated by big sites. Started the site in 2017, and have been horrible at writing articles as you might guess...22 articles since 2017. Why? Because I didn't believe. Why didn't I believe? Because they were several authority sites in the niche (this is a reason to do it by the way - just find the low competition keywords).
So I decided to just do it for fun. Now the site makes money every single month and get this - I have not written an article since October last year however November made money $31, December made money $38 and January so far is about $31. What would have happened if I just had faith and stopped fearing the authority sites, and kept my foot on the gas...would probably have 200 articles by now.
Anyway, back to info - why is this little site so "succesful" thus far..the type of keywords...product reviews, best "keyword" for "y". Those articles get most of the traffic and sales on the site. Alot of the sales are actually other stuff the people buy within the 24 hr cookie, well about 50% actually. Why am I telling you all of this...well to help anybody who is on maybe their 1st article, or second article or tenth or fifteenth article and haven't made a dime yet..pick some "best product for y" keywords e.g. "best watch for diving" , keep doing reviews, and keep the brand names out of your keywords..e.g. "best rolex for diving" may be harder to rank than "best luxury watch for diving". As soon as you use a brand name, without review or that kind of word in the keywords, you are nose diving into heavy competition. I think that is it.
So what's the plan? To get to 100 articles without outsourcing. I did everything on this site following the steps in the Online Entrepenuer Course, (except the social media part - it's all SEO), all the articles etc. - everything. Many of you are probably doing much better than me at writing, being an engineer I like numbers but, we all must adapt and stop being defined by one thing or another, we can do what is needed.
Good luck to all the people in the early stages of your site. You will make money, as long as you don't stop. See my earnings below for 2019 not alot of money but I hope you get the main message - be patient (but write articles at a faster rate than I did for sure)
Recent Comments
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Well done and thanks for sharing!
You've actually hit on something that has become the process I chose for the niche sites.
Since it takes so long for them to "stick" and get going I see no sense in focusing on it so much especially when it was more stress than anything to force myself to be writing on the topics regularly.
So, much like you did unintentionally... I intentionally chose to make the niche authority sites something "on the side" that I will work on when I work on them. That might be an article per month or one per 2 months or even 3 months.
Since this model is so slow I see no reason to focus so hard to "force it" to happen when from everything I know of it (and seems to be shown again & again here) it is largely out of our control. And instead am now focusing on other things that I have much more control over.
Greatly appreciate you sharing this and I wish more people did.
Hey JustAPerson, I know what you mean when you say you wish more people would share this type of info. There are people who do, definitely just a few as far as I see, but the truth is the best way to learn is to do. Write some articles and give them 3 to 6 months to bake while you write some more. Shoot for 20 to 30 and see what happens. I would also advise you not to work on too many sites at once, like literally work on one site in fact, max two, and two maybe too much. All the best, get them results!
Thanks. Yeah I get it. I actually started out with multiple sites. I still have 3 sites active. I only write on one of them.
That whole "let them bake" thing is exactly what I am doing while focusing on other things. I only write occasionally (weekly) on my blog.
After 6 months or so pass I will see how the other two are doing. Depending on that I will know whether it is worth my time on them or sell them.
I see it like "can't lose" approach because in the meantime I can focus on another model. So I have 2 sites "baking", 1 blog with weekly posts and then the other income model in active development which is my primary focus relying mainly on paid advertising.
Excellent..let me know how things have progressed in another 6 months to a year or so man. Would love to know. All the best!
Will do. Definitely not "quitting" just shifting perspective. I believe a huge part is truly finding "our thing". Been focused on that for many weeks now and getting a lot of clarity.
Wish you all the best too!
I enjoyed reading your blog, thank you for the useful tips. I will definitely implement your advice.All the best in the future and I wish you all the success.
Princess
Hi dlaminilp, great! Glad you enjoyed it and hope the tips help you! You should come back and let me know if you reap any results maybe in 6 months or a year from now! Have a great one.
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That's awesome--and inspiring--Randy! Thanks for this encouraging post! Keep up the GREAT work!👍😎
Hey Jeffrey, thanks a mil and all the best to you!
You're welcome, and likewise, Randy!