Today’s post contains a lesson that I wish I had known when I started building niche sites. If you are just starting out, you should target multiple low competition (and invariably low traffic) keywords. But why?
1. Learning Curve
In my opinion, niche site building is more of an art than a science. We can spend all day estimating income and cost implications, but accuracy in those estimates is hard to come by.
And if we are calling niche site building an art, consider this – when someone picks up a paintbrush for the first time, are they capable of creating something like this?
No – they’re not. Their work will probably look more akin to this:
So when it comes to link building, don’t start off trying to recreate the proverbial Sistine Chapel. Begin with something simple, and work your way up.
Here’s an irrefutable fact – when you are first starting out, you will make plenty of mistakes. I would rather make a mistake on a relatively inconsequential keyword (having spent less time working on it), than a competitive keyword that I have poured an enormous amount of effort into.
2. Time And Motivation
Link building is a thankless task in the short term. When I first started out, I was rather skeptical about the whole concept of niche sites. I had read Pat Flynn’s niche site duel thoroughly and was excited by it, but that did not really dampen the voice of doubt in the back of my head. And for several weeks, whilst I spent hours creating content and building links, I had no real way of knowing if all of my hard work was going to pay off.
It is tough to work at something when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. In the end, it took me just under 3 months to hit #1 in Google for the primary keyword of my first niche site. Now I don’t know about you, but 3 months is a long time to work when you’re fueled just by the hope that you will have some success.
So do yourself a favor – pick yourself a few easy keywords to get started on. You will quickly get a “feel” for the process and will also be encouraged by positive results early on. I’m not necessarily talking about #1 rankings, but just seeing your numbers climb for a few different keywords puts you in a frame of mind where working hard for your rankings doesn’t seem like such a chore.
3. You’ll Discover More
You can only learn so much from targeting one keyword. When you are targeting multiple keywords across multiple pages, there is a lot more scope for increasing your knowledgebase. And ultimately, when it comes to SEO, your knowledge if your asset.
4. It’s Easier – In More Ways Than You Think
Yes, I know I said 3 reasons, but another valuable reason was put forward by Justice Wordlaw IV in the comments section. Thanks Justice!
If you rank for low competition keywords first, it will be easier to subsequently rank for related high competition keywords. Think of it as building a house – if you rank for some low competition keywords first, you are setting solid foundations. If you go straight for the high competition keywords, unless you are really experienced in link building, you’re building on foundations of sand. Targeting low competition keywords gives you a solid base from which to build upon.
How Did You Start Out?
Did you pick multiple keywords when you started out? Or did you focus on just one, like I did? Let us know in the comments section!
Creative Commons images courtesy of Ken Green and Leo Reynolds
Gregory Ciotti says
Great post Tom!
Maybe I missed it (possibly an earlier post of yours) but have you addressed topic selection for niche sites?
Not necessarily gauging whether a specific keyword will work or not, but topic brainstorming; that’s the part I feel I have trouble with the most.
Tom Ewer says
I did…remembering when and where is another thing altogether! 😉
Thinking up niches to explore is definitely one of the toughest parts of keyword research though. In a nutshell, I think up things that arouse desire in people. It can be anything. Say off the top of my head…3D TVs. You could do a 3D TV review site. Or on a completely different topic…gourmet chocolate. Mmm…chocolate.
The point is, you don’t actually need many topics to get started, because once you start looking, you’ll start going off on all sorts of tangents.
And finally, if I am building an authority site, I must consider whether or not I can continuously write useful content on the topic. That step must not be missed.
Cheers,
Tom
Bon Crowder says
I totally don’t know what the heck I’m doing in this space. I have keywords. I have pillar articles. I link to them. And yet, I haven’t the faintest idea if it’s working, or not, or if I’m just linking to random crap that’s useless.
Of course when I link to the articles, it’s always useful for the readers. But for Google… hmm…
*sigh*
Tom Ewer says
Oh dear – someone’s frustrated!
I started with Pat Flynn’s niche site duel – that is as good an introduction to niche site building as I have ever seen (and I have seen plenty). He starts with the very basics too, which is great.
If you’re struggling with anything, just drop me a line! 🙂
Tom
Justice Wordlaw IV says
Great blog post Tom.
When I started out I went after 5 low competitive keyword phrases that I found to be good to target. Once I pretty much mastered those keywords I think attacked the big one that I wanted. It was a lot easier going that direction because the low competitive keywords that I was already ranked for assisted me with ranking faster for my bigger one.
I read Pat Flynn’s duel posts as well and I got excited and nervous and what not but but the entire process for backlinks and seo is so different from affiliate marketer to affiliate marketer that you can’t really pay that much attention to them in a sense. It took you 3 months for your main keyword and for me it took 6 months.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one.
Tom Ewer says
Sounds like you got off to a better start than me 😉 It makes a lot of sense to do it in that way though, and you’ve actually highlighted a good point that should have been in the post – if you rank for lower competition keywords first, it makes it easier to rank for related higher competition keywords later!
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts – I really appreciate it 🙂
Adem says
I definitely agree to start off with low ranked keywords as it’s nice to get a bit of success and you can learn the groundwork for building bigger, more competitive sites. If you went for a massive niche straight off then you would probably ‘fail’ and then give up but a little bit of success makes you work a lot harder.
Tom Ewer says
Exactly Adem – far too many people give up at the first hurdle, so it is good to remove it before you start!
Tim says
Its really an excellent point Tom we all need some early victories to keep us motivated
My problem at this moment is finding keywords to target. I am not talking about the research and qualification process i mean coming up with actual ideas on what to research.
Do you have any suggestions on how to get inspiration
Tom Ewer says
Hey Tim,
I know it sounds cliched but ideas truly are all around you. Check these out as a demonstration of that fact:
http://www.nichepursuits.com/15-ways-to-brainstorm-for-keyword-ideas-and-jumpstart-your-brain/
http://www.nichepursuits.com/how-to-brainstorm-and-expand-keyword-lists-video-demo/
Hope that helps! 🙂
Tom
Tim says
That’s exactly what i needed – Will start this week and thanks for the keyword research guide – its very helpful
Tom Ewer says
No problem at all Tim 🙂
Chuck says
Hi Tom,
Another great resource for trying to figure out a niche is Steve Scott’s THE Affiliate Research Formula , http://www.nobsnicheresearch.com. I am new to the entire process and this plan has worked for me. it is similar to what you have posted above, but gives different ideas on how to go about it. Like you said, there are so many flavors on how to do it, it is just finding one that works for you.
Tom Ewer says
Thanks for the suggestion Chuck – really appreciate it!
Charles says
I just read your tips now and possibly wish I would have done so earlier, this will help me a lot once I start to build niche websites. In the meantime I’m still focusing on my outsourcing portal which appears more interesting to me but is probably also a lot harder to get (good) rankings for. At the moment the site doesn’t even appear in Google at all but I don’t mind. I’m building slowly but steadily 🙂
In the past I have found it hard to even find interesting niches, most niche websites sold are topics that don’t interest me.
Tom Ewer says
Hi Charles,
Slow but steady wins the race 🙂
If you’re building “set and forget” niche site then your interest in the topic isn’t really relevant. It’s only when you want to build a proper authority site that relevance is important.
Tom
Ozsubasi says
I started it with no less than 30 keywords on a site launched less than a year ago. Currently 17 are on page 1 and 8 are on page 2 for a Google search.
Tom Ewer says
Great work Ozsubasi!
Ozsubasi says
Thank you but I didn’t say it so that I could receive congrats:) My point is that often I read on forums of people targeting just 2 or 3 keywords and I don’t understand it. By using synonyms the range can be expanded and it makes the content easier to read.
Bruce says
I am developing a network of 20+ health related sites. I am thinking of targeting lots of low comp keywords for each site because if I rank well for lots of low comp/lower traffic keywords they add up to a lot.
I’d love you thoughts!
Tom Ewer says
Hi Bruce,
I tried doing this (ranking for lots of low competition keywords) and failed miserably. It won’t mean you will of course 🙂
My advice these days is always the same: don’t build a business (or even a website) that relies solely upon search engine rankings. A holistic approach to attracting traffic is the only sensible move, in my humble opinion.
Cheers,
Tom