Dave Just ensure you have a broad domain name that can encompass an authority site in the future.
Walper ✍️ » Dave Wouldn't it be best to have a domain that is a key word match for a "niche site" and broad domain name for an "authority site"? Or do I have those backwards? Dave 1. Forget about keyword rich domain. 2. Example: if you are going to build a website on tiny houses. You might register a domain like tinylivingspaces.com instead of tinyhouses. 3. Most site owners never get the traffic they think in the topic they are chasing like tiny houses. You can write lots of articles, but getting traffic is hard. 4. Having a broad domain would allow you to create a second topic like tiny containers and write easy to rank for content in a new topic. 5. Another topic could be Tiny Tents. If you focus on one topic and you cannot rank for it or you do rank for some of the easy stuff but struggle to rank for the more competitive stuff, you really limit the amount of traffic and potential your website would have in the future. Having a broad domain name allows you to mitigate the above risk, in the likely event you face this problem! Walper ✍️ » Dave Ok thanks. I thought having a exact match domain would be super helpful for ranking better? Dave » Walper The game has changed. Google wants to see effort. Topical authority, Topical relevance, Topical coverage are what Google wants to see. Any tit can register a keyword rich domain! Anyone who has built 3 or more niche websites will tell you to go broad. They will have learned the hard way also! Walper ✍️ » Dave Good to know. Thanks for the help. Dave » Walper Best of luck. Just register a domain name and start writing Dan asap. You'd be 30 posts in by now if you calculated your question word count! Dave You've lots of authority in the wood working industry. This is a perfect niche because nobody can compete with you because they lack the real world experience and have not ability to take topically related pictures. There are thousands of easy to rank for questions you could rank for. Walper ✍️ » Dave Ok awesome. Genuine, authentic and helpful content. Radzio That's the content we've been fighting for
Dolman What is the difference between a niche site and an authority site?
Dave » Dolman That is a tough one to answer! Let me give it a go. A niche website is usually website or blog where you write about a sub-topic of a broader topic. You have a narrow focus on that sub-topic. Example of a niche website could be: lawnmowing.com. You will write content on lawn mowers, lawn care and content around that narrow niche. These websites tend to have less content that authority website. An authority site example would be outdoorgardening.com where you still write about the sub-topic lawn care but you also would write about sub-topics like garden flowers, garden maintenance, outdoor furniture and more. Like I mentioned in a comment above. The key is to ensure your domain is generic enough so that your niche website can eventually grow into an authority website. They you don't have to worry about what a niche or authority website is. Just start writing and covering topics… On-Demand Lawn Mowing LAWNMOWING.COM On-Demand Lawn Mowing On-Demand Lawn Mowing Dolman » Dave Ok, so if a niche website is one that covers just Spider-Man movies and an authority website is one that covers all superhero movies, what would you call a website that covers Marvel superhero movies? Dave Correct. That is a good analogy. Niche and Authority are just two terms made up by some dude become popular in the website building space. So you can call Marvel superhero movies whatever you want, Niche or Authority! Just don't register the domain marvelsuperheros.com. Instead register superherofanatic.com and the niche or authority debate is not relevant to your website! AFTERNIC.COM marvelsuperheros.com marvelsuperheros.com Dolman » Dave Aside from the trademark infringement issues, a website dedicated to only Marvel superhero movies would be a better audience to target as they are a more passionate audience than the latter and more exemplary of a niche by defintion. For the same reasons, a niche website targeting Mac users or a niche website targeting Windows users would be preferred compared to a website targeting both and the same can be said for iPhone and Android phone users, hence all of the niche authority websites you will find targeting these audiences directly without the need to expand into other topics. Walper ✍️ » Dolman I thought if you created a niche site, it is meant to remain a niche site. For example: small brown dogs. If you create a niche site about small brown dogs, why would I bother planning to expand to all small dogs or all dogs? Isn't the whole point to be more specific for easier ranking, narrower targeting and better converting because of it? Connor » Walper Why would you rank better than an authority site that covers the exact same topic? You won't… You will have less links, less content, less of a moat. Google likes sites with a lot of content because people are more likely to stay on the site longer. Dolman » Walper Yes and no. If you create a niche site, it should remain a niche site, but "small brown dogs" are not a niche. Since there isn't much if any difference between a "small black dog" and a "small brown dog", there isn't a niche of people to target for either. That being said, there is a difference between a Scottish Terrier (breed of small black dogs) and a Chihuahua (breed of small brown dogs) and there is definitely a difference between the owners of these dog breeds. Without prejudice or stereotyping, the owner of a Scottish Terrier is more likely to be an older lady or couple living in the country while the owner of a Chihuahua is more likely to be an younger urban woman taking her dog for purse rides on the subway. As a result, a niche website targeting dog owners of Scottish Terriers or a niche website targeting dog owners of Chihuahua's would be more ideal than a website target dog owners of small black dogs or small brown dogs since they both target a specific niche audience of people with similar needs, wants, issues, concerns, problems, fears, and desires motivating them to search which are quite different for their counterparts (owners of other dog breeds) despite their similarities (all small dog breeds). Dolman » Connor Yes, Google likes sites people are likely to stay on longer, but sites with more content by quantity are not by their virtue sites with longer dwell times, more links or a bigger moat surrounding them. Dave » Dolman Dolman. I understand what you are saying. I take a different approach to choosing niche websites. If I were choosing a niche, I wouldn't choose it based on how passionate my audience is. I might start a fan blog about super marvel heroes. When choosing a niche or an authority topic, I analyze how many people search for questions on a particular topic cluster. Then I determine how well I can answer those questions in that cluster. I also evaluate how evergreen those clusters of questions are. I try to find someone who has shared an ECPM rate for that niche. If all of those things have to line up. I generally move forward. You should do whatever works best for you. Especially if you've been successful with that passionate audience strategy before. I think there are many ways to do it.. My main point in this thread is the creator should choose a broad domain name so as not to limit himself should he struggle to gain traction, or run out of keywords or need to find lower hanging fruit in other sub-topics to rank for. And to just start the site and don't overthink it.
