{"id":6977,"date":"2023-03-17T18:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T18:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nichetwins.com\/?p=6977"},"modified":"2023-04-23T13:23:35","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T13:23:35","slug":"03-are-niche-sites-officially-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nichetwins.com\/03-are-niche-sites-officially-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"#03 | Are Niche Sites Officially Dead?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was advised early on in my niche site journey not to rely 100% on organic traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuild a brand. Generate multiple traffic and revenue streams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But some lessons simply need to be learned through experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter how many times you\u2019re told, some things just don’t click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take day-trading stocks, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was told 97% of day traders lose money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 1% are actually profitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young, dumb, college me heard that and immediately thought,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood thing I\u2019m going to be part of the 1%\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after having that thought, I lost most of my money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turns out it\u2019s about time<\/em> in<\/em> the market, not timing<\/em> the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The one-legged stool<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My first niche site, the one I just sold, was built like a one-legged stool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire game plan was to write SEO content, rank it, and then monetize it with display ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for several years, this plan worked wonderfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hell, at times I was standing and juggling all at once on top of that one-legged stool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then one day someone walked by and bumped into me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And all at once I became hyper-aware of just how unstable things were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When your entire business model relies on a single traffic source that you don\u2019t control, the future of your business is forever uncertain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might just wake up one morning and find your revenue down 50, 60, 70%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No control over the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not all cash-flow is created equal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The thing is, you can still make a lot of money building one-legged stools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And many others have, and are at this very moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not all cash flow is created equal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this stage in my online money making journey, I value stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want the next thing I spend my time working on to be durable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want it to be able to take a hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want it to last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t want to have to check my analytics first thing each morning to see whether or not I still have a business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s no way to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Don\u2019t just build a business, build a brand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The reality is, building a brand is the best chance you and I have at longevity online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cue the eye-rolls and I told you so’s from the more experienced folks in the back<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it’s true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a strong enough brand, you can make changes to your underlying business, and your customers\/readers will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A brand provides a level of stability that a simple niche site targeting long-tail, low-competition keywords never could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because if keyword targeting is your entire game plan, it\u2019s not a matter of if<\/em>, but when<\/em> you\u2019ll take a massive haircut from Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking from first-hand experience here \ud83d\ude4b\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2642\ufe0f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simplest way to determine whether or not you have a brand, is to answer this question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“How many times a month are humans typing your brand name into Google and clicking search?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the answer is never, you probably have a niche site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is fine, if you’re comfortable with all the uncertainty that comes with relying solely on Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you’re not comfortable with that, you really have two options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Evolve your existing niche site into a brand over time (easier said than done for many traditional niche sites)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Start over, from the ground up, with brand as your focus<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    Niche Twins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    For all of these reasons and more, Keith and I have started to lean in more on Niche Twins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It has all the makings of a brand-able, more durable venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In terms of traffic sources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1) Organic Social:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A combined ~43,000 followers on Twitter + Keith is starting to upload YouTube videos…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2) Direct Traffic:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A couple thousand times a month, \u201cwww. nichetwins .com\u201d is typed directly into people’s web browsers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3) Organic Search:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I suspect organic traffic will surpass direct traffic this month for the first time ever. 100% credit to Keith and the work he’s been doing on the SEO side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Also of note: \u201cNiche Twins\u201d is typed directly into Google search nearly 200 times a month! That’s a strong signal.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"nichetwins<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    4) Email: <\/strong>I just started sending this weekly Niche Twins newsletter to 2650 subscribers, and growing quickly. (I still need to create a lead magnet!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here’s the analytics showing the volume of all of those various traffic sources so far – just half-way through March (15 days of data):<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"niche<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Right now, our primary revenue sources are from affiliates, and a few newsletter sponsorships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But there are several, much larger opportunities we haven\u2019t even scratched the surface of yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n