Niche, Micro-niche & Authority Sites: The Difference

Hi, everyone!

I know this can all be confusing at first. Maybe this post will help.

What's The Difference Between A Domain And A Sub-domain?

domain examples:

DentalCareForHuskies. com (niche site): or
AllThingsLabradorRetriever. com (authority site): or
AllThingsDog. com (gargantuan authority site - You'd need a HUGE staff for this.)

sub-domain examples:

DentalCareForHuskies. siterubix. com: or
AllThingsLabradorRetriever. siterubix. com: or
AllThingsDog. siterubix. com

I think a lot of people will agree with me, that a domain carries more authority than a sub-domain.

However, there's no reason you can't start with a SiteRubix sub-domain, then transfer it to your own domain when you're ready. It's free to do and Site Support will help you.

Note: As of this writing, the experts still agree a .com domain is the best kind to choose.

You can use a .net, .org or other domain instead, but why not give yourself every advantage you can?

What's The Difference Between Niche, Micro-niche And Authority Sites?

niche site: a website that focuses on one niche and the sub-niches and micro-niches related directly to the niche, such as...

(niche) safe and sporty fashions for adult huskies
(sub-niches) collars, boots, coats, costumes
(micro-niche) the safest and most comfortable collars

(niche) health care for elderly huskies
(sub-niches) arthritis/joint pain, dental care
(micro-niche) the safest and most effective natural home remedies for joint pain

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

micro-niche site: a website that focuses only on one micro-niche, such as...

(micro-niche) the safest and most comfortable collars for adult huskies

(micro-niche) the safest and most effective natural home remedies for joint pain in elderly huskies

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

authority site: combines all related niches, sub-niches and micro-niches on the same site.

Here's an example and a break-down of just one related niche:

(authority site) AllAboutAdultHuskies. com
(niche) health
(sub-niche) emergency care
(sub-sub-niche) poisoning
(micro-niches) poisoned by chemical, poisoned by human food, poisoned by plant, poisoned by unknown

You could go on and on adding niches, sub-niches and micro-niches to an authority site. In fact, you'd need to.

As someone who's been working on an authority site for a long time, I can tell you - it's easy to get overwhelmed when you're dealing with that volume of information.

Kyle and Carson recommend we start with a niche site for good reason: it's not nearly as overwhelming as an authority site!

Jay (Magistudios) is WA's much-loved live webinar host. He has a very successful micro-niche site you can look at, if you'd like to see an actual example of what one looks like: https://footballsnackhelmets.c...

Originally posted: March, 31, 2017
Edited March, 31, 2017 to add: Except for Jay's, I made up all the domain & sub-domain names. If any actually exist, don't expect them to be as I've outlined here, since I made up all the details too. ;)
Edited October 27, 2017: re-worked the entire post, to make it easier to understand
Edited Nov 5, 2017: took out a potentially confusing bit