Fri, 12 April 2024
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast!
Come join Spencer and Jared as they take on the latest news in SEO, AI, Google, and beyond.
This week’s episode kicks off with some big news from Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, who talks about the future of Search.
The main pivot he focuses on in the interview is the shift to AI, which he expects to serve the company well over the coming decade. He notes that AI has been working behind the scenes for a long time now and that Google has to evolve to meet the changing needs of users.
What does he say about chatbots? And what does he say about websites? Are they going away and is SGE going to take over? Tune in to hear what Spencer and Jared think about his comments.
Moving along, they talk about a LinkedIn post from Lily Ray on the SEO visibility growth of Reddit and the mindblowing statistics she shares.
What theory does she share that Spencer doesn’t agree with? How does this all play into Google’s antitrust lawsuit, problems with Gemini, and its declining share price?
And what about Reddit’s poor-quality results in Search? Listen to the episode to hear the ridiculous Reddit response to a weight loss query.
Spencer then shares a tweet from a series by Glenn Gabe on the March Core Update, talking about whether the update has finished or not, the role played by the HCU, and the lack of recoveries from these updates.
What did John Mueller say about the core update? What do Spencer and Jared think about the updates and when they’ll finish? Check out the episode to find out.
The last topic is that Bing usage is on the rise, having gained some footing recently, and Spencer and Jared note from the article that Bing actually powers several other search engines, including DuckDuckGo and Yahoo.
What do they recommend when it comes to optimization? Who uses Bing and why does it matter? What’s happening with desktop search?
As for their Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer highlights two of his side hustles, the Amazon Influencer Program and his Facebook traffic project, neither of which rely on search engine traffic at all.
Jared then announces the Alt G Online Conference: Unleash Your Content’s Potential Beyond Google, which will bring together people earning money on alternative platforms. It will be held on April 25th, and both Spencer and Jared will be speakers.
In line with the conference, the Niche Pursuits Community is welcoming a series of expert speakers each week who are also talking about using alternative traffic sources.
Jared talks briefly about his Amazon Influencer Program side hustle and then teases a new side hustle he’s about to launch. Come back next week for all the details!
As for the Weird Niche Sites, Spencer reveals iScrap App, which reports local scrap prices. They’ve got a blog and a directory and they’re doing well in search: 300k visitors per month according to SimilarWeb.
They monetize with display ads, they have a store, they sell directory space to scrapyards, and the owner probably has a nice little side hustle with this weird niche site.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he reveals Live Oasis, which lets you research the toxicity of many water brands and rates the water quality in different municipalities. It has a subscription model, which provides access to more information and research, but is it earning money?
Beyond that, this brand-new website is doing quite well and ranking for lots of keywords. What does Jared discover when he digs into the backstory? And where is all of the data coming from? And what if they were to change the model a bit? Hear Jared and Spencer’s recommendations.
We hope this episode helped bring you up to speed on the latest happenings in the SEO and content creation space and gave you some new ideas when it comes to your own businesses.
See you next week!
Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and here from industry experts each week? Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 10 April 2024
Michael Dinich has had tremendous success with Flipboard as a traffic source for his site Wealth of Geeks.
Thanks to this focus, he gets about one-third of his traffic from the platform and avoids much of the pain and stress felt about Google updates.
Flipboard is described as a less time-consuming Pinterest and offers a broad approach suitable for diverse industries beyond strictly visual-centric ones.
It's platform that caters to a diverse demographic, slightly leaning towards males, and supports a wide range of niches such as finance, muscle cars, and video games.
And he's got tips on how we can follow in his footsteps.
For starters, he emphasizes the importance of participating in the community, and optimizing content for the platform. Things like:
Success on Flipboard hinges on strong headlines, engaging images, and community interaction to drive high-quality traffic and engagement rates.
And strategies like cloning posts with seasonal variations and maintaining SEO titles on website URLs can enhance visibility.
He also suggests following influencers, and adding a Flipboard button to your website are recommended for growth. And highlights how consistent effort and experimentation are key to seeing significant gains on Flipboard, with the process taking around six months.
He gets quite a bit deeper into the specifics though and if you're in the market for a new traffic source you won't want to miss this one! Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and here from industry experts each week? Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 5 April 2024
Welcome to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast! This week's news podcast is brought to you by Jared Bauman and Thomas Smith, who’s filling in for Spencer.
As always, they’re bringing you all of the latest news related to SEO, Google, and AI, along with their analyses. Stay until the end to hear about their side hustles and weird niche sites!
The first item up for discussion is the fact that Google is thinking about charging for its AI-powered features, such as the Search Generative Experience (SGE).
Jared and Thomas talk about SGE and the reasons why Google may consider this path, and if they do go ahead with it, what it might look like. They also discuss a Tweet from Glenn Gabe, sharing his predictions about where this is headed.
Moving along, they discuss how Google’s search engine market share has declined by around 2%, which may not sound like very much, but it is, and it most likely has Google worried. It looks like Bing’s market share is growing, and Jared and Thomas talk about potentially optimizing for the platform.
The conversation then shifts to Microsoft Start, which is Microsoft’s version of Discover, and its recently-announced and very interesting AI policy. Thomas shares his experience using Microsoft Start and his interpretation of their stance on AI. What do he and Jared think about this policy? And how is it different, or similar, to Google’s?
Moving to a lighter topic, Thomas talks about a musician named Matt Farley, who essentially mined Spotify for keywords and created songs around them. Today he's earning $200k a year. Tune in to hear his excellent advice around this story as well as the stats behind Matt’s “business.”
When it comes to Shiny Object Shenanigans, Jared starts by talking about his Amazon Influencer side hustle. In March, his earnings totalled almost $4k and, inspired by this progress, he uploaded another 66 videos. He shares some of his stats and talks about how passive this business model really is.
Thomas shares his Medium side hustle, explaining how the platform works, its stance on AI, and how he makes money from it. Last year he was earning $500 or $600 per month from it, and last month he made $3k.
Listen to hear him explain his thoughts on that growth and what Medium is doing right.
He also recently started an Etsy store for fun? Find out what he’s selling!
As for Weird Niche Sites, Jared shares his first: MeetWays, which helps you find a spot in the middle when you’re meeting up with someone. This DR34 site has seen its traffic grow from 15k last year to 30k this year and ranks for 188k keywords.
They talk about how the site is monetized, how it was potentially built, and whether or not it’s helpful.
Thomas shares the site Antipodes Map, which lets you see what’s on the exact opposite side of you on the earth.
He plays around with some locations to show how it works, and then shares the stats: DR52, 4k organic search traffic according to Ahrefs, and 113k searches per month according to SimilarWeb.
Is it monetized or is it a passion project? Listen to find out!
That brings us to the end of another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast! We hope you enjoyed this episode with Jared and Thomas and feel informed and inspired in your own business projects.
Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and here from industry experts each week? Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative
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Wed, 3 April 2024
Want to escape the 9 to 5 rat race but struggle to come up with good business ideas?
This episode is for you.
Peter Askew got into the internet business working for .com startups in the late 90s. Due to a series of bad experiences though, he was pretty much forced into entrepreneurship (his words). Thanks to this, over time, he developed an awesome ability to create opportunities by acquiring strategic aged domains.
This is what he dives into today which you don't want to miss! Peter's strategy is really cool and the interview covers a lot of interesting stories and insights from his journey.
It all started when he acquired the domain duderanch.com, which became the cornerstone of his success.
And while growing it - he learned a lot of lessons about diving into a niche that have continued to help him in all sorts of ways. He talks about attending industry conferences and fostering relationships with ranch owners. And how these real-world relationships translate to online business growth.
Over time, Peter continued to grow his site's directory-style business by improving rankings and revenue. And he discusses some key insights from various metrics, regarding his site's design, imagery, and brand reputation.
It hasn't been all successes though.
He also shares how important the niche is for success with this model - highlighting the expensive lessons he learned after acquiring 'birthdayparties.com'.
Peter also discusses the growth of his job board in the ranching industry, and his DTC onion project.
These are projects that highlight his ability to compete with comparatively massive companies thanks to his domain strategy.
Overall his story is really inspirational. And one that highlights the sometimes overlooked techniques that can be used to grow nearly any business. And is an episode that is absolutely worth watching.
Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and here from industry experts each week? Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 29 March 2024
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast, where Spencer and Jared break down the most recent news in SEO, AI, and content creation into smaller, digestible pieces.
Let’s get started!
Spencer first digs into Glen Allsopp’s recent report on almost 50 companies’ SEO performance, sharing some of his research for companies like NextDoor and Chegg, which are publishing massive amounts of AI-generated content and answering questions with AI, respectively, with a lot of success.
On the flip side, they share how many large content sites are also seeing a decline in traffic following the updates, just like smaller sites are experiencing.
They talk about the lessons we can draw from who’s really winning in affiliate marketing these days, the Asia-focused version of websites that are killing it, and more, but you’ll have to tune in to hear what they think.
Moving on, they talk about how Google has offered advice to those people affected by the HCU.
What kinds of things are people doing to show Google they’re legit, and should they keep doing it? What does Danny Sullivan say? Were the penalties delivered really at page level or site level, and why do people think Google’s response to this was contradictory?
The next article they address is from Glen Gabe, featuring hundreds of websites that Wikipedia has deemed as reliable or not, and what we can take away from this information as website owners and content creators.
What popular sites did they find on the list and what was surprising about their standing? Listen to the episode to find out!
Moving along to their Shiney Object Shenanigans, first Spencer talks about growing his Facebook page, which currently has around 60k followers.
Is he able to achieve his goal, which is to drive traffic from the page to his website? He shares the stats, as well as a unique strategy he’s using that is starting to bear fruit, albeit just a little. He’s still in the weeds with this one, so stay tuned to hear how it evolves.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he talks about a new experiment to grow 2 TikTok channels, one in the fashion niche and the other in the travel niche.
How did they do? How did he promote them? And what can we learn from this? And what does it have to do with the Amazon Influencer program?
Moving into the Weird Niche Site portion of the podcast, Spencer goes first with 1920s Fashion and Music, which dives into the 1920s celebrity fashion industry.
What’s especially surprising about this site is that it got a traffic bump from the HCU and has been doing better ever since. Spencer shares the site’s very interesting and inspiring backstory. What can we learn from this?
When it’s Jared’s turn, he shares Box Cycle, a platform for buying and selling used boxes. It has a Craigslist-esque look to it, but is it ranking at all? How popular is it? And how is it performing? It’s a DR40 site with several number 1 rankings, but is this an actual niche? Listen to the full episode to find out!
This brings us to the end of another great episode full of information and inspiration. See you next Friday for more of the same! Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and here from industry experts each week? Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 22 March 2024
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast, where Spencer and Jared talk about the biggest news over the last week in Google, SEO, and AI.
They also give an update on some of their side hustles and top it all off with some very weird and entertaining niche sites.
They kick off this week’s call by announcing big news: Google has just finished rolling out the spam update, although the core update will continue to be rolled out for another two weeks.
The spam update targeted three types of abuse: scaled content, expired domain, and site reputation (also known as parasite SEO), though the latter will technically be targeted in May.
They share a tweet from Lily Ray, where she details the winners and losers from the update, and then Spencer looks at a handful of their data in Ahrefs.
If you take a closer look at the “winners,” you can see examples of sites that are crushing it and do your own deep-dive analysis. They also look at sites that were absolutely crushed in the update, as we can learn from both.
Listen to the full episode to see their analysis and which sites are doing well and poorly.
Moving along, the next news item is that Google is shaking things up a bit internally, replacing the Head of Search, among other roles.
What do Spencer and Jared make of this? And what does the new head, Liz Reid, talk about primarily in her announcement? What does she see as the future of search? And what’s motivating these changes at Google? Tune in to hear what they think!
During the Side Hustle Shenanigans segment of the podcast, Spencer goes first and talks about his Amazon Influencer business. He reveals his current earnings and reports that his earnings have become almost entirely passive since he hasn’t really uploaded videos since December.
Jared just finished his call with the Niche Pursuits Community, where he talks in detail about his business and how he’s grown it. Spencer did a call the previous week where he shared all the details behind his Amazon Influencer business as well.
If you want to see those videos and enjoy many other aspects of the Community, you can join right here!
When it’s Jared’s turn, he talks about deleting 18% of the subscribers to his Weekend Growth newsletter. He shares the process for culling the list and trying to re-engage with disinterested subscribers, and the resulting open rate after the process.
Spencer then shares his process for managing the people on his list who are disengaged. Which approach resonates the most with you? Check out the episode to hear how their strategies differ.
When it’s time to talk about Weird Niche Sites, Spencer goes first with Ling's Cars. From the psychedelic background to Ling’s bobbing head, the site definitely leans into its weirdness.
The owner also uses some unique real-life marketing strategies but doesn’t have a very strong SEO game. Most of its traffic is direct or comes from social media, reaching 84k visitors last month.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he shares the personal website, Tyler Vigen. The section that has gone viral is called Spurious Correlations, where he shows correlations between two completely random things, like Amazon’s stock price and the popularity of the name Stevie.
There’s a very entertaining AI component to this DR74 site, although it’s not ranking for a lot of keywords or getting much traffic, and the owner is not monetizing in any way.
And that brings us to the end of another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast, where Spencer and Jared break down the latest important news in the sector and seek to motivate listeners with their side hustles.
See you next Friday! Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and here from industry experts each week? Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 15 March 2024
Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast! Dig into the latest news in SEO, AI, and content creation with Jared and Spencer!
They kick off this week’s episode talking about Google’s March Core Update.
They talk specifically about scaled content abuse and how Google is going in and manually deindexing sites, sharing a study that looked at 79,000 websites on certain ad networks, of which 1146 were deindexed.
Could this be a scare tactic by Google? Is it doing this manually to save its crawl budget? What exactly is going on?
Google updated its quality rater guidelines to ensure that they ding those sites that don’t disclose which articles were written with AI, describing AI-generated articles as the lowest form of content when ti comes to EEAT.
Spencer offers some advice for content creators using AI and says that Google is going after sites with AI-generated content. He does make an important distinction, though. Tune in to hear what he says.
Then they discuss how Google put out an FAQ on “pure spam” manual action notices, but as Jared notices, there is one important thing missing from the post. What is it?
They then move on to a funny news item. John Mueller, one of Google’s Search Liaisons, saw his site get dropped from Google, although it was recently reindexed. It’s not clear why this happened or if it was a stunt, but it’s definitely news!
Spencer and Jared have some encouraging words for listeners about the core update overall, so listen to the episode to hear what they have to say.
Moving along, they announce Mediavine’s new program, Journey, for sites getting around 10k sessions per month. This is a great alternative for people with smaller sites to allow them to get monetized with Mediavine.
As this is a new program, Spencer and Jared have a lot of questions about it and about how it will run, and why it’s being launched now.
Things take a “nerdy” turn afterwards as Jared talks about how Google Search Console has rolled out the new core web vitals. What changes have been made, and what is INP all about?
Moving along, they share that Reddit has announced a new tool for business growth, allowing companies to spot trends, track mentions, monitor post performance, etc.
The goal is to help brands promote themselves organically, and it could be a good platform to use as people consider diversifying away from Google. Tune in to listen to what Spencer and Jared think about this idea.
And the last item on the agenda is the news that the Associated Press has launched an e-commerce site with product reviews.
What is so unsettling about this headline for Spencer? What do they say about presidential campaigns, blenders, and multivitamins?
As for Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer gives an update on his Amazon Influencer Program side hustle. He reports that his earnings are steady this month, at $1,600, with no major dips but also no major growth. Jared chimes in with his earnings this month, too!
He also talks about his new premium Niche Pursuits Community, for which he just did an expert call to talk about the program, sharing all of the juicy details about how he built this income stream.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he talks about adding a new, professionally edited video and thumbnail to his Weekend Growth YouTube channel.
He also talks about how he’s using SparkLoop to grow his newsletter subscriber list, and after spending +$200, he has acquired +200 subscribers. Tune in to hear all of the details and learn more.
As for their Weird Niche Sites, Spencer goes first and reveals Horse Name Ideas. This weird website has hundreds of categories as well as a name generator, and perhaps what’s most surprising is what he reveals when he looks at Ahrefs.
But when Spencer and Jared discuss the site owner’s photo, the About page, the mission statement, and the contact phone number, what happens? Listen to find out.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he shares Healthy Wage and even reads from its Wikipedia page. This DR60 site is only ranking for 3.6k keywords, but it does have social proof and is very popular.
How can the principles of this page be used by other site owners? Check out the episode to hear what they say.
And that brings us to the end of another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. See you all next week for another hour of inspiration and information from Spencer and Jared. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and here from industry experts each week? Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com |
Fri, 8 March 2024
Welcome back to the Niche Pursuits News Podcast, everyone!
This is the podcast for SEOs, content creators, webmasters, and entrepreneurs looking to understand the latest events and get inspiration for their businesses.
It’s been a crazy week in SEO news, so let’s get right into it! And, as Google suggested, you better buckle up as it’s going to be a wild ride!
The first (and only) topic Spencer and Jared dig into is Google’s very big news.
It’s rolling out the March 2024 Spam Update, which will take 2 weeks, as well as its March 2024 core update, which will take about a month. It’s also worth noting that the Helpful Content system is now part of the core updates.
Spencer and Jared discuss this news at length, covering the main aspects: scaled content abuse; site reputation abuse, or parasite SEO; and expired domain abuse. Google’s stated goal is to reduce the amount of low-quality, unoriginal content by up to 40% and send search traffic to helpful and high-quality sites.
What does this all mean? And what does it mean for AI content? Who is Google targeting specifically?
What cryptic sentence from Google’s announcement does Spencer consider the most interesting? What sort of behavior is Google cracking down on in particular? What types of penalties is Google doling out, and who’s getting hit?
What step did Google announce that leads Spencer and Jared to suggest Google is biased? And what kind of practices are they cracking down on when it comes to expired domains?
They also talk about how Google might start to use a page classifier as opposed to a site classifier. What implications would this have?
Tune in to hear Spencer and Jared discuss Google's latest news and share their thoughts on what's going on.
The next portion of the podcast is Shiny Object Shenanigans.
Spencer goes first with an update on his Amazon Influencer side hustle. He reports a rough number of his videos and his earnings this month to date. The good news is that he is officially in the black.
He also announces that he’s going to do an in-depth presentation about his Amazon Influencer side hustle for the Niche Pursuits Community, his new, premium membership group, which launched at the beginning of March.
Spencer will be sharing just about everything, from his storefront to his earnings to his secrets for hiring people. If you want to check it out, join the community before Monday!
When it’s Jared’s turn, he provides a brief earnings update on his Amazon Influencer side hustle, and then digs into another project: using paid ads to drive subscribers to his Weekend Growth newsletter.
He explains how he set it up through ConvertKit, how he’s going to try different ad ideas, and how he is about to go live with the ads. He will be providing more details and results as they come in, so watch this space!
As for Weird Niche Sites, Spencer reveals that his site is getting 2 million organic visitors per month and 6 million visitors in total. Random lets you generate random things, such as numbers, and they do it using a very unique method. Listen to hear what it is!
This DR83 site is making some money. Tune in to hear how they do it.
When Jared’s up, he shares the website for the Stinky Candle Company, which sells unique candles with scents like chlorine, gasoline, and bacon.
This DR30 site is not getting much traffic, but Jared does reveal a few interesting tidbits about it. It looks like they could be getting 30k visitors a month. With targeted traffic like that, how much might the site be earning? Tune in to hear what they think.
And that concludes another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast.
There’s a lot going on right now in Google’s world, so come back next week to hear Spencer and Jared break it down all over again.
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 1 March 2024
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits Podcast!
This week Spencer and Jared turn things up a notch and cover many, many news items in the SEO and content creation space. After that they share their latest side hustles, and finish everything off with a weird niche site analysis.
You won’t want to miss this one!
They kick things off by talking about Google Gemini and issues with its image-generating capacities. It turns out that the platform is not very accurate, which has led its stock price to drop recently.
The core of the problem is that users found that the race of the people it was depicting in its images was not historically accurate and people are asking if the programmers behind the program have anything to do with it.
Moving along, Spencer and Jared report that Vice has announced lay-offs and its plans to stop publishing on Vice.com in search of new traffic sources. Its authors and journalists are scrambling to back up all of their articles in the event that the website disappears.
Is it letting writers go to replace them with AI? What does their new studio model entail? Why are they giving up on their own website? Tune in to hear Spencer and Jared’s thoughts.
Moving on, it looks like Google is finally rolling out some new Generative AI features for Chrome. Now you can customize Chrome with themes, organize your tabs, and get help writing. What do Spencer and Jared think of these new features?
They talk very briefly about how the NYT filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for revealing the content behind their paywall, and now OpenAI is claiming the NYT hacked the system.
In the next news item, they highlight an article by Glenn Gabe talking about what could happen with the Helpful Content Update.
They highlight another article that did a big study of Google sites and the effect of updates, including the HCU. Spencer reads some of the website attributes that are considered very positive for websites, but check out the article for a more in-depth look.
Lastly, developers are looking into the possibility of adding micropayments to the Chrome browser so users can pay websites or publishers when they browse their content.
Although this is just an idea and there are no plans for implementation, it does raise a lot of questions. What do Spencer and Jared think? Tune in to hear what they say.
As for Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer talks about his new project, the Niche Pursuits Community, which will be live and open to the public as of March 4th.
He talks about some of the features, including calls with experts, small mastermind groups, a private Discord channel, and ongoing challenges with monetary prizes.
When it's Jared's turn, he talks about how he recently monetized his weekend growth YouTube channel. He reveals the earnings from the channel: $11.14.
Although that's clearly not very much, Jared shares a few caveats as well as a positive outlook, since his YouTube channel is generating client work for his agency.
When it's time to talk about some Weird Niche Sites, Spencer goes first with Next Episode, which lets you keep track of the TV shows and movies you watch and see when the next episodes are.
This site was going really well, almost reaching 1 million organic visitors per month, but it got hit hard by the HCU and is now averaging less than 200k, according to Ahrefs.
However, Similarweb shows the site is getting about 3 million visitors per month, in January for example, and the traffic is mainly direct.
When Jared’s up, he shares Jedi Temple Archives, a comprehensive resource dedicated to not just the movies, but also to toys and collectibles. This DR43 site is ranking for over 13k keywords and just 3k in organic traffic, according to Ahrefs.
It’s monetized with ads and affiliate links and a lot of the traffic is direct, and they talk about how much it might be making and what strategies appear to be working.
And that brings us to the end of a jam-packed episode of the Niche Pursuits Podcast. Tune in next week for another thorough run-down of all the latest news, and more. |
Wed, 28 February 2024
James de Lacey is a great example of what you can accomplish in the online business space in just a short time.
He's a rugby and strength and conditioning coach who, thanks to Covid, got into SEO and online business out of necessity.
Now he has 2 successful fitness brands, multiple side projects, and is working his way towards 6 figures per month.
He joins us on the podcast to share lots of important insights into brand building, monetization, and more!
A key takeaway from James's insights is the emphasis on creating valuable content to establish authority in the industry.
Thanks to his sports science background, James produces informative and engaging content across writing, podcasts, and videos - including reaction videos and detailed reviews.
He highlights the necessity of demonstrating expertise and trustworthiness in the fitness niche, stressing the importance of outbound links to reputable sources and in-depth analysis as integral components of his content strategy.
In terms of E-E-A-T and the HCU update, he shares strategies that helped him enhance his site's visibility and expertise and shares tips on changes in review titles to improve rankings and create unbranded mentions on other platforms for brand recognition.
James also shares insights into the membership model for stable revenue, highlighting some of the challenges he's experienced along the way. And touches on social media and how Pinterest SEO can still be used to boost impressions.
Overall it's an inspiring discussion with James showing an impressive ability to juggle multiple projects while still managing to maintain quality and consistency. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 23 February 2024
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast, where Spencer and Jared break down recent events in the SEO, publishing, and niche site space.
It’s been a very busy week and there’s a lot going on, so sit back, get comfortable, and get ready for a packed episode!
They get things started with a report from Glen Allsopp, which takes a closer look at who’s ranking for affiliate queries at the moment.
He goes into great detail in his article on Detailed, for which he handpicked product review terms to look at. Who’s dominating organic search for these very valuable affiliate keywords?
But it’s not as straightforward as that!
Jared reveals a twist to the plot that’s affecting search results, rendering the results from the dominant ranking website full of spam.
But what is the definition of spam, exactly? And when a spokesperson for that website denied that the results were poor quality and offered an example of quality search results, what happened?
Is this an overcorrection by Google? Are they aware of what’s happening? Check out the episode to find out all the drama!
Moving along, Spencer and Jared discuss an article that seems to have gone viral about how Google is killing independent sites.
The article was published on the website Housefresh, which reviews air purifiers and was hit hard by the HCU, and looks at how large publishers are ranking for affiliate keywords with less in-depth content and without actually putting in the work to review the items.
If this trend is glaringly obvious and offers a poor experience for users, why isn’t Google doing anything about it? How did Danny Sullivan respond?
Is there a silver lining on the horizon? Jared and Spencer have a lot of thoughts on this, so check out the episode to hear more.
Moving along, but closely related, they talk about how Housefresh’s article about Google killing independent sites is, ironically, being outranked by everyone, from Search Engine Land, Twitter, and Reddit, for its own article!
Hear what they have to say about it!
And along the same lines, they share a tweet from Glen Allsopp with the same problem: not ranking for his own article. In short, the smaller guys are getting beat by the bigger guys, for no good reason.
For their last story, Spencer and Jared talk about the big deal that went down between Google and Reddit. Google has agreed to pay Reddit $60 million a year to train its AI models.
Why is this an important moment for Reddit? By how much would this increase their revenue? But what makes this situation so incredibly ironic? Jared gives a great breakdown of recent events.
When it’s time to talk about their Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer goes first and reveals he’s launching a premium Niche Pursuits community.
His goal is to create a community where users can connect with each other, discuss what’s happening in the industry, and learn from and bounce ideas off one another.
The group will include weekly expert calls, mastermind groups, group challenges with monetary prizes, among other elements. It will open to the public on March 4th, so check it out!
Jared talks about his Weekend Growth newsletter side hustle, which is now1 year old. He set an initial goal of getting 1000 subscribers in the first 3 months, and 1 year in he has 4600+ subscribers.
He’s earned slightly less than $40k during that period, from newsletter ads, affiliate earnings, and the services he offers. He offers some great motivational advice for listeners and talks about what has worked for him when building up this side hustle.
Spencer then shares his weird niche site, Let Me Google That, and shares a funny story about how he found the site. He gives a demo of how the site works and recommends sharing the link when someone asks a “silly” question.
Not only does the site sell merch, but Ahrefs says they’re getting 111k organic visitors per month while SimilarWeb calculates a million per month. How much might they be earning per month?
When it’s Jared’s turn, he shares Throx, the cure for the missing sock. What started out as a pitch on Shark Tank many years ago has actually grown to become a popular brand with tweens and teens making $1 million a year.
That being said, his SEO could be improved and his website is kind of sparse. Are his products expensive? Is this a gag-gift type of product? Hear what Jared has to say.
And that brings us to the end of another great episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. As always, we hope you’re feeling informed and inspired by today’s jam-packed episode, and we’ll see you next week for more! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 21 February 2024
Behdad Jamshidi is a former engineer turned marketing consultant. A few years back, he decided to adapt his problem-solving skills to vet over 700 marketing providers and joins us to share his findings.
Why is this helpful?
He helps businesses understand marketing and marketers understand the business side of things.
In other words, his insights give those looking to hire - helpful tips to make better decisions.
And on the flip side, he helps service providers gain a competitive advantage by better understanding where businesses are directing their marketing budgets.
For those looking to hire, he stresses the significance of understanding business goals before hiring out to an agency's services.
When vetting agencies, he suggests inquiring about their growth story, longevity, and team structure, recommending stable agencies with 5-15 employees or niche agencies with strong pod structures. And he highlights the importance of passionate team members for ensuring quality work and advises building relationships with the team members you'll be working with.
He also explains how marketing trends are shifting toward building brand presence and customer connections. And shares great insights for agencies on how key investment areas are trending toward email marketing, SEO, and influencer marketing. He also highlights content repurposing and social media as increasingly attractive marketing strategies for businesses.
Another interesting area Behdad discusses both for businesses and agencies are the red flags he highlights.
Things like:
Overall, he shares how successful businesses exhibit long-term thinking, have a dedicated marketing budget, and possess internal staff who understand marketing language.
As he covers, marketing is a journey where we need to test strategies and continuously improve over time, and with advice like what's shared in this episode, we can have the confidence we're heading in the right direction. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhi... Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201crea... |
Fri, 16 February 2024
Welcome back to another episode of The Niche Pursuits News podcast, where Spencer and Jared break down the latest and most relevant news for SEOs, content creators, and business owners.
They kick things off by talking about the Helpful Content Update, which was rolled out in September 2023.
There has been lots of chatter of late—in Twitter threads, in Facebook posts, and beyond— where people are looking for signs that recovery from the HCU is possible.
Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan explains a little bit about the helpful content classifier and how it works, although his explanation certainly gives rise to more questions.
How does Spencer interpret his explanation? Does he think it’s possible to see a recovery in the short term? Have Jared and Spencer seen any sites make a full recovery?
What interesting statistics does Jared reference in terms of HCU recoveries? If the classifier is constantly being updated and tweaked, what does that mean for content creators?
Since no one can truly define what is and isn't helpful content, the big question remains: Is there hope? Listen to Spencer and Jared’s predictions.
The next order of business is the fact that web stories are no longer visible as Google is deprecating the carousel view of web stories in Discover.
What are the two takeaways from this brief news story?
And last but not least, Spencer and Jared talk about the recent news of an upcoming Google algorithm update.
Lots of people have noticed an uptick in traffic as well as volatility, and suspect there might be an update brewing. Have Spencer and Jared noticed anything going on with their sites or the sites they manage?
Next up on the podcast is the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion. Spencer goes first, but instead of talking about one of his side hustles, he shares an update on the AI content competition underway on Niche Pursuits.
This competition was launched after the HCU and the goal is to grow a new site with AI content. He shares the 4-month leaderboard, and there’s no shortage of interesting things to talk about!
The person leading the pack is getting 24,000 organic visitors to his site with around 7 million articles, and after just 4 months, the top 10 people in the challenge are getting more than 1000 organic visitors per month, which is impressive considering these are fresh domains.
If you want to hear the backstory, check out the full episode and also the Niche Pursuits community.
When it's Jared's turn, he provides an update on his public speaking side hustle, reporting that he has reached out to more than 50 different conferences to see if he can speak. How many did you hear back from? And what did they say?
He also gives an update on his Weekend Growth YouTube channel, which recently reached the thresholds for monetization. Jared shares his stats as well as some useful advice for YouTube content creators, and reports on how much he's earned to date from that channel.
When it’s time to reveal their weird niche sites, Spencer goes first with Snow Day Calculator. This site, which does have a social media following, allows users to calculate the number of snow days according to their zip code and type of school. It also offers predictions of future snow days.
The DR42 site is monetized with display ads and has a relatively strong backlink profile, thanks to links from news outlets. As it's a seasonal site, the traffic spikes in winter but dies during the rest of the year.
How much money might it be making during those peaks? And what other clever strategies are they using to earn money? Listen to the episode to find out what Spencer and Jared discover as they poke around.
Things take a morbid turn when Jared reveals his weird niche site, Aerial Ashes, a company that uses drones to scatter people’s ashes over land and sea in the UK.
The site, which is clearly for a local company, is a DR8 and is ranking for just 45 keywords, so it's difficult to say how successful it is.
However, Jared makes a great point about this section of the podcast: Every day, people are executing on their business ideas and using their skill sets, passions, and hobbies to create something unique. And you can too!
Well, that brings us to the end of another interesting episode! join us next week for a look at all the latest news, and updates from the hosts, more weird niche sites and, above all, lots of inspiration.
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 14 February 2024
Appsumo founder Noah Kagan joins the podcast today to remind us that we all start small. Noah's own path to success began by experimenting with various small online niche ventures, a few of which eventually led to the creation of several multi-million dollar businesses. He shares his process of experimenting with different ideas to find product-market fit, highlighting some failures along the way, and the valuable lessons they taught him. But as he mentions - business is the one game where you only need to win once. You just need to start to have a chance. He acknowledges the importance of time though and urges the rapid validation of ideas, offering solid examples of how to do this efficiently. He also shares invaluable advice on generating business ideas and stresses the importance of interaction with people throughout the process. A key part of his message is the power of asking for what you want, exemplified by starting with small acts like requesting a 10% discount on coffee to help build resilience. Some other key takeaways are:
By experimental mindset, he means running short experiments, identifying problems as opportunities, and validating ideas through quick tests - offering up concrete examples He discusses learning the "language of making money" as a skill that fosters financial success over time and underlines the importance of self-belief and action to achieve your goals. Overall, persistence and consistency are major themes, and Noah advises you to give an idea with potential at least 100 tries before considering quitting. He also highlights optimism, intelligent risk-taking, and pitfalls to avoid when starting and growing a business - with personal experiences and insights from tested strategies to help you on your journey. And don’t forget to check out his book The Million Dollar Weekend for more in-depth insights into his awesome and inspiring success. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 9 February 2024
Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast!
This is the place to hear the latest news in the SEO and content publishing industries and it’s where Spencer and Jared break it all down. This week, as always, they also share progress on their side hustles as well as two very, very weird niche sites.
The first topic up for discussion is Google’s decision to rebrand Bard as Gemini. Google certainly is putting a lot of effort into building out AI tools, and this will be one of their flagship products.
What do Spencer and Jared think of the company's decision? And what new features will this tool have?
The next topic is how Google's updated its SEO Starter Guide.
The guide originally dates back to 2008 And is a guide specifically for beginners. Although there's probably nothing meaty there for people that are familiar with SEO, Spencer and Jared did highlight a few interesting items, in particular, from the section on things you should not do.
What kind of advice did they share? What does Google say about article length? And how about PageRank and EEAT? And what about business cards?
The last news item they discuss is how Google won't be able to proceed with third-party cookie deprecation. This means that the phasing out of third-party cookies may or may not be delayed as Google has been asked to comply with additional safety requirements in the UK.
This is big news because it could potentially affect content creators’ earnings, Although it's true that advertising is Google's bread and butter and it will likely do everything it can to maintain it, this is definitely a topic you'll want to keep an eye on!
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer goes first with an update on his Facebook traffic side hustle. He was able to reduce the cost of his likes campaign to grow his page. He shares a lot of the data behind the campaigns, but the real question is whether those likes are driving traffic to his website.
Is it working? What does his Google Analytics reveal? And what is he going to do moving forward?
When it’s Jared’s turn, he provides an update on his Weekend Growth YouTube channel, which officially qualifies for monetization. He shares the stats behind his growth and reveals that the site is less than a year old.
He also offers an update on his public speaking side hustle with an exciting announcement. Check out the episode to hear what it is!
When it comes to weird niche sites, Spencer takes the lead with a very weird site called Is It Friday Yet. According to Ahrefs, the site doesn’t get any traffic, although there is a very entertaining video on YouTube that reviews the website, so tune in to hear more about that.
When it was Jared’s turn, he revealed a 1-page weird niche site: The Office Stare Machine, which lets you input an emotion and it will show stares from Office characters conveying that emotion. They test it out, and the results are pretty funny!
This DR30 site ranks for just 28 keywords, but it does have 49k likes from Facebook. It doesn’t get a lot of organic traffic, and Spencer and Jared talk about the potential strategies the owner might be using on Facebook. Where does it have the potential to do well?
And that brings us to the end of another great episode of The Niche Pursuits News Podcast. We hope this weekly dose of the latest news has brought you up to speed in the SEO and content creation space and you’re feeling inspired by Spencer and Jared’s side hustles.
See you next Friday!
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 7 February 2024
You can probably list loads of reasons why starting a community could be valuable.
And Chris Yates, the founder of Rhodium, is on the podcast to share a BIG reason with his awesome success story.
He talks about his journey of transitioning from owning a digital marketing agency to buying online businesses and eventually founding Rhodium to connect with others in the industry.
He emphasizes the importance of building a community and the benefits it brings:
Chris also highlights the value of community in providing tactical ROI for businesses - like how engaging with a core group of customers with direct feedback can lead to valuable insights and improvements on everything from pain points to pricing.
He gives lots of examples but the stand out is definitely his own experience.
He was offered to buy a business from a Rhodium member for 5 figures thanks to the inherent trust from shared beliefs. He then grew it with help from the community and sold it to another Rhodium member for a multi-7-figure exit.
Overall, this is a discussion that is both a great success story and guide to the benefits of building and nurturing a community of like-minded people in your niche. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhi... Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201crea... |
Fri, 2 February 2024
Welcome back everybody to the Niche Pursuits News Podcast. Join us as Spencer and Jared tackle the latest headlines about Google, SEO, AI, and content creation.
Get inspired hearing about progress with their side hustles, and learn about some weird niche sites and the unique strategies they’re using.
The first news item up for discussion is Google's own reporting on the future of SGE during its recent earnings call. Although Spencer and Jared have hypothesized in the past that SGE might hit a dead end, this call confirmed Google leadership's commitment to, and belief in, this new tool.
The company is investing heavily in SGE and expects it to be extremely useful and popular in the future. Spencer underlines the diversity of results using this feature, where the first 10 SGE results are different from the first 10 organic search results, and Jared shares a few highlights from the article about the breadth of search and Google Assistant.
How do Spencer and Jared interpret the CEO’s comments on SGE? What do they think about his comments about long tail searches? What did the company have to say about publishers? And how did its ad revenue perform?
Check out the episode for their take on these questions.
The next topic up for discussion is Google Bard’s ability to now create images. What happened when Spencer played around with it? What happens if you use them on your website? And how good are the photos it generates? See the images it created for Jared and judge for yourself!
The last article they share features a podcast guest, Brandon Salt, who asked for help on Twitter when his traffic tanked. Surprisingly, Danny Sullivan from Google Search Liaison answered him directly and their exchange was highlighted in an article on Search Engine Roundtable.
What do Spencer and Jared think about Danny’s response? Is his feedback useful and do they agree with his comments? What do they say about embedding videos? And what advice do they give to publishers who like to update their article dates each year?
As for their Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer once again spoke about his experiment where he’s to grow his Facebook page and drive that traffic to his website.
How does he run a Facebook likes campaign? What does it cost and entail? He recently launched several campaigns and he shares the results and a little bit about the strategy.
How many likes does he have at the moment? And how would he use this strategy to get into the Amazon Influencer Program? Listen and find out!
When it's Jared's turn to talk about side hustles, he shares the latest on his efforts to land public speaking gigs. He has discovered that there are more opportunities than he had anticipated and he talks about his plans going forward.
Both he and Spencer share an update from their Amazon Influencer side hustle. How did they do in January? What do they expect in February?
Moving on to their Weird Niche Sites, Spencer shares his site which, unlike the usual sites he shares, is not a content website. Weather Embed is a SaaS tool with a very simple website that is very niche as it’s specifically for embedding in newsletters.
Who might use this type of tool? Who might have built this tool? And can it be used beyond newsletters? How do Spencer and Jared think people could use this for their businesses?
He doesn’t know how much they’re making and it barely gets any traffic from Google Search, but it is a very cool, very niche website.
Jared then shares his Weird Niche Site: IMCDB, an internet cars movie database. It’s essentially a Wikipedia of every car that was ever used in every movie.
Although the site is not very user-friendly, it is extremely extensive and includes information and photos about all the cars.
It’s a classic, old-school directory with a DR of 68, it ranks for 95k keywords, and it gets around 32k organic sessions per month. Which keywords are getting the most traffic? What kind of affiliate program is it using? Listen to find out!
And that wraps up another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast! Thanks for joining us, and we hope that you’re feeling informed and inspired to keep on building, creating, and publishing. See you next week! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 26 January 2024
Welcome back to this week’s episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast, where Spencer and Jared report on all the latest news in SEO.
It was a busy week, so tune in to hear what’s new at Google and how changes there effect content creators and webmasters. Stay for the latest updates on their side hustles, and don’t miss the weird niche site discussion at the end.
The first news item is a big one. Based on a post on LinkedIn, there's speculation that Google's SGE might not be rolled out now, or maybe not even at all. That’s obviously great news for SEOs.
Spencer and Jared dissect this news item and try to understand what Google’s future plans are. Are there really going to be changes? What’s behind the gradual shift in the language they’re using? Listen to the episode to hear what they think is actually happening.
The conversation continues to revolve around Google, but the topic shifts to what’s going on behind the scenes there. Another LinkedIn post gives a bit of insight into the company, suggesting that the company has no real leadership and is plowing ahead with AI while slowly killing organic search.
Is Google really done innovating? Does the company need new leadership? Hear what Spencer and Jared have to say about the situation.
The next news item up for discussion is Google’s announcement that its contract with Appen has ended and it has cut thousands of search quality rater jobs.
Although there was confusion about whether or not Google was getting rid of all of its quality raters, the company confirmed that it’s simply cutting ties with Appen.
How did this news initially come to light? Spencer has the scoop!
The last news item today is that Sports Illustrated’s publisher has laid off most of its union staff. You might recall that SI was busted recently for using fake AI-generated personnel on its website and, as a result, the CEO got fired.
Want to hear more of the drama at SI and with AI and the world of publishing? Listen to the full episode!
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer revisits a website he started about a year ago, the goal being to drive traffic from Facebook. His Facebook page has 45k likes, and he shared the strategy he’s using to get people to his site.
How’s it doing? Does it have potential? What happened when he applied to Mediavine? He shares some Facebook page metrics, including link clicks, and he fields several questions from Jared about his strategy.
Jared reveals a new and exciting side hustle he’s got in the works: a public speaking side hustle. He’s set a goal for the year to speak at 4 conferences, and he’s already got a few lined up. But what does he hope to earn or achieve from this new side hustle?
When it comes to Weird Niche Sites, Spencer goes first with Let’s Learn Slang, and he looks at a few of the articles and shares their stats from Ahrefs.
How could the site have established more topical relevance? And what do Spencer and Jared think of the About page?
Jared then shares his site: Easy Toilet Tips, the number one source for lavatory bias-free reviews.
The site has a ton of content but hasn’t put a lot of thought or effort into UX. Although it seems like an AI-generated website, Ahrefs reveals that it’s been around longer than that. Traffic peaked at one point, but it was devastated by the HCU.
And that brings us to the end of another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. We hope you’re feeling up-to-speed on all the latest SEO news and inspired by Spencer and Jared’s side hustles and general insight.
See you next Friday!
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Fri, 19 January 2024
Welcome back! We’re here with another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast, where Spencer and Jared highlight what’s happening in SEO, content creation, website creation, and beyond.
Listen in if you want to hear the latest about Google, SGE, unique side hustle strategies, and some weird niche sites.
The first news item this week that Spencer and Jared discuss is a recent report that says that Google’s results are getting worse. It’s based on a year-long study of product review queries.
How did Google respond? What exactly did the study assess to come to this conclusion? And what do they consider “low quality?” Spencer and Jared have many thoughts on this topic, so tune in to find out whether they think it’s legit or not.
The next topic up for discussion is Google’s SGE. A recent article states that 94% of Google SGE links are different from organic search results. So now we have about 10 links in the SGE results plus another 10 from organic search and most are not the same.
What does this mean for publishers? Is this good news or bad news? How does this affect you if you’re ranking first in the organic results but have an SGE pack ahead of you? And what does this mean for you if you’re not appearing in organic results? Are there 2 different standards at play here?
Talk about Google SGE continues when Spencer and Jared discuss an article about the impact of SGE by industry, which reveals that the sector most impacted by the SGE is healthcare as those queries have triggered the most responses. In contrast, finance is at the bottom of the list.
What’s interesting about the difference in performance between these YMYL niches? And what conclusions do Spencer and Jared come to as they analyze the SGE performance statistics by industry?
As for Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer goes first and talks about his new YouTube channel, where all of his podcast episodes will now live. Although he was initially worried that people wouldn’t be able to find the channel, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the first episode published there got over 1200 listens in just over 24 hours.
With over 350 subscribers already, Spencer’s confident that he made the right decision to separate the channels and that people will still be able to find the podcast episodes.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he talks about a strategy he’s using for his Weekend Growth newsletter that’s allowing him to increase his agency business by providing a new service. Essentially it’s a side hustle on top of a side hustle! It’s definitely an idea that anyone with their own email list and business can adapt to their niche.
He also gives an interesting update on the Amazon Influencer Program and his family. Check out the episode to hear the latest developments.
When it comes to Weird Niche Sites this week, Spencer comes with a sub-niche of a niche with his site: The Arcade Stick. Arcade sticks can be customized and plugged in just about anywhere. The site, which is just a DR8, could be getting around 100k visitors per month, which is pretty interesting considering how niche it is, plus It’s monetized on Mediavine.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he shares a site called Emoji Combos. Although it’s in beta, it still works perfectly. This DR43 site ranks for 140k keywords and gets over a million organic visits per month.
What unique keywords is it ranking for? How is the site monetized? And how much money do they think the site is making per month?
And that brings us to the end of another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast. Now you’re caught up on all the latest SEO news and, hopefully, you’re feeling inspired and motivated to continue to work on your side hustles.
See you next Friday! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 17 January 2024
Amy Aitman, the COO of Venture Fourth Media, joins us on the Niche Pursuits podcast to share her journey from a freelance writer to leading a prominent media company.
Venture 4th Media manages around 150 websites with a massive writing and editing team of subject matter experts.
And Amy is an open book regarding the operational insights and challenges that have come along with this experience.
For one, over the years, she has been involved with hiring 500+ writers and thus has seen it all.
To build a quality team, she emphasizes the importance of a thorough hiring process and how advantageous, particularly in the age of AI, it can be to have writers and editors with genuine expertise, opinions, and passion in their niche to 'talk shop'.
As she mentions, it's what can separate us from AI.
She highlights her operational approach of going slow to grow fast - making rational, data-driven decisions every step of the way.
So, she also gets into Venture 4th Media's strategies for diversifying content and brand building, including adding email marketing, newsletters, podcasts, and Twitch campaigns to their sites.
And with so many sites under management, Amy has some valuable thoughts about the Helpful Content Update, including how the company is navigating the aftermath, how they're evaluating content, and prioritizing growth opportunities.
Overall, Amy is a great source of optimism. Her tips and experience are invaluable. And her insights into the evolving landscape of content creation and audience engagement are sure to help site operators of all levels. Enjoy! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 12 January 2024
Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of The Niche Pursuits News podcast!
Spencer and Jared are back this week to bring you all the latest happenings in the world of SEO and to break the news down. There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s get started!
The first topic of discussion is the latest article in The Verge about Google.
According to the article, content creators and website owners have essentially created their websites with Google in mind, with the result that they all look and feel the same. As a result, Google has shaped how we build our websites.
Do Spencer and Jared believe that the article’s premise is accurate? Is there too much homogenization going on? Should we really be preparing people-first content? And what about the use of Reddit in content creation?
They also talk about the response from Danny Sullivan, sharing a particularly thought-provoking tweet from the Google Search Liaison about “chasing the algorithm,” EEAT, and the “perfect” page formula.
The last news item they cover is an article about Google's efforts to combat spam. There are still a lot of spammy results in the SERPs and Google reports that it's aware and is working on the situation. Spam is a huge problem, and it's only increasing with the rise of AI. Google certainly has its work cut out for it!
When it's time for the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer kicks things off by explaining that he's going to put all of his podcast videos on a new YouTube channel going forward.
But what are the reasons behind his decision? And is he going to move existing videos to the new channel?
When it's Jared's turn, he wants to continue to grow his Weekend Growth newsletter, but he flips the script this week. Instead of talking about his future plans, he asks for Spencer's input on new actions he can take. They have a productive brainstorming session with several interesting ideas!
As for this week's weird niche sites, Spencer shares a directory site for dude ranches. His site this week is a little bit different in that he knows the backstory because he discovered it on Twitter.
He shares the interesting story behind the site, which has excellent visuals and branding and makes money through its paid listings.
Jared’s weird niche site is certainly a sight to behold: Dogica. This DR12 site ranks for 10k keywords, including lots of first-page rankings. He and Spencer agree that the very old-school design might be holding it back, plus it doesn’t seem to be on top of many modern monetization methods, although it does offer a dog rental service.
And that brings us to the end of another episode of The Niche Pursuits News podcast.
We hope that we helped catch you up to speed on all the latest news in SEO, website development, and content creation. See you next Friday! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 10 January 2024
Will Hatton, founder of thebrokebackpacker.com, shares his remarkable journey and true entrepreneurial spirit with us on the latest episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast.
At 18, he embarked on a journey, spending two and a half years in India with almost no money. This was where his entrepreneurial journey began, selling items collected during his travels back home in England.
He initially started The Broke Backpacker as an email list, later evolving it into a site in 2013 focusing on budget travel information.
Will's travel experiences in less touristy countries like Iran and Pakistan led to unique content that when combined with his outreach efforts, attracted media attention and high-profile backlinks.
He began earning income from sponsored posts and later ventured into small group tours, providing a cash injection to go all in scaling the website and team.
The site gained immense popularity, reaching 1.5 million unique users a month before COVID caused a significant setback.
But despite some struggles and his carefree demeanor, Will Hatton proves to be a wizard in his entrepreneurial pursuits.
He discusses his strategies for brand building, systematizing his content needs for maximum results, and following through to reach his goals.
He covers the importance of building real relationships with affiliates, managing the team and content creation process, updating old content, and addressing the impact of Google updates on their approach to content creation.
Will also shares his plans for the future, including focusing on the backpacker lifestyle, launching a podcast, and expanding his coworking hostel brand in Bali.
If you're interested in hearing from a truly memorable entrepreneur with a lot of interesting stories and helpful insights - this one's for you! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 5 January 2024
Welcome back everybody to the first Niche Pursuits News Podcast of 2024!
Jared and Spencer kick off the year with another great episode, offering a close-up look at all the news in the SEO, AI, and website creation world.
This week they start off discussing the Google update on New Year’s Eve, with people noting volatility in the SERPs and even upticks in traffic in a reversal of the effects of the HCU.
How difficult is it to gauge SERP changes that happened around the holiday period? What changes in traffic has Spencer noted on Niche Pursuits between December and January? Listen to find out their thoughts.
The next topic Spencer and Jared cover is The New York Times’ announcement that it’s suing OpenAI and Microsoft.
Millions of articles from the NTY were used to train the OpenAI model, and a lot of the content that was used was behind a paywall. Meanwhile, the media outlet spends millions of dollars to have professionals write and produce its content, and now OpenAI is using that information freely and making it available to everyone.
Notably, this includes information from The Wirecutter, with the result that the NYT isn’t collecting the affiliate commissions.
But what’s at the heart of this lawsuit? Could this set a precedent for how copyright law is interpreted? Does the media company have a strong case? Tune in to hear the discussion.
Still on the subject of OpenAI, Spencer and Jared talk briefly about its offer to pay publishers between $1 and 5 million in compensation for their content. They agree that it’s far less than what publishers should get, especially considering that the NYT could be earning over 2 billion a year.
What’s going to happen moving forward? Can AI be contained at all?
Google seems to be moving ahead with, and making changes to, Bard, and now it’s going to implement its Google Assistant with Bard. Bard will power the Assistant to make it smarter and to make better recommendations. But how will this affect content creators?
In other Google Bard news, a paid version of the tool is coming, which hasn’t even been announced officially by Google. How was the move to a paid model discovered? And how might the payment plans work? Listen to hear Spencer and Jared’s predictions.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer talks about his year-long experience in the Amazon Influencer Program. He made $6179 in December, and his entire revenue for the year is $17k+. Although he officially started in January, it took him a while to ramp up video production.
What is Spencer’s plan moving forward? Listen to hear what he has in store and why he’s approaching his side hustle in this way.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he shares some surprising stats from his Amazon Influencer Program side hustle. Although his December numbers were good, coming in at $4026, his November earnings were higher. Overall, for the year he earned $18k+ and although he started in May, he took a different approach to video production than Spencer.
He also talks about progress with his Weekend Growth newsletter and YouTube channel and how he has finished the year with just under 4.5k subscribers. He shares some of his monetization methods as well as his inspiration for starting this side hustle.
As for the Weird Niche Sites of the week, Spencer goes first with an Online Stopwatch, a simple website with a free stopwatch and countdown timer. It has ads everywhere and also offers a premium paid stopwatch feature. Who might this type of subscription appeal to?
With 2.2 million organic visitors per month, according to Ahrefs, and double that according to SimilarWeb, could this site be generating around $50k per month in ad revenue?
Jared’s Weird Niche Site is National Today, which highlights the current holidays around the world. This DR81 site ranks for 1.4 million keywords and has organic traffic of 4.4 million, but what does Jared discover when he scrolls down the homepage? What type of content are they publishing? Don’t miss their thoughts on this ultra-successful site.
And that brings us to the end of another episode of the podcast. We’re hoping you feel up-to-speed on the latest happenings in the industry, excited to start your side hustle today, and inspired by some weird websites that are killing it online.
See you next week!
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 3 January 2024
Want some expert help reaching your online marketing goals?
Authority Hacker co-founder Gael Breton is back on the podcast to shed some light on the ever-changing SEO landscape.
Google's Helpful Content Update (HCU) had a big impact on many niche sites, and so Gael dove into the data to decode what is and isn't working to share some pretty surprising insights with us.
He first discusses the evolution of SEO practices, emphasizing the challenges of creating content based solely on search intent and the need for more user-friendly and engaging content.
And he has some great examples of sites doing this that have grown traffic by as much as 2000+% despite the updates.
These aren't your typical niche sites publishing 3000-word 'SEO' articles based on what existing articles say.
They're doing real reviews, including tons of visual content to be more like a 'comic book', and being rewarded for it.
The role of YouTube and social media in building credibility and trust with real people is also discussed, and Gael emphasizes the increasing importance of transparency and identity in your online presence.
Of course, the impact of user-generated content (UGC) on Google is also discussed, including probable future changes in the SERPs and potential effects on site traffic.
Overall, it's an important discussion about the online marketing business model, its ongoing evolution, and what we should all likely be doing to adapt, overcome, and ultimately succeed.
Enjoy! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 29 December 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast!
This week Spencer and Jared decided to do things a little bit differently. As the year is coming to a close, they decided to talk about the 3 top Niche Pursuits podcast episodes for 2023, as well as their personal favorites.
Spencer explains how he collected the data to determine which episodes were the most listened to this past year, and then they kick off the episode by talking about the third most listened-to podcast, which was the interview with Grady Hudd.
Grady grew his niche site to $9k per month in 2 years with no SEO experience. Spencer and Jared talk about why they think this was such a popular podcast. Grady’s relatability was probably key, and it’s likely that many beginners connected with his situation.
The second most listened-to episode was Forrest Webber, who talked about how he grew his portfolio to $40k a month after replacing rental properties with websites. They talk about his story, the important mindset shift that brought him so much success, and how he scaled his business.
The most popular podcast for the year was with Shelly Marmour, a travel blogger who grew her monthly income from $700 to $52k per month in 1 year with affiliate SEO. Shelly’s story was also relatable and inspirational, as many people could probably identify with where she was in the beginning and were interested to see how she grew her business so incredibly.
Then Spencer and Jared share their favorite episodes of 2023.
Jared’s favorite was Cyrus Shepard’s episode on internal link building and he described the interview and the information shared as incredibly succinct and easy to understand. The episode was packed with actionable tips and insightful details about internal linking based on a data-heavy study that Cyrus did, and he talks about everything from Link Whisper to link sculpting.
Spencer’s favorite was how Kevin Espiritu grew his gardening site from $400 per month to 8 figures per year, which is also a story that most people can relate to. He started out like most of us, building his site back in 2016, and today he’s making over $10 million per year.
He did it by growing his website first, then his YouTube channel and his social media channels, and then he launched his own products. What Spencer and Jared especially like about this episode is his approach to plateaus in his business and how he acquired another website and merged the two into a massively successful brand.
And that brings us to the end of this episode of Niche Pursuits News and the end of another year of Niche Pursuits podcasts that seek to motivate, educate, and inspire.
Here’s to another year of learning from one another and to a very successful 2024! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 27 December 2023
Kurt Schmidt is an extremely successful site owner who is back on the podcast to discuss all sorts of traffic and content-related topics.
Kurt is the owner of a portfolio of Disney-focused sites generating HUGE amounts of traffic.
He is a true expert in Google Discover and other alternative traffic sources. And with all the Google updates, there's perhaps no better time to pick his brain.
One of the big changes he's made this year is shifting focus from prioritizing page views to user engagement metrics like time on page, highlighting the importance of engaging content.
Ingrained in all of his sites is the importance of balancing tried and true, evergreen topics with up-to-date, trending, and conversational content.
His team does a great job of creating content fast for the newsy topics in the niche as well as long-term organic traffic.
There was even a period when they were publishing 90 articles a day, but at such a scale comes issues of quality control and fact-checking.
So, Kurt offers up a ton of wisdom on solutions that will interest and help site owners of all sizes.
For instance, creative ways to tackle the same topic in fresh and unique ways, tips on AI, as well as various new traffic sources to pursue.
Overall, Kurt gives us yet another insightful look into online publishing, with awesome tips and strategies to help you get more traffic and make more money. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhi... Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201crea... |
Fri, 22 December 2023
Welcome back, Niche Pursuits fans, to another episode of the podcast. As always, Spencer and Jared cover the latest news in SEO, AI, Google, and everything content creators and website owners need to know.
This week they kick off the show talking about how Google has been discussing its plans to get rid of third-party cookies for a long time now. The underlying argument is that consumers in the UK, Canada, Europe, and increasingly in the US don't like the idea of Google collecting all of their private data, which is then used for advertising purposes. The main issue is privacy.
But Google has finally announced its plans to really truly get rid of them and it all begins on January 4th. The roll-out is going to be gradual and may be completed by the end of 2025.
The big questions are how will this impact advertisers and website owners? Will display ads decrease? Will RPMs decline? Does this have a connection to the anti-trust suit? At the moment, it's really a speculation game, but tune in to hear what Spencer and Jared think might happen.
Then the conversation shifts to a tweet from Jake Ward, about how he stole millions in traffic from a competitor by using AI to write articles based on all of his competitor’s keywords. The tweet was essentially a marketing ploy to promote his AI tool, and it went viral.
The bad news is that his tweet was seen by Google and his site was hit with a manual penalty because of copied content. Traffic tanked as a result.
Why did Google penalize his website? What alternative strategy does Spencer suggest? Does the fact that it’s AI content factor into their decision? Has Google changed its position on AI content? What are the general takeaways from this story? Listen to hear what Jared and Spencer think.
The conversation shifts to the ever-changing landscape of artificial intelligence and offers an overview of the changes that Google has had to implement since OpenAI appeared on the scene.
They discuss spammy results and the future of spammy AI content as well as the role brands play in ranking.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer reports that his Amazon influencer side hustle is going really well. So well, in fact, that he has seen massive earnings in the month, including some $500 days. During the last 30 days, he earned $6800+.
Although he hasn't uploaded any videos since last week, he does have additional videos ready to go and is hoping to break $7k in the next few days.
Jared shares his experience with the program recently, and he’s seen his 30-day rolling total at slightly under $6k and expects to be under $5k for the month of December. Although he killed it on Black Friday, his earnings have been lower this past month.
Also, something “happened” to his star product that had been driving the bulk of his earnings until now. Listen to the episode to hear what he discovered, and hear what he and Spencer plan to do with the program next year.
Moving onto their weird niche sites, Spencer shares Elfster, Which is a website and an app that helps you conduct Secret Santa gift exchanges. It can also recommend gifts, which allows it to make money from affiliate sales and sponsored product placements.
He shares its highly seasonal traffic graph from Ahrefs, with 1.5 million organic visitors in December 2022, and appears to be trending up. The rest of the year, they’re still getting incredible traffic and are a multi-million dollar business. Listen to the episode for more details.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he shares Campsite Photos, a site he uses often. You can enter just about any campsite in the US and check out photos so you can decide if it’s the right fit.
You can answer questions like if it’s flat or not, if your trailer would fit, etc. and is incredibly helpful if you’re into camping. This DR43 site is ranking for 119k keywords, and has organic traffic of 150k, according to Ahrefs.
The site is monetized with ads, and it offers a service where it finds you a campsite if the one you want is booked. Check out the episode to hear more observations about Jared’s weird site!
And that brings us to the end of another great episode. We hope you’re feeling inspired and informed, and don’t forget to come back next week so they can bring you up to speed on the latest happenings.
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 20 December 2023
Prolific site owner James Dooley joins the podcast to give a masterclass into the rank and rent business model.
This is where you rank a website and rent it out to a local business seeking inbound inquiries.
It's an approach that has helped him become a millionaire many times over.
And with over 14 years of experience and over 850 paying sites in 650 niches, he has lots of important advice site owners of all types need to hear.
In general, he emphasizes the importance of having a strategy for your site.
For the rank and rent model, in particular, he suggests starting with a broad domain and creating industry-related content to attract traffic and engagement.
He believes traffic and behavioral signals are key ranking factors. And with this ranking site, you can engage local businesses to understand their needs and discover the most profitable subtopics within the industry.
This strategy involves building location-specific pages targeting niche keywords, using various on-page optimization tools, creating a diverse backlink profile, and foundational links like citations, a social fortress, and internal linking.
As you can imagine, there is a lot of overlap with building affiliate marketing content sites, and the conversation covers the similarities and differences between these types of sites.
James also has a lot of important advice regarding maximizing the profits of all kinds of sites, common mistakes found, and easy solutions.
Overall, this is a dive into the rank and rent model, with valuable insights and strategies all site owners can benefit from. Don't miss it! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 15 December 2023
Welcome back, Niche Pursuits News fans, to the latest episode of the podcast, where Spencer and Jared break down the most recent events in SEO, website development, and content creation into bite-size pieces.
Get ready for their insightful analysis and actionable tips and, as always, a good dose of inspiration for your businesses.
It’s another episode of the podcast and another opportunity to talk about Google completing, yet again, another of its updates. The November Reviews Update has officially concluded, after about 5 weeks.
Spencer and Jared talk about the extended duration of recent updates and what this might mean for sites impacted by the HCU.
Will these updates be baked into larger updates in the future? What should content creators who do a lot of product reviews do moving forward? And what happens to you in future updates if your site has been deemed “ unhelpful?” Check out the episode to hear their thoughts.
For a bit of good news, they then talk about how Google’s How-To rich results seem to be returning to Search. Check your Google Search Console to see if you’re getting any clicks and look for ways to optimize it.
Moving along, the next topic is parasite SEO and the fact that reviews are currently appearing on Harvard University’s official website. GoogleLiaison’s Danny Sullivan recently tweeted that Google is aware of this and taking appropriate measures, but still, this raises questions.
If Google previously positioned sites based on their link profile and pagerank, the algorithm no longer works when authoritative sites start publishing review content unrelated to their topical authority and ranking on page one, so how do they fix this? Spencer and Jared discuss a few ideas.
The next order of business is Google’s new AI Studio, a web-based tool for developers to allow them to create Gemini-based chatbots. Jared turns to ChatGPT to find out more about how it works, and they both brainstorm about how they might use it. Tune in for some clever ideas!
Moving on to the Side Hustle Shenanigans, Spencer and Jared both have exciting updates on their Amazon Influencer Program performance. Spencer reports that he’s published over 1000 videos and has already earned over $5.5k for the month.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he reveals that he’s earned over $6200 for the month so far, and shares some details about which video is bringing in the most commissions. They both talk about their ideas for strategies going forward, as well as the importance of just getting started.
When it comes to Weird Niche Sites, Spencer kicks things off with Keep The Score, a very professional-looking DR40 website that lets you keep score of any type of competition you have going on. Traffic could be between 28k (Ahrefs) and 195k (SimilarWeb) per month.
They talk about some of the site’s unique features, what keywords are driving the traffic, and how it’s earning money.
Jared reveals his site, Belt Checker, for Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners. You can create a profile and then enter all of your information like competition history and belt promotions, you can track your injuries, and much more. This DR46 site ranks for over 10k keywords and has over 18k indexed pages, so it’s a pretty solid website.
How many users does it have? Was it affected by the HCU? Was the site built for SEO? And, perhaps most importantly, what can we learn from it?
You get all this and more when you listen to the latest episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast, so don’t miss this one!
See you all next week when Spencer and Jared tackle new topics and offer even more ideas you can apply to your own projects.
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhi... Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201crea... |
Fri, 8 December 2023
Hey everybody, welcome back to the latest episode of the Niche Pursuits Podcast.
Like they do every week, Spencer and Jared cover the latest happenings in the Google, SEO, and content creation space so you can feel informed and make the best decisions for your business.
The first news item they discuss is a tweet from Barry Schwartz noting that Danny Sullivan and John Mueller from Google had deleted some of their previous tweets about the Helpful Content Update.
What does this mean?
The HCU is not being rolled back, but what would lead them to delete their previous tweets? Is there a glimmer of hope for the people affected by the update? Is the potential December update actually a “rollback?” Or are we all reading too much into this? Spencer and Jared have a few thoughts to share on the subject.
The next topic is Google’s new update, Gemini Pro, which is already rolled out into Google Bard. A ChatGPT competitor, this is an advanced multimodal AI model that will be part of the Google Search experience very soon.
Jared and Spencer talk about how Gemini and SGE are actually in conflict with what Google wants and show a few examples. What happens when Spencer pokes around to test Gemini out? What are the implications and how will this look going forward? Listen to hear what they think!
The next news item is how there are continuous leaks of information and tidbits of Google’s strategy that have been coming out as the company faces its major anti-trust lawsuit.
Most recently, an article was published that offers a ton of insight into how Google works behind the scenes. Spencer and Jared share a few of the highlights, like Google’s many ranking signals, the use of keywords, how websites are rated and tested, and the Navboost system.
Listen to the tidbits that surprised them in the super-detailed article.
Moving on to the side hustles, Spencer gives an update on the Amazon Influencer Program. He has 967 videos live and he shares a screenshot for over $3k in earnings for the last 30 days.
He talks about the cost of outsourcing his videos, and he and Jared talk about whether they think earnings are up because of the holidays or if this upward trend will continue.
In the ongoing competition between the hosts, Jared talks about reaching the 1000-video mark and his most recent earnings from the program, $4600. This is a great performance for a side hustle he started just a few months ago.
He and Spencer talk about the enormous possibilities of this side hustle and share an inspiring story of a podcast listener who earned $11k in November from the program and started in July!
The big picture message is that there are lots of side hustles out there that anyone can start and potentially earn life-changing money if they’re willing to put in the work.
Spencer then goes on to share his weird night site, which may very well be someone’s side hustle: Flpbk.io.
This cool, little website lets you submit a 1-minute video and they will turn it into a flipbook and send it to you.
Although this website ranks for 0 keywords and only gets about 17k visitors per quarter, which is probably direct traffic and social. That being said, if the traffic is targeted, the website could be quite profitable.
Jared shares his weird niche site next: Celebrity Cutouts, where you can buy masks, large heads, and life-size cut-outs of your favorite celebrities.
This DR28 site is doing pretty well, ranking for 47k keywords and getting 17.5k a month in traffic. They discuss how it’s most likely a print-on-demand business and encourage listeners to take advantage of the holiday sales to buy loved ones cutouts of their favorite celebrities.
And that brings us to the end of another episode of the Niche Pursuits Podcast. Hopefully, this episode inspires you to start that side hustle and keeps you informed of the latest SEO news.
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative
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Wed, 6 December 2023
Today on the podcast, founder of Blackjack Apprenticeship Colin Jones shares his journey from being a professional blackjack player to building a successful online brand.
He's built both a popular website and YouTube channel for his business and combined, they help him bring in 7 figures per year.
He joins us to share a ton of actionable tips based on his own experience.
Initially, he focused on search engine optimization (SEO) for his website, but soon realized the power of video in boosting traffic and engagement. So he began creating high-quality videos for his landing pages, resulting in increased traffic and click-through rates.
Over time, Colin realized he'd have to approach YouTube differently, shifting his focus from ranking in search results to creating content that would engage and retain viewers.
Thumbnails and the first 30 seconds of a video capture viewers' attention and encourage them to continue watching. And to attract viewers, Jones split tests thumbnails, comparing the process to marketing a movie, with the thumbnail acting as the movie poster and the first 30 seconds as the movie trailer.
But he also emphasizes several times - the importance of watch time and delivering value throughout the entire video.
And maintaining quality and value throughout the entire video is essential for retaining viewers' attention.
Understanding the audience and their interests is key to creating compelling video content. Researching successful YouTube videos in the same niche can provide insights and inspiration for creating engaging content.
And Colin shares a bunch of great tips, some of which may surprise you.
For instance how audio quality and lighting trump camera quality.
Short-form content, such as YouTube shorts and TikTok videos, can also be a valuable addition to a video strategy and attract new subscribers.
Monetizing that audience isn't always easy though.
And Colin emphasizes the importance of having a valuable product and creating content that speaks to the ideal customer. Video is found to be more effective in building trust and likability compared to written word alone.
The goal is to provide value through YouTube videos and gradually lead viewers to the website (in a non-salesy way). On the website is where the more sales-focused videos can be found. Even showing how embedding videos have helped his SEO with an increased time on page and EEAT.
Colin even shares how camera-shy people can make use of YouTube to grow their business, such as using voice narration with B-roll or partnering with experienced YouTubers.
Overall, Colin Jones shares a masterclass in how to leverage video to boost traffic and engagement with your business. By focusing on watch time, delivering value, and understanding your audience, you can create compelling content that grows your audience and business. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 1 December 2023
Welcome back everyone! It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another episode of the Niche Pursuits Podcast.
A lot happened this week so there’s a lot to talk about. Join Spencer and Jared as they discuss and analyze the latest happenings in the SEO, AI, and content creation space.
The first news item they cover is the Google Core Update and the fact that it has finally finished rolling out.
How long did it last in the end? What kind of movement did Jared and Spencer see? Was there a reversal from the HCU? Are there any updates currently underway or coming in the future? Tune in and find out!
Then Spencer and Jared shift the conversation to a slightly more controversial topic: Sports Illustrated allegedly published a ton of content written by AI-generated writers.
When the articles were deemed as potentially AI-generated, the team at Futurism pressed Sports Illustrated, which then deleted all of the content and issued a response.
What did they say? What do Spencer and Jared think about the situation? And how does EEAT play into all of it?
The next topic is how the Canadian government has reached an agreement with Google on the Online News Act. Google has agreed to pay online Canadian publishers around $100 million a year to publish their news content on Google.
This is clearly a win for news publishers, who are going to get paid, but it raises some interesting questions. Why did Google agree to pay? Will other countries follow suit? Will it go beyond news publishers at some point?
In more Google news, the number of companies who have blocked Google from crawling their sites and using their data for Bard has increased by 180%. Jared and Spencer have talked about this situation previously, but in that case it was the GPT OpenAI bot; now it’s the case with Google-Extended.
What about this article really riles up the hosts?
Spencer gets especially riled up sharing that Google Bard is now summarizing YouTube videos. Not only can you get a summary, but you can also get a transcript. Spencer gave it a test drive with one of his videos.
What was the result? Was the summary accurate? The result is pretty funny, so check out the episode to see why.
Moving along, the next topic is X (formerly Twitter), and how some brands have paused their advertising campaigns while others have stopped altogether. As a result, the platform may lose up to $75 million in ad revenue by the end of the year.
This is attributable to the fact that Elon Musk is a bit of a loose cannon, he's making offensive statements, and there are also lots of changes to the platform.
What does this mean for other advertisers? Could this be part of Musk’s overall strategy?
Last but not least is news from Amazon, which has launched a new AI chatbot for companies. This chatbot is not a competitor for consumer-facing chatbots but, rather, for companies to use for their businesses. Think financial projections, policies, and procedures.
What is AWS and how is it involved? And what might the name of the chatbot be a reference to? Listen to the podcast to hear what Spencer and Jared think about it.
Moving into the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer talks first about his progress with the Amazon Influencer Program. With 954 videos currently published, how did he do during Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Jared then shares his progress with the program. Currently, he has 982 videos live, but how did he do during the big shopping days? After talking with other members of the program, Jared also has an interesting theory about how to increase earnings during this period next year.
He also talks briefly about Weekend Growth, progress, and new developments.
As for their Weird Niche Sites, Spencer goes first with Katie Goes Platinum—a site that’s more unique than it is weird. Katie documents the process of letting her hair gray gracefully and seeks to inspire others.
She’s got ads and digital products, not to mention a YouTube channel and a section featuring her web stories. A little research shows that back in 2020, she was earning $6k per month from her site—a figure that has most likely increased since then.
Jared’s Weird Niche Site is Hood Maps, which creates funny maps for different cities. He and Spencer take a closer look at a few of them and share some of the entertaining descriptions.
This DR41 website doesn’t have any display ads but it does rank for 50k keywords. But how does it collect the descriptions for so many maps? And is it making any money?
And that brings us to the end of a jam-packed episode. See you next week when Spencer and Jared tackle the latest headlines and serve up more information and inspiration. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 24 November 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits Podcast, where Spencer and Jared cover the latest news in SEO, AI, affiliate marketing, and content creation.
As always, there’s a lot that happened since the previous episode, and they talk about the best Black Friday deals, so don’t miss this one!
The first news story they cover was the major upheaval at OpenAI over the last few days. Essentially, the board ousted Sam Altman as its CEO due to a lack of confidence and trust in him.
This led to a whirlwind of events: other employees quit in solidarity, he was hired by Microsoft, and then the board at OpenAI changed course and hired him back.
What does this all mean and how will it eventually play out? How did Sam and Microsoft really fare in this debacle? And how does this ultimately impact content creators? Tune in to hear Spencer and Jared’s takeaways.
The next bit of news they cover is that Google is testing out a “Simple Search” function, which would allow users to filter their search queries and simplify them.
How exactly does it work? What does this mean for the Search Generative Experience? What is Google really doing as it implements all of these changes? And what does it mean for bloggers? Listen and find out.
The next topics are about shopping, which could not be more appropriate, since it is Black Friday after all.
Google is now using AI to help people shop for their holiday gifts. Spencer and Jared discuss how it works and show the demo. Essentially, AI will help refine gift categories and help people find exactly what they’re looking for. The new functions even let you virtually try on clothes!
In other shopping news, Amazon has announced that, on Black Friday, its Prime Video will feature shoppable ads, allowing users to scan QR codes to make “instant purchases” during the NFL game.
Speaking of shopping, as it’s Black Friday, Spencer and Jared forgo the usual Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast to share some of the biggest and best deals they’ve seen this season.
They talk about special discounts on Spencer’s tools, like Link Whisper and Rank Logic, as well as on Jared’s photography course. To save big on the best tools, check out the Niche Pursuits Black Friday Deals page!
As for this week’s Weird Niche Sites, Spencer goes first and reveals Rhyme Zone which, as the name suggests, identifies words that rhyme with your chosen word. The extensive results are organized by syllable. But what’s really shocking is how much traffic the site gets! It’s off the charts!
How is it monetized? And what could it do better to earn more from ads? Listen to the episode for all the details.
Jared’s site is a bit more whimsical: Cloud Appreciation Society. This weird site features everything from the cloud of the day and cloud of the month to a “Recent Clouds Spotted” section.
It also has a very cool UGC feature that Jared and Spencer discuss, as well as the possibility of buying a membership. Is this DR69 site ranking for a lot of keywords? How is it probably doing in terms of revenue?
And that brings us to the end of another episode! Hopefully, you feel like you’re in the loop and caught up on recent happenings with Google and SEO. See you next week for another jam-packed episode!
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 17 November 2023
Welcome back to Niche Pursuits News, where Spencer and Jared share the most important and recent news in SEO, digital marketing, content creation, and website building. Grab something to drink and get comfortable—there’s lots to cover this week!
The first topic they cover is Google's antitrust lawsuit. One of Google's witnesses made a mistake on the stand and accidentally revealed that it pays Apple 36% of the revenue earned via search ad activity on Apple’s Safari browser.
Essentially, Google is paying billions of dollars to Apple to ensure that it's the default browser on all of its products and it did not want this data to be revealed. What does this mean for other search engines? Does Google have a monopoly in the search engine market?
Or, maybe a better question is, how good is Google really? Does it need to go to these lengths to become the default browser? Is the quality of its search actually getting worse? And what is the science behind being the “default?”
The next news item up for discussion is Google's announcement about new ways that users can find what they're looking for on Search.
Google is testing out three features: allowing users to follow topics that they're interested in by adding a follow button, adding a perspective filter to allow users to get the best first-hand knowledge on a topic, and including information about content creators to highlight their expertise.
What other potentially controversial announcements has Google made with regard to new features? What’s the role of AI in all of this? Tune in to find out!
Jared and Spencer then talk about Danny Sullivan's recent presentation at brightonSEO. The Google Search Liaison essentially told attendees to get ready for even more changes, tweaks, and improvements to Google’s search rankings.
To get a peek at his full presentation, head on over to Twitter, where he posted all the slides and see for yourself. But what were the overarching themes? Listen to the podcast to hear Jared and Spencer's impressions.
When it comes to Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer goes first and talks about his adventures building a faceless YouTube channel.
He offers a summary on Twitter, but the gist is that he started uploading videos and one video went viral in May and got 474k views. He started to earn money and was making plans for the future when his viral video got hit with a copyright notification and had to be taken down.
How have things gone since then? What’s in store for this side hustle? Listen and find out what Spencer’s doing now!
When it’s Jared’s turn, he gives an update on his Amazon Influencer Program side hustle which, if you've been tuning in over the last few weeks, has been particularly volatile. The good news is that earnings appear to be picking up, so stay tuned to see if he sees a full recovery.
He also talks about his photography course on Weekend Growth and the importance of having high-quality photos, particularly in view of all the changes in Google. His course, which offers useful tips for non-professionals, is celebrating its 1-year anniversary.
Don’t miss out on the chance to get it! Jared’s offering it for 50% off with the code “Niche Pursuits.”
When it comes to Weird Niche Sites, the co-hosts really capture the weirdness of the web. Spencer reveals his ‘90s-looking website, Disk Prices, which is essentially a list of hard drive prices and their different characteristics.
All of the links are Amazon affiliate links, and search engine traffic varies according to the source: 2600 organic searches per month according to Ahrefs, 20k according to SimilarWeb.
How is the website updated? How is it doing on mobile? How did it fare during the HCU? What are the key takeaways from this website?
When it’s Jared’s turn, he shows his love for cats with Cat News Headlines. It’s a repository of daily (and probably) manually updated cat news from all over the web. This DR4 site only ranks for 250 keywords. The main articles it’s ranking for are cat food reviews and, in general, the site isn’t doing especially well.
What do they think of the design? What is the site doing correctly (if anything)?
And that brings us to the end of another great podcast. We hope you feel informed of all the latest news in the SEO space and inspired to launch or continue your business projects and side hustles. See you next week!
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 15 November 2023
Brad Wayland from Quiet Light joins the podcast to share his expertise and insights into whether it's best for you to grow a single brand or a portfolio of sites.
With over 2 decades of experience in all aspects of the online business world, he offers a TON of value to all site owners.
The conversation kicks off describing various ways to own web or digital assets:
He highlights some of the key perks and pitfalls of each approach, emphasizing that owning a portfolio may not be for everyone.
The solopreneur lifestyle allows for complete focus and dedication to one project, which can lead to potential success. However, being a solopreneur also requires managing limited time and responsibilities, which can be challenging.
Brad says that successful solopreneurs often have a long-term commitment to their work and prioritize it over other activities - emphasizing the term 'grind' several times.
As a result, this model can lead to significant financial success and high levels of achievement. The key though is to resist the ever-present temptation to chase shiny objects.
Brad describes how diversification of projects and thus focus can be a pitfall for entrepreneurs, and buying and acquiring multiple businesses without proper management can lead to failure. And Brad shares his personal experience buying businesses in niches he wasn't passionate about and the negative impact it had.
He emphasizes the importance of dedicating time and energy to rethinking strategies and staying passionate about the topic.
Operating at a high level and achieving long-term success requires a special mindset and creativity. Simply following a checklist of industry trends and best practices is likely not enough to stand out to the best in your niche.
In short, Brad recommends doubling down on focus and intentionality in business. He encourages you to prioritize and not spread yourself too thin.
If you're an exceptional entrepreneur (such as Syed Balkhi - the example he uses) who can attract excellent people and manage several projects at once - then great! But it's best to reflect honestly on your abilities - and most people will find they're best served focusing on a single project and grinding to the finish line (in the form of a big exit to financial freedom). Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 10 November 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast, where Spencer and Jared cover all the latest relating to SEO, digital marketing, affiliate marketing, and website creation and break it down into bite-size pieces for listeners.
Spencer and Jared kick things off by talking about how the November Core Update was rolled out about a week ago. Spencer reveals how Niche Pursuits has fared thus far and Jared talks about how site owners he’s in contact with have been affected by Google’s latest update.
Did most websites see a recovery or more of a decline? What will happen as the update concludes?
They also announce that the Reviews Update has also been rolled out. Will site owners be able to determine which update affected them and how? How is this latest update different from the HCU? How is Google going to handle update announcements moving forward? And will there be another update before the end of the year? Tune in to hear what Spencer and Jared think.
Changing gears, Spencer shares an affiliate article in The Verge that is clearly written with AI with no human editing. Listeners of last week’s episode will recall the discussion of a different article in The Verge complaining that the internet is overloaded with poor-quality SEO content. And here it is, spamming the web with SEO-optimized unedited AI content!
Is their article ranking? And if it is, is it outranking truly helpful content written by humans who have actually tested the products? What do Spencer and Jared think about this case of parasite SEO? Listen to find out!
Next up on the agenda is a very interesting tweet from Danny Sullivan from Google Search Liaison on how he brings people’s feedback back to Google. Jared lauds this moment of transparency and Spencer wonders if this feedback could impact the way that Google Search works.
Another tweet that made it into this week’s news is about the New York Times’ 3Q revenue numbers. Glen Allsopp did an excellent write-up after analyzing The Wirecutter, the Times’ affiliate website. How much does he estimate it’s bringing in per month in affiliate commissions? It’s clear that “the little guys” can’t compete with The Wirecutter, but what are Jared and Spencer’s takeaways from this situation?
In the last news item of the episode, Spencer shares that Elon Musk and Twitter recently revealed their ChatCPT competitor, Grok. Premium Twitter subscribers can currently sign up to the waiting list to test it out. Where will this go? It remains to be seen, but as Spencer says, it’s always interesting when someone with very deep pockets gets into the AI game.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer talks about the tool he created, Rank Logic, and its latest addition—a Google Analytics integration, which will be available for current users as early as next week. He talks about the different ways users will be able to analyze data and create custom reports, and how much easier it will be compared with using GA4.
When it’s Jared’s turn, he talks about recording more videos for the Amazon Influencer Program, most of them seasonal. His goal is to hit 1000 videos by the end of the year. He also talks about celebrating the anniversary of the Photo Course on Weekend Growth and how his side hustles, and the opportunities that come with them, continue to grow and surprise him as well.
Spencer shares his Weird Niche Site first: Miss Rachel Networth. He gives the backstory about Miss Rachel, a popular teacher on YouTube, and shares stats for the 3-month-old site, which has a DR of 63 and organic monthly traffic of around 30k. Is it a 301 from an older domain? What else does he discover when he digs deeper? What’s his and Jared’s theory behind the website?
Jared’s find this week is The Measure of Things, a very, very weird niche site that lets you enter a measurement and then compare that measurement to other “things.” For example, 829 square centimeters is about 1/15th as big as a bath towel. Isn’t that great to know?
This DR52 site ranks for 17k keywords and has an organic search volume of 24k per month. What’s super unique about this website? Hear Jared and Spencer break down the data they see in Ahrefs.
And that brings us to the end of another great episode. We hope you’re feeling informed and inspired, as always. See you next week!
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 3 November 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast. This week’s episode is seriously packed with a ton of important and interesting headlines in the SEO, digital marketing, and content creation space. So grab some popcorn, get comfortable, and let’s get started!
Spencer and Jared kick off the episode by talking about Google’s latest announcement about an impending November core update, which started to roll out on November 2nd. We can expect to see the effects over the weekend. They talk about Google’s explanation for the latest update and how there’s also a review system update coming next week.
Moving on, they share an article in The Verge accusing SEOs of ruining the internet. Spencer summarizes the 8000-word article and he and Jared discuss whether the author ultimately blames SEOs or Google itself for bringing down the quality of the internet.
What does Jared think about the article? Is The Verge hypocritical for publishing an article like this? What happened to Danny Sullivan, the Google employee who responded to Spencer’s tweet? Tune in to find out!
The conversation then shifts to an article on Detailed, and a tweet, by Glen Allsopp, about product review affiliate keywords. Allsopp shares his findings after analyzing 10,000 search results and he shares some staggering statistics for sites like Reddit and Quora.
The next news item on the agenda has to do with Google’s efforts to fix a bug from the October 2023 update, which impacted Google Discover traffic. Does that mean people who got massive traffic from Google Discover recently will see it disappear? Will people without much Google Discover traffic see it increase?
Continuing with news about Google, Spencer and Jared share an article that shows how Google is inserting paid ads among organic search results. They talk about the implications of this move and how it may or may not affect publishers.
Then Spencer shares an article about updates to Google AdSense, as the network is shifting to per-impression payments for publishers. How will this impact their earnings? Why is Google doing this? Since the network has always been pay-per-click, this is a major change to how it functions. Tune in to hear what Spencer and Jared have to say.
Jared geeks out on the last news item on the agenda, an analysis of Google’s EEAT Knowledge Graph. A recent article took a deep dive into how Google understands what is and isn’t expert content and the importance of getting into the Knowledge Panel and building a brand. Jared shares some good ideas on how to get Google’s stamp of approval, so don’t miss them!
When it comes to Side Hustle Shenanigans, Spencer provides an update on his second faceless YouTube channel, for which the stats are underwhelming. As he is completely hands-off in this endeavor, his advice for anyone looking to do something like this is to be very involved and detail-oriented. Listen in to find out what he thinks about this business model.
Jared reports on his Amazon Influencer side hustle, noting that October was his worst month ever. Why was this? What’s driving all the volatility? What does he expect in the coming months?
There’s just a little bit of time left, and Spencer shares his weird niche site first: Astronaut.io. This fascinating site features videos from YouTube that have zero views. With 105k visitors over the last three months according to SimilarWeb, it seems that some people (mostly in Russia), are enjoying them.
Jared’s weird site is in the celebrity niche, Who’s Dated Who, which offers the dating history of every celebrity you can think of. He and Spencer discuss the site’s ranking system, how it might be getting its data, its use of a forum, and how it’s monetized. This DR56 site is ranking for over 600k keywords, and monthly estimated organic traffic of 1.2 million.
And that brings us to the end of another great episode. Thanks for tuning in for another week and getting the latest in SEO news. See you next Friday!
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 1 November 2023
Today, we're joined by returning guest Mushfiq - a prolific site owner, operator, and flipper for an all-encompassing look at site operators!
With his 15+ years of operations experience and someone who hires lots of site operators for his agency, Mushfiq is a wealth of knowledge from both sides of the equation.
The first half of the discussion is all about site operators:
Mushfiq explains that a website operator is someone who can take a site from zero to a revenue target, focusing on content management, SEO, revenue generation, and finding opportunities.
And it's also here that Mushfiq and Jared highlight the important skills needed like: project management, strategy, and working well with a team of content creators, link builders, and virtual assistants.
For the motivations for becoming an operator, there are also lots of interesting insights.
For instance, operators can mitigate risk by gaining valuable experience working with different types of sites - knowledge that can then be applied to their own websites.
And since he runs an agency offering these operator services, Mushfiq also shares his two-tier structure for website operations. PLUS, the max number of projects an operator should manage at one time.
There really are tons of awesome insights here for anyone interested in pursuing this as a service provider.
But eventually, the discussion moves to the owner's perspective.
Hiring an operator can be advantageous for those who lack the time or expertise to effectively manage their own sites.
And Mushfiq lists out the 3 typical options for these owners who lack the time:
There are lots of factors to consider - and Mushfiq and Jared do a great job of covering all that's important.
For instance, the challenges many feel when handing over a website to an operator.
As they discuss, letting go of control and allowing the operator to take over is essential for a successful operator-owner relationship.
But of course, trust is a crucial component for this, and it's important to find someone with a trustworthy background and a mix of successes and failures.
And Mushfiq highlights successful owners as those willing to walk away and let the operator manage the property, have realistic expectations about quality, and understand the complexities of managing a website.
They also break down the typical financial arrangement of this relationship.
For both owners and operators, diversification is emphasized as a key strategy. Ideally, this arrangement can afford the owner more time to expand into e-commerce, newsletters, and other areas to build a brand and generate additional income streams.
There's really too much value here to properly summarize, but if you've ever considered hiring an operator or supplementing your blogging income, this is a must-listen! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative
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Fri, 27 October 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast! You definitely don’t want to miss this one as it’s packed with interesting insights and thoughts about events over the last week in SEO.
After Spencer talks briefly about his positive experience promoting Link Whisper at FinCon, he and Jared dive headfirst into the big news of the week: Spencer’s unexpectedly controversial post on X about how Google is slowly killing blogging.
Much to his (and everyone’s) surprise, Danny Sullivan, from Google, responded to his post and offered a few helpful tips and takeaways from the HCU. This exchange generated a lot of debate about the topic—over 130 threads on Spencer’s original post.
Spencer and Jared talk about the general confusion among site owners and content creators over the HCU and their efforts to understand what Google wants, and although Danny references this document to help people, people remain very confused and frustrated.
They also talk about the difference between the HCU and previous updates like Panda and Penguin, and encourage everyone to check out the original post on X.
Moving on, Spencer and Jared talk about the latest news about Reddit, as the platform is threatening to block Google. This decision hinges on Reddit’s ability to reach deals with generative AI companies to pay for its data.
What might happen to Reddit if it goes through with it? What would be the ripple effect? And what about the other 500+ companies that have already blocked their content from being scraped by AI? What would Spencer and Jared do if they ran Reddit? Tune in to hear them discuss the possibilities.
The next big news is that the DALL-E 3 image generator is available in ChatGPT and it’s free. With the right prompts, you can create whatever images you want.
Spencer shares a few images he created using the tool, Jared talks about using it to successfully create YouTube thumbnails, and they discuss the quality of the images it creates.
As for Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer starts by talking about his most recent results with the Amazon Influencer Program. He shares that his videos are back in the carousel and his earnings are around $2k for the month.
Although he’s finally cash flow positive with this side hustle, with 767 videos currently, what will the coming months hold in terms of earnings? Also, who’s making more at the moment, Spencer or Jared? Listen to the podcast to find out which host is in the lead.
Jared then talks about growing his Weekender Growth email list, which is now at 3k subscribers.
He shares his challenges growing the YouTube channel, which has about 12 videos, +1k subscribers, and 2000 watch hours. He hopes to monetize it in the coming months, so stay tuned to see how that evolves!
As for weird niche sites, Spencer’s find of the week is the very colorful Sound Buttons World, which receives 575k visitors per month from organic search and has tons of sounds that users can download or link to.
He and Jared look at the site’s exponential growth and discuss why that may be, and they look at the types of keywords the site is ranking for.
Jared shares his weird niche site, Day of the Week, which provides a lot of information about the days of the week, everything from the zodiac, birthstones, historical events, and more.
This DR26 site ranks for 60k keywords, and Jared and Spencer are very surprised when they take a closer look at those keywords and at the type of ads running on the site. Listen to find out why!
And that brings us to the end of the latest episode of Niche Pursuits News! Hopefully, you’re feeling informed and inspired. Tune in next week when Spencer and Jared take on more SEO, digital marketing, and niche site creation news.
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 20 October 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast!
This week, Jared plays hosts alongside his guest Tony Hill, a niche site expert with about 2 decades of experience. Come along as they dissect and digest the latest news on SEO, digital marketing, Google, niche sites, and beyond.
They kick off the show talking about the October core update, which just completed its 2-week rollout. Tony talks about how many sites got hit by both the HCU and this update, and Jared talks about whether or not the second update was a rollback of sorts by Google.
What’s the current status of UCG sites? When do sites generally experience volatility during an update? Is Google demoting content that it thinks users don’t need as much when they have access to AI resources like Bard? Is Google taking a different route in interpreting users’ search queries? Tune in to hear their thoughts.
The next topic is Mediavine’s assessment of Google’s Helpful Content Update. The ad company reports that just 5.8% of its sites were negatively affected, but would Mediavine site owners agree with that statistic? How transparent is the company’s analysis? And was ad density one of the characteristics targeted by Google in the update? Find out what Tony and Jared think.
Moving on, they discuss an article on Reuters about Google, AI, and its Search Generative Experience. The news outlet calls the search tool a “red flag” in the lengthy relationship between publishers and Google, and quotes experts who confirm that SGE is going to decrease publishers’ organic traffic.
Jared and Tony talk about the importance of the situation being reported in the mainstream news to create more awareness. They agree that it’s still the very early days and time will tell how it all plays out. Will the lite version of SGE remain? Will the antitrust lawsuit Google’s facing be a determining factor? Listen to find out what Jared and Tony think.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Jared talks about the Amazon Influencer Program and how it had taken a turn for the worse. His videos weren’t appearing anymore and clicks had plummeted… until a few days ago. Everything seems to have turned around: clicks are up, his videos are back, and his fingers are crossed for 4Q. Stay tuned to find out how it all ends!
Tony talks about Google Discover and how many websites are seeing a boost in traffic, which can happen after updates like the recent ones. He discusses brand new sites getting Google Discover traffic and sites that have been getting traffic for years going down to zero. He also mentions that Google is now considering a desktop version, and talks about his own experience with his sites on Google Discover.
As for weird niches this week, Jared goes first with Halloween Jokes. This seasonal site ranks for just 1300 keywords, some of which are in the top 10. The site is making some ad revenue and would be relatively easy to recreate using AI. They also talk about the possibility of making a series of sites for different holidays as a way to maintain traffic year-round.
Tony shares a weird site as well, Find a Grave, which is like a Wikipedia with information about people’s graves. This well-done directory contains information that is crowdsourced and contains a lot of relevant pictures and an active forum with more than 47k people.
They talk about the site’s smart monetization techniques. Aside from ads, users can send flowers to the gravesites in its database, essentially making it very useful. All in all, a weird and clever niche site.
And that brings us to the end of another information-packed episode. Join us next week when they analyze the very latest in SEO news and bring some inspiration and laughs with their side hustles and weird sites. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 13 October 2023
It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast, where Jared and Spencer break down the latest SEO news into bite-size pieces. Buckle up people, because they cover many, many topics on today’s episode!
It’s been one week since Google announced its core update for October, plus the spam update was rolled out, so Jared and Spencer first talk about how to know which may be affecting your site.
For those affected by the HCU, they look at a very exhaustive, data-heavy resource and highlight some of the conclusions, including what type of content performed better, how new sites fared in the update, how article length importance has shifted, and conclusions about AI content. They also share their opinions on some of the author’s theories and touch on the future of updates.
Moving on, Spencer and Jared address Google’s antitrust lawsuit and the recent news reveals that Apple was in talks to buy Bing or DuckDuckGo. They talk about the money that was exchanged between Apple and Google and how Apple negotiated the deal.
The next topic is how a recent op-ed on Wired claiming Google alters users’ search queries was recently pulled from their website for “not meeting their editorial standards,” and Jared and Spencer discuss why it might have disappeared.
In the latest SGE news, they talk about how Google appears to be testing a lite version, where the results are taking up less space at the top of the page. They share a few theories about why this is, how the experience has changed over recent months, and what this means for website owners.
In other SGE news, the conversation shifts to Google’s AI-powered search and its ability to generate images and drafts. They also talk about how AI images are something we should be paying attention to.
The next topic is how Google is using clicks to rank websites, contrary to what the search engine has said for years. They talk about the implications for privacy data and how this information may change the way we operate.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer talks about a website in the news niche he created with his kids, the goal of which is to get traffic from Facebook. He built up a Facebook page to 30k followers and the website has traffic of 27k over the last month. His goal is to get into Mediavine in the coming months, and he’ll report back as he and his writer make progress.
Jared then talks about a spreadsheet he created to help website owners, SEOs, and content creators with prompts relating to the HCU. It’s free over the weekend and then he may start charging for it, so grab it now!
When it comes to weird niche sites, Spencer shares Cake Wrecks, which documents cake fails and adds some funny titles to the cakes. The DR59 site, which has been around for many years, is making money through ads and the author also has a book.
As for Jared, his site is History Colored, which adds color to traditionally black-and-white photos. What probably started as a personal project to add color to photos eventually expanded into a bigger website that targets informational topics and gets more traffic. They talk about how some pages might go viral. With 515k followers on Facebook and 355k subscribers on YouTube, this is a topic that does well on social media.
And that brings us to the end of another jam-packed episode of the podcast. See you next week! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 6 October 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. This week Josh Blackburn fills in for Spencer, and he and Jared sit down to discuss the most relevant news in SEO, digital marketing, website creation, and beyond.
The first order of business is the 2 additional updates Google recently launched following the Helpful Content Update that essentially left the niche website community battered. Jared and Josh weigh in on what they think will happen. Is this Google’s way of “tweaking” the results of the HCU? What should website owners do with their sites during these updates? Tune in to hear what they think.
They talk about a series of things website owners can do to improve their rankings in the wake of the HCU, touching on topics like ad density, usability, pop-ups, and article word count. They also share their observations about the update’s winners and losers and the importance of looking at your website as a business and emulating the features that Google looks for in a business.
Jared and Josh move on to talk about Google’s antitrust lawsuit and the revelation that it might be altering search results to get better ad results. They talk about some shady emails that were leaked that give an inside look at how Google operates, but the truth is that there are a lot of changes going on now in search and it remains to see how everything will play out.
The next topic is how more and more publishers are blocking GPTBot, with news outlets following suit. Jared asks, “Why would you not block it?” Will partnerships be the way forward? What does the future look like for content creators in the world of AI? Jared and Josh share their thoughts and concerns.
In the Side Hustle Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Jared reports on his Amazon Influencer side project. September earnings exceeded his expectations in the first half of the month only to drop off a cliff in the second half.
Although he still earned over $2k, it’s unclear how profitable this “experiment” will actually be. What’s Amazon doing? What does the future of the program look like? Is it worth starting to make videos if you haven’t already? Tune in to find out what happens in the months to come.
Josh then talks about a DR32 site of his which saw a massive drop in clicks over time. He recently added 4000 unedited AI articles to it as an experiment and he started to see an improvement; however, with the HCU, it got crushed. He’s going to wait and see if it bounces back or not and how future updates affect it.
They move on to talk about their weird niche sites. Jared’s is Cuddle Comfort, which was first created in 2011. This DR32 site ranks for just 2k keywords but may be getting up to 1 million visits per month. He and Josh talk about how it creates trust and they talk about its monetization techniques.
Then it’s Josh’s turn, and he shares Sunglasses ID, which identifies all the different sunglasses worn by celebrities and in the movies and includes an affiliate link for users to buy them.
This DR31 site with just over 1000 pages is 14 years and 260 days old and gets 70k visits per month. They talk about how the publisher might get all the data for all of the sunglasses. Then Josh reveals a second site, WatchID, which follows the same concept. This site was created about 17 days after the first site and has a lot of scope for improvement. Are there similar ID sites out there? Maybe!
That brings us to the end of another great podcast on the current SEO landscape. Come back next week to hear the latest news and get plenty of inspiration! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 4 October 2023
We have a special treat today on the Niche Pursuits podcast.
CopyBlogger owner and Sober Nation founder, Tim Stoddart joins us to share some awesome tips and insights from his success in building multiple income streams online.
You do not want to miss this one as Tim's story is sure to inspire.
He learned about content marketing and SEO by reading the site Copyblogger. He then applied these strategies to his own site, Sober Nation.
He initially used these strategies to gain traction through Facebook by sharing user stories. But, he soon realized that traffic doesn't always translate to revenue.
So, Tim decided to transition Sober Nation to a directory model to generate revenue, listing treatment facilities and generating revenue through exposure.
This allowed him to monetize the website in a creative and effective way. And also sparked the idea to start an agency to help related facilities with their marketing needs.
Tim explains how he used Sober Nation as a branding tool to build his agency, Stodzy. And by leveraging the success of Sober Nation, Tim was able to establish his agency and attract clients.
He did a similar thing after acquiring CopyBlogger. Again, instead of taking the traditional ad and affiliate route, Tim takes a different approach.
He uses Copyblogger as a lead generation site for his agency, Digital Commerce.
Tim also highlights the importance of having a core group of trusted employees and a systematic workflow. This ensures that the business runs smoothly and efficiently. He discusses the different revenue models he uses, including free media, front-end products, and high-end services. By diversifying his income streams, Tim has created a stable and sustainable business model.
In conclusion, Tim Stoddart's journey and projects demonstrate the significance of building a business with multiple income streams. By leveraging the success of Sober Nation, Tim was able to establish his agency and attract clients.
He emphasizes the importance of measuring success based on client goals and delivering results. Tim's specialization and finding unique angles in the marketplace have been key to his success. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Fri, 29 September 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast, where Spencer and Jared analyze the latest news in SEO, digital marketing, and website building and offer their unique insight.
You won’t want to miss this episode, especially if you were affected by Google’s Helpful Content Update.
As the update has officially wrapped up, this week Spencer and Jared dedicate a lot of time to talking about its massive impact on the industry. They share common insights and important takeaways from 4 SEO experts: Lily Ray, Glen Gabe, Barry Schwartz, and Marie Haynes.
According to the experts, this update, the 3rd and largest of its kind, looked at over-optimized content and the authenticity of reviews. It also potentially penalized websites with the blogroll on the homepage and sites using too many affiliate links with no context.
User experience is another big topic, with Google appearing to penalize sites that are poorly-designed, sites with broken links and, perhaps most importantly, sites with aggressive ads and pop-ups.
They also speak about how data reporters have not picked up on the volatility of this update, how niche site owners have been extremely affected, and how UGC seems to have been rewarded as opposed to SEO content.
They discuss the importance of building a brand on multiple platforms, the importance of verifiable credentials, and the need for content from trusted sources that is truly helpful.
Jared and Spencer then talk about the possibility of recovering from the update and self-assessing your site using Google’s guidelines, and they offer sage advice to website owners who have been negatively impacted by this update.
In the next portion of the podcast, they share and analyze real sites that have been positively affected by the update, talking about why they think that is and what they’re doing right. They specifically look at sites in the finance and travel spaces. They also take a closer look at a few sites that have lost traffic following the update, in the travel niche.
Don’t miss their conclusions about the update, their opinion on the future of the industry, and their advice on moving forward for site owners.
Although they dedicate the bulk of the podcast to talking about the update, they do speak briefly about their current side hustles in the Side Hustle Shenanigans portion of the podcast.
Spencer speaks about his AI website challenge and how some of those creators are already seeing a little bit of traffic. He’ll also be hosting a second YouTube Live on Monday, October 2nd, along with an AI expert.
Jared briefly talks about his Amazon Influencer side hustle and his Weekend Growth YouTube channel.
As for Weird Niche Sites, Spencer shares his: HowToPronounce, which is getting 1.4 million visitors per month, according to Ahrefs. It’s ranking for lots of keywords with significant traffic, although it looks like it was hit by recent Google updates.
Jared’s site, I Might Be Funny, is a good example of UGC (but not SEO), as it amalgamates and shares content originally published on social media. Although it has a DR of just 6, it ranks for 4k keywords according to Ahrefs, some of which have significant traffic, and gets around 5k organic visitors per month.
As always, talking about these weird niche sites allows Jared and Spencer to share some fantastic advice and inspiration when it comes to picking a niche and building websites.
Tune in again next week when they bring their expertise to talk about the latest news in SEO and beyond. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative |
Wed, 27 September 2023
In this awesome episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast, Jim Campbell shares with host Jared his strategies for growing a successful brand in the honeymoon industry.
With a background in entrepreneurship and marketing, Jim saw an opportunity in the market and started honeymoongoals.com in 2019 right before Covid hit!
And despite the impacts of Covid on the travel niche, Jim remained bullish and continued creating valuable content and building authority for the website throughout the pandemic.
He used templates to provide destination and resort recommendations, ensuring that honeymooners had tailored information at their fingertips. To help with content creation, Jim hired writers who were carefully vetted for quality research and information.
The investment finally paid off when travel restrictions eased and people started booking honeymoons again.
Jim monetizes the website primarily through affiliate revenue, partnering with travel agencies and resorts to earn commissions from bookings.
Jim emphasizes the importance of sales and understanding customer preferences to drive conversions and revenue. The travel industry, particularly for honeymoons, relies heavily on bookings and partnerships. Jim has found success with affiliate programs like Expedia and Booking.com, as well as TripAdvisor's program on Commission Junction.
He also sees potential in direct advertising with resorts.
While the Amazon affiliate model doesn't work well for the travel industry, Jim believes that analyzing customer buying patterns and adjusting content accordingly can improve conversion rates. Building a legitimate business with a reputable brand helps establish authority and gain valuable backlinks.
And as a result, he recently acquired the site honeymoons.com, expanding his portfolio in the niche with plans to build a larger website with such a premium domain.
Jim plans to keep the brands separate for now and aims to expand monetization with a booking engine on the site.
He acknowledges the potential threat of AI writing but believes that the human touch and expertise are still crucial in creating high-quality content.
Jim also highlights the importance of secondary strategies like social media, particularly Pinterest, video content, and author expertise for improving the website.
His ultimate goal is to create a more established business and explore opportunities such as a travel agency and YouTube channel.
Jim's story is the quintessential Niche Pursuit and and his strategies are highly valuable for any niche site owner to take notes on! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 22 September 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits Podcast, where your hosts Spencer Haws and Jared Bauman, from 201 Collective, bring you all the latest news and insight in SEO, digital marketing, website building, and entrepreneurship.
This week the hosts focus entirely on one major event in the space: Google’s Helpful Content Update. As this major update has had wide-ranging effects on the niche site community, Spencer and Jared break it down for us and share some words of encouragement.
The update, which came out a week ago, has really shaken up the community. All across X, website owners are sharing graphics and reports that reflect the very negative impact of the update.
Spencer and Jared highlight the change in Google’s wording, where the focus has shifted from content “written by people” to “written for people” and articles that needed to be “written by an expert” now need to be “written or reviewed by an expert.”
They share the stats behind some of their own websites, which experienced both gains and losses and talk about the chances that Google may include a rollback before the update is fully complete.
They also talk about the sites that benefited from the update, such as Quora, Reddit, and other forums; they share their thoughts on EEAT and UGC; and they discuss the impact on Mediavine sites in particular.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer gives an update on his two new Niche Pursuits challenges, one where people (135 at the moment) will build a website with AI content from scratch, and the other where participants (73 currently) will add AI content to an existing website. The challenges are about to begin and Spencer will be hosting a kickoff call. Join the community and follow along!
He also gives an update on his Amazon Influencer side hustle, reporting that Amazon has made changes in the way videos appear, which has in turn affected his earnings. He was about to crack the $2k per month, but these tweaks have kept him from reaching that goal. He has a total of 593 videos at the moment and plans to keep at it, at least through 4Q.
Jared talks about his Amazon Influencer side hustle too, sharing that his earnings went off a cliff due to the change in how videos appear. He talks about how he thinks the program will play out in the future and whether it’s worth sticking it out.
Moving on to their Weird Niche Sites, Spencer goes first and shares Apple Rankings, a funny website that ranks apples according to taste. The site potentially gets about 55k visitors a month and has separate pages for different types of apples, which reflects a strong site structure. The site was created by a comedian, and it shows.
Jared’s site this week is Gizoogle, which translates content into “gangster-speak.” They test it out on some Niche Pursuits content with very entertaining results. This DA58 website gets very little organic traffic but has over 14 million backlinks. Although it’s unclear if or how it’s monetized, and even how it works, it’s worth checking out for a good laugh.
And that brings us to the end of another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast. Don’t forget to tune in next week for more inspiration and insight into the world of SEO, content creation, digital marketing, and website building. See you then! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
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Fri, 15 September 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast, where Spencer Haws and Jared Bauman, of 201 Creative, discuss the latest news and important recent events in digital marketing, SEO, and website creation.
The first news item that Spencer and Jared address this week is the rollout Google core update, which concluded about a week ago. They share some of the key takeaways from Lily Ray's analysis, one of which was the importance of EEAT and the massive post-update boost to UCG platforms like Reddit and Quora and dictionary-type sites.
Is this in response to AI-generated content? Will their rankings change over time? And what about the pre-update volatility that many sites experienced? Tune in to hear what Spencer and Jared have to say.
Moving on, they talk about how tech leaders like Elon Musk and Bill Gates recently met privately with the Senate to discuss how to craft guardrails for AI. This is especially interesting for website owners and content creators because regulations on AI could affect how we create content.
Other news covered in the episode is Google’s announcement that it will no longer be showing how-to results for desktop users. It had previously been removed from mobile search results, along with FAQ results. Spencer and Jared talk about the impact of this move by Google and why they think it was done.
The last news item they touch on this week is an exhaustive State of Digital Marketing report. They talk about the decline in the cost of ads, which is good news for advertisers. On the flip side, RPMs are low, which negatively affects website owners running ads. Will there be a comeback in Q3 and Q4, or is this trend here to stay? Jared and Spencer share their thoughts.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the episode, Spencer shares how he launched 2 new challenges. In the first one, people will build AI sites from scratch and document the process. In the second challenge, people will scale an existing site with AI.
He created a free community to follow along, and the person in each competition who has the most organic traffic after 6 months (new site challenge) and 3 months (existing site challenge) will walk away with $2,500.
Jared talks about doubling down on his Amazon Influencer side hustle as we move into Q3 and Q4, making 99 videos in the last week. He also shares his takeaway after looking at his August earnings, which had declined, suggesting that consumers weren’t making large purchases during the month. With 638 videos currently on the platform, Jared is ready to earn some serious money as the year draws to a close.
Then it’s time for Spencer to share his Weird Niche Site. The single-page site he found is getting 2.4 million organic visitors per month, ranks for 30k keywords, and is monetized with display ads: Compress JPEG. Although it seems like a very simple tool and website, Spencer and Jared talk about all the work that goes into creating and ranking it.
Jaren then shares his site: Your Novel, where you can submit your story, have a novel written about you, and get it shipped to your house. The books are available in a wide range of categories and come in hardback, paperback, or ebook formats. Although it doesn’t rank for many keywords or get a lot of traffic, they agree that the website has potential if certain SEO strategies were applied to it, and most of all, it certainly qualifies as weird.
And that concludes another episode of the latest news in the industry. We hope you feel informed and inspired. See you next week! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
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Fri, 8 September 2023
Spencer Haws and Jared Bauman, from 201 Creative, are back with the latest news in niche sites, SEO, and affiliate marketing.
The first order of business this week is the news that the Google Core Update has finished rolling out. Jared talks about how, instead of looking at his Google Analytics to see how his sites weathered the storm, he looks at his ad networks.
Jared shares information about the impact on a few of his sites and he talks about focusing more on earnings as opposed to fluctuations in traffic. Jared and Spencer also talk about how the update doesn’t appear to have had much of an impact on AI content.
The next news item on the agenda is the upcoming trial between the US vs. Google. Spencer talks about the potential implications of this monopoly trial, which is expected to last 10 weeks, on niche site owners and bloggers.
The main focus of the trial is whether or not it was illegal and monopolistic to not allow any other search engines to be used by default, although there are many other issues that will also be addressed in this important trial, which is expected to set a precedent.
They also mention quickly how Google is also in the news in the EU, where it’s accused of being a “gatekeeper” and has been ordered to give more freedom to other companies to compete under the new EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), starting in 2024.
The next topic they discuss is how YouTube is making it easier for creators to choose the perfect thumbnail. The platform is coming out with an A/B testing tool and this function could be available next year. This would allow users to upload 3 custom thumbnails and then YouTube would test behind the scenes to see which performs the best.
Jared and Spencer talk about how this will affect YouTubers and why they think this is a good move by the platform.
Then it’s time to talk about some Shiny Object Shenanigans. Spencer talks about hiring 6 local people to create reviews for his Amazon Influencer Program account, where he has 453 videos at the moment.
After earning around $1500 in August, he’s going all-in with this side hustle and expects to see an improvement in September and beyond. He also created a YouTube channel, where he’s going to publish all of his Amazon videos and see what happens.
Spencer also talks about a survey he recently published where he’s looking for people to create an online business and he will document it publicly on Niche Pursuits. The type of project hasn’t been decided yet, so don’t forget to vote for what you’d like to see!
Jared then talks about creating videos for his Weekender Growth YouTube channel, which has about 800 subscribers and 1,000 watch hours at the moment. Although he’s a far way away from monetization, he’s going to dedicate more time to this project going forward.
Then it’s time for everybody’s Weird Niche Site. Spencer shares his, which is HTTP Status Dogs, which combines HTTP status codes with photos of dogs illustrating those codes. The site used to get 20 to 30k in traffic but now only receives about 1000 visitors per month. It’s not monetized in any way, but it’s a good laugh.
Jared’s site this week is Cornify, a unicorns and rainbows on-demand website. Aside from lots of functions like adding unicorns and rainbows to photos, coloring pictures online, and making your own younicorn, the site also has a store linked to Amazon products. Despite this, it only ranks for around 400 keywords and less than 1000 monthly organic visitors, although it does have a DR of 57. Jared and Spencer also talk about what the site is doing right and how it could improve.
And that brings us to the end of another episode of Niche Pursuits News. Tune in next week so Spencer and Jared and keep you up-to-date with everything that’s happening in SEO, website building, and content creation.
What Niche Pursuit do you want to see started next? Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
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Fri, 1 September 2023
Get ready for another great episode of This Week in Niche Pursuits News to help start your weekend.
Spencer and co-host Jared kick things off by discussing Google's August Core Update. They share whether it has affected their sites and discuss some of the devastating screenshots they've seen from other site owners.
They also discuss a study highlighted in the Search Engine Journal regarding ChatGPT and its reach among USA adults. A shockingly low number of Americans have actually used the tool or feel that it will affect their jobs. So, the guys spend some time weighing in on this interesting topic.
The conversation then gets into the ongoing adoption of AI-powered features in search engine results and the inclusion of links within results.
Plus, Reddit just launched an AI-powered keyword research tool. A development, they discuss, could be very useful for content creators and advertisers looking to optimize their strategies. After a nice catch-up on the latest news, it's time for their shiny object shenanigans.
Spencer starts by sharing how he's hiring local individuals to assist him in recording product review videos for the Amazon Influencer program. And discusses how this will not only help to create engaging content but also support the local community.
Jared then chimes in with his own Amazon Influencer program update and how he's ramping up video production.
In fact, he just set a personal record by recording a staggering 122 videos in just one week!
As usual, the conversation then goes into awesome and weird niche site discoveries.
First up is a website called Language Guesser. It's a creative and simple game for language enthusiasts to guess the language being spoken in videos.
After that, they discuss another fun little site called Word Unscrambler. This site offers visitors a handy tool for unscrambling letters and finding words, particularly useful for Scrabble players!
As always, they discuss the traffic and potential revenue of these niche sites and give some valuable insights into their profitability.
They also offer suggestions for improvement, such as design tweaks and creating mobile apps.
To wrap things up, they highlight subscribing to the newsletter to get regular updates and stay in the loop on the latest online business news and success stories!
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Wed, 30 August 2023
Want a great story filled with practical insights from someone who successfully jumped into online business without any prior experience?
Will I.O. joins the Niche Pursuits podcast this week to share with host Jared how he transitioned from teacher to full-time site owner.
It all started with a teacher training program he started growing prior to 2020. He started the side hustle because it was about something he knew well. But then Covid hit and he was forced to pivot and move his business online.
This was all new to him but with the help of Project 24 he managed to get started and building momentum.
Soon he was building his site and email list to sell info products and teacher training courses.
His email marketing strategies were crucial for this. Will even says that 50% of his revenue came from his email list.
And the email strategies he shares are very practical for any niche.
Eventually, he sold that site for over $100,000 and used the profits to start buying and selling more sites.
He now has a portfolio of five websites but primarily focuses on three.
His strategies are working though as he recently enjoyed a successful flip after buying an outdoors site for $5k, improving it, and selling it for $82,000.
Some of the best tips he shares is how and where he finds sites to buy.
He emphasizes the importance of backlinks and domain authority when evaluating sites for sale. He looks for low-hanging fruit opportunities, such as improving ad revenue and utilizing underutilized email lists. And he prefers niches that are less competitive and seeks out sites with steady or increasing traffic.
When it comes to content production, he emphasizes the importance of keyword research and creating tightly clustered content around successful topics. Will also mentions using AI tools like ChatGPT for content creation, but heavily edits the output to make it sound more human.
He plans to continue buying, building, and flipping websites while maintaining a measured approach to minimize risk and ensure profitability.
Overall it's a great success story. And it's interesting to hear how a relatively new site owner is finding success with. strategic approach to growing a profitable portfolio. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 25 August 2023
Spencer is back this week so everyone’s favorite duo is together again for the latest episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. As always, he and Jared Bauman, of 201 Creative, bring listeners up to speed on the latest in SEO and digital marketing news.
Spencer begins by sharing that Google has announced a brand new broad core update, the biggest kind of update Google does. It kicked off on August 22nd and usually takes about 2 weeks to complete. It’s too early to say how it’s going to pan out, so keep an eye on your rankings!
The next news item they cover is the article in The Verge reporting that The New York Times has blocked OpenAI’s web crawler. But not only has this huge news media outlet rejected OpenAI crawling its site and training its models for ChatGPT, it’s also considering legal action against OpenAI for intellectual property rights violation.
Spencer and Jared talk about the implications of this decision and what this may mean for content creators. Spencer shares a study whch shows that 9.2% of the top 1,000 websites in the world are currently blocking the GPT bot. They talk about what this means for Google and, potentially, the future of AI.
The conversation then shifts to SGE. Spencer shows his search page results, where the information now has down arrowhead symbols next to it, allowing users to access the sources for additional information. Is this good news or bad news for content creators? Hear what they have to say.
Jared and Spencer then move on to talk about their Shiney Object Shenanigans. Spencer kicks it off by talking about the latest news with his WordPress plugin Rank Logic and some new features he’s adding, which should be ready in about 2 months’ time. These include a Google Analytics 4 integration and the ability to update your content using AI.
It’s Jared’s turn, and he talks about his Faceless YouTube channel, for which he now has over 5k subscribers, unlocking some monetization features, but not all of them. He also talks about the Amazon Influencer Program and how Amazon is offering bonuses to influencers who create product comparison videos. Jared and Spencer share their thoughts on the program, a tip or two, and where they think it’s headed in the future.
In the Weird Niche Site portion of the podcast, Jared starts by talking about the site Always Judge a Book By Its Cover, which covers books that are “confusing.” The DA30 site is monetized with display ads and affiliate links but doesn’t rank for many relevant keywords, and probably isn’t making too much money. That being said, it does have scope for growth, and it can serve as inspiration for anyone looking to set up a humorous website or something that’s off the beaten path.
Spencer shares his weird niche site, Watermark Remover, which likely gets 5 million visitors a month, both organic and direct, and is monetized with display ads. This well-designed website removes watermarks for free, although there is pricing available, and is owned by a larger company that has several image-related tools. Spencer and Jared talk about launching a single-tool website and the strategies that can be used to do so successfully.
That wraps up another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. Tune in next week for the latest news and a large dose of inspiration! |
Fri, 18 August 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. This week’s show is hosted by Jared Bauman, from 201 Creative, and Jacky Chou, the digital asset investor entrepreneur behind Indexsy, Far & Away, and several other businesses.
The episode kicks off with the latest about SGE, which can now be used when browsing and also offers users the option of summarizing the article they’re reading. Jared shares a small experiment he did to see how well the summarization function works, comparing SGE with Claude and ChatGPT4, and they talk about the implications for content creators.
Will this reduce the time on page? Will it lower ad or affiliate revenue? How will it affect smaller sites vs. authority sites and article length? Is this good news for end users or site owners? The conversation then shifts to how Tim Soulo, from Ahrefs, recently asked for feedback on Reddit. The company received a lot of backlash on the platform from unhappy users and Jared and Jacky talk about why they think that is and whether or not they believe it’s justified.
The next topic is a highly controversial tweet by Google’s John Mueller, who says “A page doesn’t have to be on a site that’s “related to the niche” in order to be useful and helpful. You don’t need to have a niche site in order to rank in Google, in fact, sometimes that’s a good way not to rank.”
His tweet really waded into a ton of topics and, perhaps most importantly, contradicts the concept of topical authority. Jared and Jacky talk about why Google may have said this, if they think it’s true or not, and whether or not users should pay attention to it or ignore it.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Jared begins by giving another update on this faceless YouTube channel which, sadly, still doesn’t have enough subscribers to qualify for monetization. He does share some interesting statistics about the videos embedded on his website, he and Jacky talk about different aspects to improve on his channel, and he discusses his future plans on YouTube.
Jacky then talks about parasite SEO and one of his side hustles where he’s spinning up sites on Outlook India and redirecting penalized domains to them, the goal being to earn through Amazon Affiliates. If you want to know how it goes, follow him on Twitter. He also talks about a cold outreach strategy he’s using at the moment and how it’s going.
As for their Weird Niche Sites, Jared shares The Hotdog which is, unsurprisingly, all about hot dogs. This DR31 site ranks for 12.8k keywords and has over 140 pages live. Although it doesn’t appear to be monetized, it does look like a brand play.
Jacky shares the site he found, Beaming Health, which helps users find specific therapists for their kids. He talks about how the autism services market is worth $7 billion and growing, and how search volume for these terms has been increasing by 50-60% each year. He shares a few business ideas related to this niche that he sees as potentially profitable.
Thanks for tuning into another great episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. We hope you’re feeling informed and inspired. See you next week!
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
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Fri, 11 August 2023
Welcome back to another episode of Niche Pursuits News, with Spencer Haws and Jared Bauman of 201 Creative. This week, like every week, the hosts serve up the latest SEO news as well as inspiration for listeners.
They started by addressing the changes Google announced to the how-to and FAQ rich snippets. Specifically, Google will be limiting how-to rich snippets to desktop results and reducing FAQ rich snippets, and the roll-out should be completed by next week.
They talk about what this means for niche site owners and content creators, whether FAQs generally drive significant traffic, if this is Google’s attempt to use SGE to provide that information, and whether or not creators should still include them in their content.
Then Spencer shares a post on LinkedIn from the COO of Word Agents, David Peterson, where he talks about how AI put them out of business, causing them to lose 70% of their revenue. He talks about how Make Lemonade suffered a similar fate, as discussed in a previous episode.
They talk about this unprecedented shift in the way content is created and how it’s having a major impact on content agencies. Whether website owners are using AI to create their own content or taking a wait-and-see approach until the dust settles, major changes are happening and who knows what the landscape will look like in 8 or 9 months.
The last news item they tackle is that Google is in talks with the Australian government as it wants to be able to scrape publishers’ content and use it for AI training unless publishers specifically opt out. Spencer and Jared share their opinions on how they think they may affect content creators.
In the Shiny Object Syndrome portion of the podcast, Spencer begins by giving an update on his faceless YouTube channel. His channel was doing very well initially, earning about $1800 in display ads in the first month, in particular thanks to a video that went viral.
When Google found that video to contain copyrighted material, it had to be demonetized. Although Spencer appealed the decision, he could not reverse it.
He talks about how he recently started adding more content to the channel, and earnings over the last month were $1.66. Spencer’s not throwing in the towel, though. He’s going to keep working on the channel though and is even starting a second faceless channel on YouTube.
During Jared’s turn, he talks about his faceless YouTube channel that he started and completely forgot about. He shares the strategy he used when he first created the channel. It currently has 23 videos and hasn’t been touched in almost a year, yet it’s got 400+ subscribers and 219k video views. He’s very close to fulfilling the monetization requirements and he shares his strategy to move forward with this channel.
Jared and Spencer then talk about their weird niche sites, and Jared goes first with Fail Army. This entertaining website shares people’s “fails,” like falling down and running into things. This DR47 website only ranks for 500 keywords and is more like a landing page. The action is over on their YouTube account, which has +16 million subscribers, and Jared talks about the potential they have to grow their website and drive traffic.
When it’s Spencer’s turn, he shares his very weird niche site: Cyberspace and Time. He struggles to explain what this retro-looking website is all about, mainly because the creator also has trouble explaining what it is. What’s really interesting are the stats: 500k visitors per month just a few months ago and 78k clicks from desktop users. All in all, the website is very weird!
And that brings us to the end of another episode of Niche Pursuits News, with a lot of food for thought and no shortage of ideas for listeners! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
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Fri, 4 August 2023
It’s Friday, so it’s time for another episode of Niche Pursuits News, with your hosts Spencer Haws and Jared Bauman. This week, as always, they bring us the latest in SEO and digital marketing news.
They kick things off with a big news item: Google has announced that it’s testing live links in the Search Generative Experience. The good news is that it looks like an expanded featured snippet that may drive more traffic to our individual websites. Spencer shares an example of what it looks like currently and he and Jared talk about how Google may be testing different formats to see what users prefer.
They also talk about Google’s announcement of “new” things you can do with generative AI in search, the fact that AI-powered overviews are faster, and Google’s focus on article publish dates.
Spencer also shares a look at his SGE and he and Jared talk about whether or not the results they get are relevant and what the future might look like for SGE.
The next portion of the podcast is Shiny Object Shenanigans. Spencer begins by talking about his Amazon Influencer side hustle, which earned around $1800 over the last month. He talks about how he obtained approval into the program for a Facebook page he’s been building (and spoke about on a recent episode) and handed over the entire project to his oldest son.
Jared then shares an update on his Amazon Influencer program, which is up to 329 videos and brought in $2870 in July. He only started in May, so growth is quite impressive, and he has plans to continue to add more videos and take advantage of this massive opportunity.
The next topic is the Weird Niche Site they’ve both discovered. Jared goes first and talks about Marcas de Whiskey (Whiskey Brands, in Spanish), a whiskey review site that was started last year. It’s a DR 9 and ranks for over 50k keywords.
Although it started out in Spanish, it switched over to English and has seen its traffic triple over time, publishing over 1200 articles in a year. Jared talks about how well the author satisfies search intent and how this may be the main driver of traffic.
Spencer nails it this week by finding a site that’s both weird and very successful: Wheel of Names. This site, a DR 71, gets between 11 and 5 million visitors each month, according to Ahrefs and Similarweb, and traffic is growing. It’s ranking for all kinds of “wheel” related queries and is monetized with Google Adsense ads.
All in all, another great episode from Jared and Spencer with lots of interesting news, ideas, and advice. Tune in next week for more! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Wed, 2 August 2023
We got a true dose of inspiration for you today.
Founder of The Wayward Home, Kristin Hanes joins the Niche Pursuits podcast this week to share with host Jared her amazing story:
How she started her blog with no prior knowledge of website building and living in a broken-down sailboat to now running a successful online business.
It all began after being laid off from her job as a radio news reporter. She decided to start a blog and share interview-based articles about nomads on social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest.
With connections at SF Gate, some of her early articles got republished on the site bringing her some quality traffic and links.
After six months, Kristin joined Mediavine and started earning income from ads on her site.
But it wasn't until early 2019 that she decided to prioritize SEO, taking courses to help her improve her website's rankings.
Implementing SEO strategies and updating old posts, Kristin saw a significant increase in traffic, reaching 120,000 page views per month by May 2019. She continued to publish new content while updating old articles, and her website's traffic grew to 300,000 monthly page views by the summer of 2019.
Kristin attributes her success to her focus on SEO, improved writing skills, and targeting low-competition keywords in her niche. Currently, The Wayward Home generally earns between $25,000 to 30,000 per month and has an average of 400,000 monthly page views.
Initially, Kristin wrote all the articles herself, focusing on pushing out as much content as possible. However, as her blog grew, she hired writers to help with content creation. Now, The Wayward Home has around 430 articles, with a team of writers specializing in different areas such as RVing, tiny homes, and van life. To assist with formatting and uploading articles, Kristin also has a virtual assistant.
One key aspect of Kristin's strategy is prioritizing relevant and experience-based content over high search volume keywords. This approach has helped her establish credibility and attract a loyal audience. Additionally, being quoted in major media publications has provided valuable backlinks to her blog. Kristin is also experimenting with AI-generated content on a new niche site, exploring innovative ways to expand her online presence.
Kristin's passion for helping others live a nomadic lifestyle is evident through her blog and social media channels. She offers resources and support to those interested in this lifestyle.
Overall, Kristin's journey from starting a blog with no prior knowledge to building a successful online business is a testament to her dedication, strategic approach, and passion for helping others embrace a nomadic lifestyle. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 28 July 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast! This week Spencer sits down with Josh Blackburn, a growth marketer at Link Whisper with an extensive background in SEO to talk about the latest news for affiliate marketers, website owners, SEOs, and content creators.
They kick off the show by talking about how Google recently released its earnings for Q2 and the CEO, Sundar Pichai, said that the Search Generative Experience is going to gradually get better, faster, and more accurate and that user feedback has been extremely positive so far.
Spencer and Josh put those comments into context and were skeptical of his statements, but one thing is abundantly clear: SGE is here to stay. Spencer does a few searches using SGE and he and Josh talk about the results.
The next topic is Twitter and Elon Musk’s rebranding of the company as X. Musk has a broader vision for Twitter as a massive brand where, in the future, users would be able to send payments, message others, shop, etc. Spencer and Josh talk about the future trillionaire’s plans and whether or not they think he’ll be able to pull it off.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer starts by talking about his new software, Rank Logic. He shares that it has done better than he expected since its launch and talks about how it works. He also mentions two new features that were recently added which allow users to see how content is performing based on their category or tags.
Josh then talks about a niche site he’s been working on. It had been growing until it got hit with an algorithm update and lost most of its traffic. Josh is currently experimenting with that site by uploading AI content, sometimes up to 200 articles per day. He reveals that his traffic has increased not from the new content but, rather, from the old content. He and Spencer talk about why this may be, how he does it, and what his plans are for the site.
Then it’s time to talk Weird Niche Sites. Spencer’s site is not that weird, but it is very successful: PDF2go. The site ranks really well for PDF-converting keywords and has lots of display ads. It's probably getting 10 million visitors per month and may be making 6 or 7 figures, also per month. Spencer talks about how the website probably started out with a one, simple free tool and, over the years, grew into a very lucrative business.
Josh shares his site for the week: PercentageCalculator. This is just a simple, free, 3-page website that gets between 220k visits per month, according to Ahrefs, and 2.4 million, according to SimilarWeb. Along the same lines as Spencer’s example, they talk about the possibility of replicating these sites’ success.
And that brings us to the end of another great episode of Niche Pursuits News. Thanks for listening, and don't forget to join us next week! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 21 July 2023
This week’s episode of Niche Pursuits News is hosted by Jared Bauman, of 201 Creative, and Shawn Hill, a previous podcast guest and the brains behind The Grilling Dad.
The first topic they dive into is Ezoic’s announcement of the end of its affiliate program and its plan to lay off workers. They talk about the blow to affiliates but also mention how it created an interesting juxtaposition in providing a financial incentive for referring people.
They talk about the statement from Tyler Bishop, the company’s CMO, about the discontinuation of the program, in which he shares some interesting data, as well as the letter from CEO Dwayne Lafleur about the layoffs. They also discuss whether there needs to be an entry-level ad provider for website owners.
Jared and Shawn then move on to a different topic: the Claud 2 launch, by Anthropic. Claud is an AI language model which is gaining attention for having more human-like responses. Claud also allows users to upload files and ask questions about different documents, which is a unique feature.
Shawn shares his thoughts on it after using it a little bit and comparing it with ChatGPT, and Jared has some ideas about how to leverage Claud for SEO. Listen in to hear what they have to say!
Moving on, Jared and Shawn touch on the recent volatility in the SERPs, suggesting that a Google update is underway. While the exact cause of the update remains unclear, there is evidence that changes are happening in the search engine landscape.
The next topic on the agenda is Wix’s launch of its AI website generator. The tool allows users to create complete websites with just the press of a button. Jared and Shawn discuss the implications of this new tool and its target market, noting that it will help certain types of businesses establish a web presence.
In the Shiny Object Syndrome portion of the podcast, Jared goes first with an update on his progress with the Amazon Influencer Program. He continues to rake it in and recently surpassed the 300-video mark. He also talks about taking a brief break from his Weekend Growth newsletter.
Shawn talks about helping a friend build his first niche site and documenting the process publicly, and he also has a positive report on The Grilling Dad, which continues to grow and do well despite spending less time on it.
As for the weird niche sites, Jared kicks things off with HEIC to JPG, which is a great tool for iPhone users, as photos are sometimes saved as HEIC files. They talk about the site's clean design and ease of use. It has a DR of 62 and only ranks for 5200 keywords, but it has a ton of number-one rankings and ranks for keywords with very high search volumes. They also talk about the idea of creating a tool that adds to your business or your website.
Shawn then shares his weird niche site: Cooler Spy. He highlights how the site is dedicated to just one product, how it has lots of addictive YouTube videos, and has just 24 pages. He estimates traffic of around 10k and earnings of up to $1k per month, and although it’s a small site, its quality is off the charts.
And that concludes another thought-provoking and inspiring episode of the podcast, where you can learn about the latest in SEO and niche site news and what it means for you! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 14 July 2023
It’s been another busy week in SEO news, and Spencer Haws and Jared Bauman, of 201 Creative, explain it all here!
Don’t miss the latest edition of the best news podcast for SEOs, people in the digital marketing and niche site development space, and everyone in between.
First, they talk about how Google was recently hit with a class-action lawsuit claiming that it stole data from millions of users to train its AI tools and seeking compensation. Jared points out that we’ll have to wait to see how this all plays out and how we address issues like copyright infringement and content rights and ownership.
They predict that, even if the suit moves forward, it won’t stop AI or make much of a difference in the long run. That being said, lots of people are suing AI tools and there could be quite the legal battle ahead.
Jared and Spencer then move on to talk about how Google has sent out emails notifying website owners of Core Web Vitals and INP issues on their sites, giving them until March 2024 to fix the issues.
Then Spencer talks about how he was invited to use Google’s new Search Generative Experience. By the end of the year, around 30% of all users will participate in a gradual rollout, and the remainder will be provided with access over time. Then Spencer and Jared do a few search queries live and talk about what it looks like, how it seems to work, and what they think of it.
Spencer goes on to share a few podcast reviews before shifting to the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast.
He starts by discussing a niche website he created with his kids, who eventually lost interest. However, he’s been working on it for the last 6 months and has been able to build up a Facebook page to +30k followers. His strategy is to post short articles on the website, share them on his Facebook page, and drive traffic back to the website, which is monetized with ads.
Although he hasn’t seen much success so far, he did have an article go viral, registering 48k users in about a week. Spencer’s still wondering what to do with this project and he offers listeners the chance to reach out and partner with him to take it to the next level.
Jared talks about his side hustles, focusing on his experience with the Amazon Influencer Program. He talks about the impact of Prime Day on his earnings and clicks, and how he’s increased his earnings to more than $2k in the last 30 days. He also gives some ideas of unique places to go to get content for your videos.
Jared also talks about the YouTube channel he’s developing with his wife and the progress they’re making, particularly with regard to copyright issues. He briefly mentions a WordPress plugin he’s considering developing. Stay tuned to hear more about it!
In the Weird Niche portion of the podcast, Spencer talks about a single-page website with approximately 3.3 million visitors a month, Sleep Calculator. The simple site helps you figure out when to go to bed and explains the various sleep cycles and it’s monetized with display ads. He and Jared talk about sleep as a niche and the potential it has as a niche.
Jared shares his weird niche site, Dash Lights, which focuses on dashboard warning lights and what they mean. The design is quite generic, it has a DR of just 8, and it’s monetized with ads, but it’s ranking for 27k keywords, 2000 of which are number 1 rankings, and probably gets over 100k visitors per month. Jared’s theory about the success of this website is the great way it has established topical authority, and he thinks it could be earning up to $5k per month.
And that concludes another informative edition of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. We'll see you next week! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Wed, 12 July 2023
How Thomas Smith Makes $8k Per Month Via Amazon Influencer Program & Repurposing Reviews For YouTube
Want to learn how to create a profitable media business via the Amazon Influencer program?
Then don't miss the episode below!
Thomas Smith joins the Niche Pursuits podcast today to share how he's making good money with the Amazon Influencer Program.
He doesn't stop there, though, as he also profits by repurposing those videos for YouTube and transcribing them into a blog!
He's a long-time Youtuber, an Amazon Influencer Program member, and an expert in creating effective content.
And luckily for us, there's no shortage of tips he's willing to share. Here are just a few examples:
He discusses how the information conveyed in the videos far outweighs the importance of production values.
And he suggests finding low-competition or long-tail products to review, as they have a higher chance of standing out and driving sales (with examples that may surprise you).
To create better shoppable videos, Thomas advises focusing on using the product in its context of use and sharing genuine thoughts and opinions. Demonstrating how the product is used in real-life situations helps contextualize it for viewers and converts better.
Thomas also mentions how he uses Jungle Scout as a helpful resource for product research. And he emphasizes the value of authenticity and relatability in videos, as viewers prefer real people's opinions over highly produced content.
He also mentions that the Amazon Influencer program offers various opportunities beyond shoppable videos, including live streaming, shoppable photos, and brand deals.
And to maximize reach and monetization potential, Thomas repurposes influencer content for other platforms like YouTube and blogs.
Overall, Thomas Smith provides really valuable insights and resources for creating successful influencer content. And his tips on authenticity, low-cost production, and providing useful information will help aspiring influencers stand out in the competitive market.
Check out the full interview below! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Sat, 8 July 2023
Are you ready to tune into another exciting episode of Niche Pursuits News with Spencer and Jared Bauman?
This episode was actually recorded live on YouTube, so if you missed it, you can check out the replay below. In this episode, Spencer and Jared talk about a new bill in Canada, Twitter’s SEO fail, the new Threads platform, and how AI has run a known content agency out of business. They also share updates on their side hustles and discuss some weird niche sites.
Let’s jump in!
The first topic they discuss is a new bill in Canada that was passed where digital properties and media outlets are able to charge Google to display their news. In response, Google has said that it will remove their news links from its search results and will stop sending traffic to their websites. They talk about the possible repercussions and how Canada might be the first country to take this step, but it might not be the last one.
Spencer and Jared then move on to discuss Twitter’s massive SEO fail when Elon Musk tried to reduce the number of bots crawling it and accidentally limited Google’s access. This led to a massive drop in Twitter’s search visibility in Google, which Twitter then tried to reverse.
The next news item they discuss is Mark Zuckerberg’s launch of a Twitter rival called Threads. With 30 million people signing up after its launch, Spencer and Jared talk about the use of a .net domain and a mobile model for the new platform and their plans to use it.
Then they talk about niche-specific news, sharing how Niche Website Builders, which rebranded as Make Lemonade, has essentially filed for bankruptcy. The agency, which specialized in content creation for niche website owners, was overtaken by AI and run out of business. The key takeaway for Jared and Spencer is that content agencies must step up their game by offering unique strategies and top-notch content to stay ahead of the curve.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Jared talks about his YouTube project with his wife, copyright issues, and demonetization as that project moves forward. He also talks about the remarkable success story of the Weekend Growth newsletter, sponsorship opportunities, and his Amazon Influencer side hustle progress.
When it’s Spencer’s turn, he talks about his RankLogic launch and his recent Facebook Live on using AI content and tracking its performance.
In the last section of the podcast, Jared shares his weird niche site: Weird and Wild Pizza for Weirdoughs, which caters to people who like interesting pizzas. The pizza recipe site has a low DR but ranks for 4700 different keywords and a ton of images and has a solid social media presence.
Spencer shares the site he found, Know Your Meme, which is a huge database of all memes ever created on the internet. It has a DR of 85, ranks for 3.9 million keywords, and gets over 50 million page views per month. Jared chimes in with some very interesting details about the site as well and both he and Spencer talk about using a similar strategy to create a niche website.
Another episode filled with a wealth of advice and inspiration. Don’t miss this week’s Niche Pursuits News! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
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Wed, 5 July 2023
Want the full rundown on the Amazon Influencer Program?
Matt Donley joins the Niche Pursuits podcast this week to deep dive into this exciting opportunity.
The Amazon Influencer Program is still relatively new and evolving, but as you'll soon learn, it provides great opportunities for content creators to make significant passive income.
To apply for the program, you just need to link a social media account like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram with a following of around 1,000 or more.
Then once approved, you must upload three videos for manual review to be eligible for onsite placement.
Once these are approved you're off the races!
Remember, the videos you make are placed on the product pages. Meaning the people watching them are highly qualified and almost ready to buy.
The key to success according to Matt lies in creating videos that provide valuable information and help customers make purchasing decisions. And so, videos should focus on answering customer questions and showcasing the product in a conversational and authentic tone.
And since people on the Amazon pages can be swayed by real people showing off the actual product, the quality of the videos don't even need to be high production, and can be shot using your phone.
Earnings are based on commission percentages for each product category. And so, if your goal is to reach $100 per day, you'll want to start reviewing high-quality and profitable products from the start.
This is why product selection is crucial, not only in terms of price, but also focusing on products that have a demand for video reviews and may require more explanation or demonstration.
Starting with products you already own is a good way to get started and gain instant validation.
And Matt also forecasts, and shares important advice on what sorts of content he believes Amazon may crack down in the future.
Currently, the program is only available on the US Amazon site, but there are plans to expand to other countries in the future.
For those interested in learning more about the Amazon Influencer Program, Matt has created a great Amazon Influencer course to help you get started and set up for success.
But don't miss the full episode below to learn the full scoop! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 30 June 2023
Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast with Spencer and co-host Jared Bauman, of 201 Creative.
This week they talk about the latest problems for Google, their side hustles, and some very strange niche sites. You won’t want to miss this one!
They kick off this episode by talking about how Google employees recently expressed their dissatisfaction with search results after the Reddit blackout.
In response, Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged the issue and introduced a new feature called "perspectives" to address it, a move that shows that Google is trying to balance AI-generated content with human perspectives.
Jared and Spencer discussed how bloggers who provide unique human perspectives and hands-on experiences can benefit from this change, highlighting the importance of honesty, expertise, and authenticity in search results.
Spencer also shared his thoughts about Google’s plans with its search generative experience, as it's clear that people want well-researched human reviews in the search results. Also, the fact that the Reddit debacle has got Google’s attention is great news for content creators and bloggers.
Jared and Spencer then talked about more bad news for Google.
Google is getting in hot water on YouTube and across the web as they haven’t been complying with the agreed characteristics of the ads they display on websites. This is relevant for content creators and niche site owners as they often have ads displayed through Ezoic, Mediavine, or AdThrive.
Tons of companies, large and small, have been paying for video ads and Google has been charging them but hasn’t been complying with the agreed characteristics of the ads and hasn't been transparent or accurate in how the videos are being displayed.
The big question that Spencer and Jared ask is how this affects us as website owners and content creators. Listen in to hear more about their thoughts on this topic.
Then Spencer shared some reviews of the podcast on Apple Podcasts Reviews and asks people to leave a review and he will read your name and website on their next podcast episode.
In the Shiny Object Syndrome portion of the podcast, Spencer begins by talking about his new WordPress plugin, Rank Logic, which is now available. He talks about the challenges behind creating a plugin and preparing for the launch. Rank Logic offers users a better way to track their SEO performance.
Jared talked about his side hustle using the Amazon Influencer Program, of which he has officially been a member for 30 days. He was happy to report that he broke the $1000 mark in his first month, a trend that will likely continue even if he doesn’t keep uploading videos. He also talks about his daily earnings and the possibilities of growing his income even further.
In the Weird Niche Site portion, Jared goes first and talks about Hire Goats, a site that lets you rent goats and have them come and manicure your property.
The site was created in 2017 and has a DR of 26 although it’s only ranking for 260 keywords. The 7-page site does, however, rank number one for all keywords related to renting goats, and although it’s a very glitchy experience and it’s a directory website, it’s very possible that they’re earning some money from it.
When the hosts click around, they see that the goat landscaping website links to HireSheep.com. It’s a whole world of possibilities!
Then Spencer talks about his weird niche site, Random Word Generator which, as the name suggests, lets you generate random words, numbers, and phrases with certain characteristics. It’s monetized with ads and gets 1.3 million organic visitors per month from Google and potentially 3 of 4 million visitors per month in total.
It has a DR of 72 and has really capitalized on all kinds of random generators, from dinner ideas to Bible verses, and could be earning at least $50k per month. As Jared and Spencer dig a little deeper, it looks like the creator has a whole network of successful sites.
This conversation and Spencer and Jared’s ideas are sure to get the creative juices flowing, so don’t miss this episode!
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 23 June 2023
Get ready for an exciting new episode of our podcast, where Spencer and co-host Jared Bauman of 201 Creative dive deep into the fascinating world of AI, SEO, and website building!
First up on their agenda is Google's policy on AI-generated content and EEAT. At the moment, Google does not distinguish between AI and human-generated content and is not requiring creators to label their content. The hosts talk about why this may be and about how Google has also shifted its position on this topic and will probably continue to do so.
They also discuss EEAT and AI, as artificial intelligence-generated content can’t claim any kind of experience. As this is a topic that is constantly evolving, they agree to discuss it as changes arise.
The next topic Jared and Spencer talk about is OpenAI’s potential plans to open an AppStore for ChatGPT. This could include customized AI chatbots, which several companies are already selling.
The hosts then briefly talk about how the INP report has now been added to Google Search Console and is now a part of the Core Web Vitals report.
GA4 comes up when Jared asks Spencer about his thoughts on the new analytics, and the hosts talk about their experience using it.
In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the episode, Spencer talks about his new side project, the WordPress plugin Rank Logic, which helps users track their SEO performance. It’s a real game-changer that enables content creators to understand what’s working and what’s not and tracks changes they make as well as content and author performance. He’s even considering incorporating GA4 into the app to make it the data user-friendly. The launch is imminent, so stay tuned!
Jared talks about his new side hustle using the Amazon Influencer Program, reporting that in his first month, he will have made around $1000 from 229 videos. He talks about how daily earnings from the program fluctuate a lot and how inspiring it is to be able to build such a lucrative income stream in just one month.
As for Weird Niche Sites, Jared goes first and talks about the site People of Walmart, which features user-generated photos of the people that shop at Walmart. He talks about how a site like this could be created for any number of stores, although he and Spencer point out how normally it’s very risky to use the name of a company as part of your domain name.
Spencer shares his site, which is Psychic High School, a humorous site. It’s updated actively but is a low-traffic site that’s ranking for very few keywords. The hosts talked about why the site might have been created and they have a good laugh about the content.
You won’t want to miss this episode, where the hosts share insight, opinions, and a few surprises along the way! |
Fri, 16 June 2023
Interested in setting up a YouTube channel?
Spencer and co-host Jared Bauman of 201 Creative explore some exciting updates for content creators today on Niche Pursuits News.
First up is a new announcement from YouTube that they're lowering the threshold for channel monetization!
While content creators used to need 1000 subscribers and 4000 long-form watch hours, now you need just 500 subscribers and 3000 long-form watch hours in the last 12 months to start earning money on the platform.
Jared and Spencer talk about why they think YouTube changed the rules, and they also discuss other ways to monetize using the platform, such as channel memberships.
Then they move on to talk about how Time magazine announced its plans to remove its digital paywall and give everyone their content for free. Their plan is to monetize with display ads, using the same model many bloggers and content creators are using.
The hosts move on to discuss data in a SEMRush report that revealed interesting statistics about search engine users, like the percentage who change their keywords before clicking and how very few searches led to clicks on the first result in the SERPs in 2022. It’s clear that user patterns of search are changing. What does this mean for us?
Jared and Spencer also discuss a recent article in Search Engine Journal about Google making its feedback form more robust. According to Twitter, this move will set the stage for more negative SEO, and the hosts share their thoughts on the implications. Will the positives outweigh the negatives with this new move from Google?
In the Shiney Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer talks about recent developments with his faceless YouTube channel.
Although the channel was making $80 to $90 a day, a copyright claim has almost eliminated all of his earnings. His appeal was ultimately denied, and he talks about his plans for moving forward, as well as other ideas for faceless YouTube channels.
Jared finally reveals more details about his YouTube project, which will revolve around read-alouds for social-emotional learning by his wife, a seasoned school counselor. She'll be working on this project all summer and Jared will report back on their progress.
In the last section of the podcast, Spencer talks about a weird niche site he found years ago based on a scene from Star Wars where Darth Vadar screams. The site was getting around 30k visitors per month back in 2015.
Although the original website no longer exists, there's a copycat site now, but it only gets a few thousand visitors per month.
Jared talks about the site he found called Awkward Family Photos, created with user-generated content. He talks about how the site is monetized using ads and how it’s ranking for 20k keywords even though it's just a photo site.
As it turns out, Spencer and his family play the Awkward Family Photo board game all the time. This example certainly makes you think about creative monetization opportunities you might not have thought about before!
Once again, Niche Pursuits News is coming at you with a thought-provoking episode on YouTube, legacy publisher strategies, changes in Google, unique side hustle ideas, and creative monetization techniques.
Don't miss out! Tune in and listen now! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 9 June 2023
Want to hear about the latest developments in AI and the potential impact on website owners?
Don’t miss the latest episode of Niche Pursuits News!
Once again, Jared and Spencer team up for an engaging and informative discussion that covers a range of exciting topics.
They start by talking about how the WordPress Jetpack plugin incorporates an AI assistant directly into the editor. This feature will allow users to generate text directly in WordPress and also correct spelling and grammar, generate titles, and uses several different prompts for tone, all for $10 a month.
Then they discuss a report on the Search Generative Experience, the “new featured snippets,” and how quotes may be pulled directly from websites without any attribution or backlinks. This would cause quite a stir among SEOs and publishers, and Jared and Spencer discuss the implications and concerns surrounding this development.
On a potentially positive note for some, they share a recent tweet by Cyrus Shepard, who crawled millions of URLs to compile a list of 7 categories of searches that are unlikely to trigger AI results in the SERPs.
Google Bard is also a topic of conversation in this episode. Jared and Spencer discuss the new location settings, which have been added to help localize queries, and new developments in exporting tables to Google Sheets, which is now easier than ever.
The discussion then shifts to Spencer and Jared’s side hustle projects.
Spencer talks about his idea for a YouTube series, where he acts as a mentor and host in a competition between two or three people.
Their challenge?
To start a small online business in just 30 days, with the winner taking home a monetary prize. The journey would be documented in a single, well-edited, and inspirational video.
Speaking of inspirational, Jared and Spencer share their experience being part of the Amazon Influencer program. Both believe this is a great program for quick financial wins, and they talk about content ideas as they continue to upload videos to see where this side hustle leads.
Jared briefly shares his other side projects, including a YouTube channel he’s working on at the moment. In subsequent episodes, he expects to give listeners a better status update.
In the final segment of this episode, Jared and Spencer talk about some of the weird niche sites they’ve discovered.
Jared reviews a website called Best Love Text Messages. It was likely originally created as a source of messages for loved ones but eventually expanded into a wider variety of messages, quotes, and captions.
The website used to get 300,000 organic page views until a Google update, and although it still boasts a substantial number of keywords and page views and could be easily replicated with AI nowadays, there are also areas for improvement.
Spencer shares a website with several web-based games he used around 2010: QWOP. It’s a video game that was extremely popular back in the day and still manages to attract almost 50,000 organic visitors per month. With a DR of 64 and a substantial Twitter following, Jared and Spencer discuss the potential of supporting it through a Patreon-like platform.
As always, this is another episode filled with thought-provoking discussions, innovative ideas, and actionable tips.
Don't miss out on the opportunity to learn and be inspired by this episode of Niche Pursuits News. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 2 June 2023
Will Google's new Search Generative Experience (SGE) help or harm site owners?
Spencer and Jared kick off the latest episode of Niche Pursuits News pondering this question with some interesting findings as they look at various examples of search queries.
They also reflect on a recent Twitter poll by Lily Ray and contemplate whether or not SGE seems to be an improvement over the existing Google search experience.
For instance, in the event it turns out to be a glorified featured snippet and not so much AI as it is displaying site content directly on the SERPs, will Google provide attribution to site owners?
They also consider how this GSE may work in YMYL niches.
But in hopeful news, Bing AI has added links to sources of information within their AI results which could help put pressure on Google to do the same.
The discussion then moves onto their shiny object shenanigans.
Spencer shares some recent troubles he's run into with his faceless YouTube channel and what they're doing to fix it.
Plus, he discusses how his upcoming plugin Rank Logic is coming along after beta testers finally got to use it.
Then Jared gets into how he decided to jump into the Amazon influencer program and how he and his 201 Creative business partner Kaitlin managed to create 100 videos within a few days reviewing items in their homes.
And as always, they close things out with some great niche site discoveries.
Jared starts with Snake Dreams, a site that focuses on interpreting dreams about snakes. And although it's not doing so well these days, according to Ahrefs - back in 2017 it was receiving an average of 56,000 organic monthly visitors.
Then it's onto Spencer's site highlight, Dimensions.com.
This is a reference database for product dimensions founded by an architect that provides dimensions for various objects and people, including celebrities and fictional characters. The site is monetized via display ads and a subscription service that offers 2D and 3D downloads, no ads, easy download access, and support. And it appears the site is getting lots of traffic!
So, it makes you wonder what's an problem or issue that people like have that could be turned into a helpful niche site!
Overall, it's another helpful episode to wind down for the weekend, hope you enjoy. |
Wed, 31 May 2023
Ready to take a bunch of notes that could help give your site a competitive advantage in the SERPs? Tony Hill joins the Niche Pursuits podcast to share his experience recovering a website from a Google update.
Tony's been building niche websites since 2005 and is very familiar with core updates.
For instance, he had some health sites doing big numbers wiped out by the Medic Update. However, it was the May 2020 core update that was particularly devastating, causing his main 18-year-old site to lose almost half its traffic in just a few weeks.
To recover from the update, Tony and his 10-person team formulated a bullet-proof game plan to recover the site.
The strategy included a comprehensive process to improve the site's existing 1200 pages.
They started by using Google's NLP API to analyze their content and improve its salience score. They found that word order is crucial to help the algorithm better understand your content. So at the sentence, paragraph, and article level, they made a deliberate effort to put the subject first.
An academic tool called Sketch Engine also helped them to analyze language patterns in top-ranking articles on some of the biggest sites in the world. And found that using second-person language and specific, confident wording can improve content quality.
So Tony and his team then reviewed their content to make it clearer and more confident, using specific and directive language. They didn't delete any articles but rather cut out fluffy sentences and paragraphs and added more information when needed.
Other specific tactics included improving readability, adding more visuals, and updating outdated information.
They also added more categories and subcategories to their website to help users navigate content.
By focusing on updating content one category at a time, they continuously experimented and tested to see what worked. They also read competitor's articles word for word to see how they structured their content to make improvements to their own.
They also worked with expert writers and editors to ensure quality and establish a persona for the site. They also created a contributor's page, an Ask an Expert section on the site, and paid experts to answer questions on Quora and Reddit.
He also made a point to flesh out the schema of every article, going above and beyond the typical author schema and entity data.
They also made great use of internal linking, aiming to include at least one internal link in every paragraph of an article, sometimes even linking to the same article twice in an article.
Considering their substantial success in Google Discover, they also analyzed their most successful articles and found that related topics were being featured, so they created new articles on related topics and grew their success in Google Discover.
And after a year of consistent effort and multiple Google updates, Tony's site not only recovered its lost traffic but experienced significant growth, now receiving nearly 8 million page views per month.
Tony's interview is a high-level masterclass in site operations and site recovery that can help site owners at all levels. The way he thinks outside the box to improve the strength of his content will not only inspire you to do the same but also give you actionable steps you can start using today! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 26 May 2023
Welcome to another great episode of Niche Pursuits News.
This week Jared is joined by his 201 Creative agency co-founder Kaitlin Cooper to unpack all of the latest developments from the week that may impact online publishers. And there was surprisingly a lot to go over.
They start by discussing the integration of ChatGPT and Bing, which is powered by Microsoft's Prometheus and offers current results. Kaitlin highlights the composition feature in Bing, which allows for AI writing prompts, while Jared dives into the Expedia and Zapier plugins and their various, exciting use cases.
The conversation then turns to Google's public acknowledgment of topical authority in the context of news sites but most certainly all kinds of sites. And they share some interesting takeaways you won't want to miss.
They also discuss some of the unfortunate issues happening this month regarding video searches. A reported Google search bug has caused a drop in video traffic, and Google seems to now only show video thumbnails next to search results when the video is the main content of a page.
Google's testing reportedly shows that the recent change in video thumbnails will have minimal impact on publishers, but there is still debate about the actual impact.
But in more hopeful news, Google Bard is now including relevant images in responses and highlighting the source of the image. Bard is emphasizing the importance of images in communicating ideas effectively. And as a reward, Bard is even sourcing smaller sites for queries that larger websites typically dominate in image search or regular web search.
This a potentially cool development if publishers can manage to improve their images for Bard.
Next up, they dive into their shiny object shenanigans. Jared shares an update on their newsletter where they've managed to surpass their goal of reaching 1,000 subscribers in 12 weeks. And they get into how it is they're able to average 40-50% open rates and what their next goals may be.
Kaitlin shares how she's transitioning her side hustle wedding photography business site Kaitlin Cooper into a content affiliate site, and discusses some issues that others may relate to.
As always, they close out the show by discussing a couple of fun and weird niche sites found.
Kaitlin shares Hold The Magic, which is certainly not your typical niche site. It's a site created by a mom who wanted to give her daughter something other than money from the tooth fairy. The website sells tooth fairy gifts, has an influencer program, and they even set up booths at dental conferences.
Jared then shares his website which specializes in treehouse rentals. Treehouse Trippers is a site dedicated to finding good treehouses to rent for vacations. At first they debate what qualifies as a treehouse and whether some of the site's offerings fit the bill. But then they praise the site's targeted approach to SEO. The site does a good job of producing long-tail targeted content specific to certain states and types of vacations and monetized by offering affiliate links to online booking platforms.
But as always, it's possible that these sites are leaving money on the table and so the hosts brainstorm some ways they could boost monetization.
Overall, it's another great episode of Niche Pursuits News, covering a wide range of topics related to SEO and niche websites. So be sure to watch the full episode below! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 19 May 2023
Want to learn about the new ChatGPT plugins and other new updates that could affect for site owners? Don't miss this week's episode of Niche Pursuits News!
Spencer and Jared kick things off by discussing new ChatGPT plugins brainstorming the various ways they can help users automate everything from email to SEO. Plus, the new opportunities for entrepreneurs with plugin ideas.
They also discuss OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's hearing before Congress earlier this week concerning the possible risks and implications of AI. A four and a half hour testimony covering everything from the dangers of misinformation to political fallout, with one conclusion being that 'AI is more dangerous than you think'. But since Google Bard is now available to the public, the guys were able to test it out with some fun prompts including asking it to compare itself to ChatGPT with some surprising results.
They also unpack Google's upcoming Core Web Vitals metric InP, which will offer insights into the 'interaction to next paint' rather than just 'first input delay', which could change the game in user experience metrics.
Then it's onto the side hustles, where Spencer unveils his year in the making WordPress plugin, Rank Logic, a powerful tool for tracking keyword rankings and content performance which is now open for a limited number of beta testers.
Meanwhile, Jared introduces his new service on Weekend Growth that creates email newsletter funnels for niche websites and is already receiving orders and positive feedback!
And as always, they wind things down by looking at peculiar niche sites starting with Unnecessary Inventions. A site created by an inventive content creator who turned his unique thinking into a profitable business followed by millions of fans on YouTube and Instagram.
They also discuss Reality Steve, a site dedicated to spoiling the results of the dating reality show The Bachelor.
In both cases, the sites have sparked interesting careers for their creators but the guys ponder the various ways they could boost their monetization.
So, sit back and enjoy another episode of industry insights, personal projects, and peculiar niches to help you get ready for the weekend! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 12 May 2023
Curious how Google's upcoming AI search engine may affect site owners?
Today's episode of Niche Pursuits News has you covered with an in-depth and wide-ranging discussion between hosts Spencer, Jared, and guest-host and MarketMuse founder Jeff Coyle about Google's recent unveiling of Magi.
The guys consider how this new generative AI search feature will account for:
And, of course, they brainstorm how these changes may impact site owners and the display ad networks that so many rely on for income.
The discussion then goes to the increasing importance of brand and community building through various channels, such as email and social media marketing. And the benefits these technological evolutions bring for those willing to persevere. And as a special bonus, listeners can sign up for MarketMuse using promo code 'niche20mm' for a 20% discount!
Spencer also shares an exciting update about his faceless YouTube channel and how it's now consistently earning over $100 per day - far exceeding his expected earnings of $80 in the entire month of May.
And Jared discusses how he recently launched a free tool during his latest interview on the Niche Pursuits podcast, which has had some excellent results. The discussion then gets into weird niche sites where Spencer shares a super niche site called Western Mining History with a DR 59 and monetized with both Mediavine ads and a membership option.
Jared then shares his niche site find PenVibe.com, which focuses on pens and related products. The site has a basic design and appears to have quite an interesting history, but it started picking up traffic in 2018, with a surge in March and April 2023.
Overall it's a fascinating discussion with lots of nuggets of wisdom forecasting the future of blogging and search in the age of AI.
So make sure to listen to the full episode to learn more! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Mon, 8 May 2023
Want some tips on how to succeed with affiliate marketing? Mark sat down with me to share tons of valuable insights into how he's grown Aquarium Store Depot. He discusses how it was originally supposed to be a drop shipping and eCommerce store when he started back in 2017 but had to pivot to an affiliate focus to not compete with Amazon 2-Day Shipping. He followed some courses to learn about SEO, but it wasn't until he joined The Affiliate Lab by Matt Diggity that he started to find success growing an affiliate site. He eventually grew the site to generate more than his full-time job but has kept both. And today Mark shares his wealth of knowledge and experience in affiliate marketing and content creation, providing valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs. He discusses the importance of passion and quality in niche writing. And how being passionate about the topic you choose to write about is essential to creating engaging and high-quality content. He also dives into the differences between content sites and YouTube creators. And shares some of his thoughts about what the future of affiliate marketing will be like. Overall, it's an interesting discussion filled with valuable insights and strategies for those just starting out or even seasoned pros. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 5 May 2023
Want an in-depth look and summary of the key findings from Semrush’s State of Search 2023 report? Spencer and Jared sit down today to discuss it all, sharing key insights that are sure to help site owners and niche site enthusiasts in all sorts of ways concerning:
Plus, they highlight some interesting findings in the report about the differences between paid and organic traffic. The conversation then shifts gears to discuss their side hustles. Spencer shares how his Amazon influencer project is going, including diving into some of the numbers and discussing whether it’s likely to be a profitable niche pursuit. Jared also touches on one of his side hustle successes, discussing how he reached 1000 email newsletter subscribers in just 8 weeks. And of course, they dive into interesting niche site finds, including BetterSheets.co, a site that offers a course on how to use Google Sheets that is making over $100,000 a year. And a Mai Tai niche site that documents different types of Mai Tais from around the world, including recipes and history. The guys suggest potential ways to expand the site, such as creating a directory of Mai Tai bars in Hawaii and other ways to better monetize the site. So make sure to listen to the full episode to gain lots of valuable info to help you kick off a productive weekend. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 28 April 2023
Eager to stay up to date on the latest news in the world of niche sites? Join hosts Jared and Josh as they dive into various topics related to website creation and traffic generation. First up is their discussion of the recent Google update, the April 2023 Review Update, which now includes local, travel, film, and other types of reviews. They discuss the importance of keeping your content up-to-date to get the most out of these Google updates. And Jared shares how updating his website's old content helped improve his rankings. Next, the hosts explore the adoption of AI and its implications for website creation and traffic generation. They discuss Hugging Face's new ChatGPT competitor, Hugging Chat, and ChatGPT's introduction of incognito mode with new data sharing and privacy controls. The guys also discuss their YouTube side hustle projects and share their plans to experiment with creating shorts from their long-form videos, emphasizing the importance of diversifying content and growing an email list to own your site's traffic. But that's not all! They also talk about the success of a site centered around donuts which ranks for over 700,000 keywords and gets close to a million visits a month. The conversation then turns to the use of AI in programmatic SEO, with the example site "How Many Syllables". With a DR of 44 and ranking for 138,000 keywords, this website gets an estimated 26,000 organic traffic per month from 35,000 pages. And they contemplate the potential of AI in programmatic SEO and the longevity of this particular website's traffic. This podcast episode covers a wide range of topics related to website creation and traffic generation, offering valuable insights and practical tips. So, what are you waiting for? Listen now and take your website to the next level! Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 21 April 2023
More good news from Google. They've announced they'll be removing the Page Experience report and mobile-friendly test from Search Console in the coming months. So how will this affect you and what workarounds can you use instead? We've got you covered! In today's episode of Niche Pursuits News, Spencer and Jared dive into all sorts of important developments in the world of online business and niche sites. The guys discuss the recent Google algorithm update - which has impacted an estimated 40% of sites, including some non-review pages. And of course, they delve into Google's decision to replace the page experience report and mobile-friendly test with a more holistic approach. You'll get some help on how to optimize your site for a great page experience, unraveling the confusion surrounding core web vitals, general page experience, Google Page, and speed insights. Including some important pointers on which alternative tools can help with website audits. Also important to site owners, AdThrive has rebranded as Raptive, shifting its focus to enterprise customers and possibly expanding into an influencer network. Learn how this company has evolved over the years, from CafeMedia's acquisition in 2016 to being acquired by private equity firm ZMC in 2018, and how it strives to meet the needs of creators and enterprise publishers. Spencer also shares his experience running the Boston Marathon, and why it's the most prestigious marathon in the US. We also get a sneak peek into their exciting new projects. Spencer shares an update on his faceless YouTube channel's monetization journey, while Jared discusses his newsletter. Finally, we learn all about two unique niche sites: cockroachfacts.com and marathoninvestigation.com. The former is a surprisingly well-developed site with a range of content on cockroaches, while the latter investigates and exposes marathon cheaters. Overall, it's another great episode, full of insights and pointers to help you stay on top of things and make the most of your marketing efforts. This Episode is Sponsored by https://search-intelligence.co.uk/ Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Wed, 19 April 2023
Do you want to know the optimal number of internal links you should build to new pages? Or how about which anchor texts will get you the best results? In this episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast, long-time SEO expert Cyrus Shepard shares some very interesting answers to these questions you won't want to miss. His findings come from an in-depth study he did on the impact of internal linking on a website's ranking and traffic. He analyzed 1800 websites and 23 million internal links and found a positive correlation between internal links and Google traffic. But there's a catch. After a certain point, the relationship between internal links and traffic diminishes. So, how can you make the most of your internal links? Cyrus emphasizes the importance of controlling both popularity and relevance in internal linking. He shares insights on Page Rank Sculpting and advises starting with a plan and adding links as soon as possible to avoid playing catch-up later. He also believes updating old content and internal linking should be a continuous part of your site management process. Cyrus then shares tips on where to place internal links and the importance of varied anchor text. Plus, he shares his thoughts on keyword cannibalization and an example of how linking multiple pages together using keyword-rich cannibalization keywords improved the ranking of all pages. But internal linking isn't the only factor at play. Redirecting 404 pages with a 301 redirect to a highly relevant page is important. Plus, he recommends automation tools like Link Whisper to help find internal linking opportunities. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 14 April 2023
Get ready for an exciting episode of This Week in Niche Pursuits News, where we dive into a rollercoaster of digital marketing stories: From a $9 million employee theft scandal at Ezoic to weird niche websites and ad network comparisons. This episode is a treasure trove of interesting discussions to help close out another week! Things kick off with a jaw-dropping case of employee theft at the popular ad tech company Ezoic. The guys explore how one crafty individual tried to steal $9 million by altering the bank account details on the company's Google AdSense account. Luckily his plan was foiled, but not before Ezoic faced layoffs and cash flow struggles due to the incident. The conversation then switches gears to continue last week's discussion on Google's latest update, and how it's expanded to encompass all types of reviews, not just products. The conversation also gets into the fascinating world of weird niche sites, like sleepinginairports.net – a handy guide for those seeking a good night's sleep during layovers or as a hotel alternative. This unconventional site thrives on crowdsourced reviews and enjoys a whopping 46,000 organic traffic per month (according to Ahrefs, so for sure, their real traffic is much higher)! They also cover a mysterious travel site whose social media presence is suspended and a Lego site with untapped potential in email marketing and social media. And the question on every site owner's mind is: which ad network pays more? We tackle this question head-on, comparing Ezoic and Google AdSense, considering factors like ad setup, programmatic display, and site speed. Spencer then dishes on his latest side hustle – outsourcing product review videos for the Amazon Influencer program. With a team of five videographers and a video backlog, Spencer is set to rake in commissions from product page views. To wrap things up the guys discuss the perks of starting with ads on a website for that initial burst of energy and income and share an SEO tactic that involves hunting for unlinked mentions and requesting links. In a nutshell, this latest episode of This Week in Niche Pursuits News covers a wide array of digital marketing topics that are both fun and interesting for anyone involved with online businesses. Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper |
Fri, 7 April 2023
Ready for another update, 'This Week In Niche Pursuits News'?
Guest hosts Jared Bauman and Josh Blackburn join the podcast while I'm away this week to cover a wide range of topics related to AI, content creation, and dive into some fun niche site discoveries!
You'll learn how to use Google Trends as a tool for researching and creating content around landmarks and historical events.
Also, in relation to my new faceless YouTube channel reaching the 1,000 subscriber milestone, the guys discuss the benefits of creating this style of channel, that focuses more on content rather than any personal branding.
And if you're interested in improving your website's SEO and user experience, there's a deal for the Link Whisper WordPress plugin with a special coupon code offer for listeners you don't want to miss.
The use of AI in content creation is also discussed at length in this episode.
You'll learn how Midjourney V.5 can create realistic photos and can replace the need for stock photos.
As well as discussing the AIPRM plugin, which provides expert prompts for generative AI tools. You'll hear about its success in the market, including some speculation on the potential for there to be paid prompts in the future.
The winners and losers of Google's March 2023 core update are also discussed with tips on highlighting the relatively new Experience element of E-E-A-T on your websites.
You'll also hear about unique niche websites, including a Canadian candy store that freeze-dries candy and a website dedicated to the Titanic. And, of course, the guys discuss the potential for creating content and building businesses around these niches!
Overall, the episode provides useful insights and tips for creating successful websites and content using AI and other helpful tools.
Hope you enjoy it! |
Wed, 5 April 2023
Looking for tried-and-true tips for how to grow your business? Look no further than Steve Chou, online entrepreneur extraordinaire and master of email marketing, YouTube, SMS texting, and marketing online businesses in general. You may already know of him from My Wife Quit Her Job. And in today's podcast episode, Steve shares key insights into:
One of his secrets to success is his focus on one thing at a time. He creates systems for each task before moving on to the next, allowing him to outsource tasks to a virtual assistant and streamline his workflow. He also repurposes content across different channels for long-term leverage. And if you're looking to grow your YouTube channel, Steve has some great advice. He recommends having a website as a home base to gather emails and using YouTube to grow your subscriber base. The most important part of YouTube? The title and thumbnail! Steve also suggests repurposing blog posts into YouTube content and switching up camera angles every 3-4 seconds to keep viewers engaged. And if you need help generating ideas or scripting your videos, Chat GPT using AI PRM can help. He offers tons of email marketing tips including building an email list before having something to sell and using it to get feedback from your audience. Plus he talks about how he uses SMS marketing to drive action, as he's found it to have a higher open and click-through rate than emails. Steve encourages cross-pollination of contacts across different platforms to increase the chances of reaching them, and he uses SMS marketing differently for e-commerce and content, sending offers and promotions for the former and event-related messages for the latter. But in the end, Steve's success comes down to his focus on building relationships, providing value to his audience, and staying consistent. And if you're interested in following in his footsteps and achieving financial freedom without sacrificing what matters most (who doesn't), be sure to check out Steve's book, The Family First Entrepreneur. So if you're looking to take your business to the next level, be sure to listen to this episode and take notes! Topics Steve Chou Covers
Links & Resources |
Wed, 29 March 2023
Are you dreaming of launching your own profitable online business? If so, you need to listen to this week's episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast!
Emil Shor joins us to share how he leverages his SEO and website-building expertise to grow a business that's largely outsourced.
He left work as an in-house SEO and started his own agency in 2021. And with the smart and crafty business structure he's used from the start (which he touches on), he's enjoying big profits while living and working on his own terms.
There are a ton of nuggets of wisdom here:
Emil provides valuable insights for those looking to start their own online businesses. And his advice can help you achieve long-term rankings in search and potentially fast-track you to success.
So, if you want to learn the secrets of building profitable online businesses, don't miss it! [toc] Topics Emil Shour Covers
Links & Resources
This Episode is Sponsored by Search Intelligence & Nichesites.com |
Fri, 24 March 2023
Welcome to another episode of "This Week in Niche Pursuits News!"
This is a show where we talk about the most recent industry news, share success stories, discuss our shiny objects, and reveal a few weird niche sites we've run across.
In today's episode, I'm joined by co-hosts Jared Bauman and Jake Cain.
Watch Niche Pursuits News
“This Week in Niche Pursuits News”
Google Bard opens up to beta users.
OpenAI release paper theorizing which jobs will be eliminated by AI: “An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”
“Now That’s Impressive!”
Shiny Object Shenanigans
“One Weird Niche”
If you want to get more of this type of content, be sure to join the Niche Pursuits Newsletter here where I share similar topics 3 times a week. |
Wed, 22 February 2023
Today's guest on Niche Pursuits podcast is Shane Sams. He shares how he became a millionaire by reversing the usual approach to bootstrapping an online business. |
Wed, 1 February 2023
In today's podcast we have Forrest Webber who has a portfolio of 20 websites that now generates up to $40,000 in revenue per month. He shares his approach to growing online businesses is one that will surely interest a lot of listeners. |
Wed, 28 September 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast is Daniel Thompson from Saltwater Digital. He chats to Jared about what it takes to run an agency, including the pitfalls experienced along the way and some of the things he has done to make it a success. |
Wed, 31 August 2022
Jacky Chou is today's guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast. Jacky is the founder of Indexy — a successful SEO agency. Jacky talks about how he scales his business, buys starter websites, creates content, builds links, and how he manages to operate a portfolio of so many websites. |
Wed, 24 August 2022
Mark Daoust is the latest guest on the Niche Pursuit podcast. Mark is the founder of Quiet Light Brokerage. He talks about developing websites correctly and offers some excellent advice for those looking to sell their business in the future. We're talking expert tips and advice from a guy who has been on both sides of the fence. |
Wed, 27 July 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuit podcast is the CEO of Nav 43, Ben Dankiw. Ben is a trained search engine marketing specialist and has built up a successful PPC and SEO agency over the past six years. Ben talks about the differences between freelancing, working for an agency, and ultimately running your own agency. |
Wed, 13 July 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuit podcast is Christopher Grant from 'OA challenge' and 'Clear The Shelf.' Christopher is here today to talk about arbitrage. It's a popular topic online and a great way to build a side hustle or fully-fledged business. As always, make notes, and enjoy the interview. |
Thu, 7 July 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast is Matt Giovanisci from Swim University and Money Lab. Matt is no stranger to Niche Pursuits, having been a guest several times before, and today, he's back to chat with Jared about setting up an eCommerce section on his website and much more. |
Tue, 28 June 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuit podcast is Ken Savage. Ken is the owner of 'Launch Club,' a successful service aggregating various people to help business owners launch their products and grow their website traffic.
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Tue, 24 May 2022
Today's Guest On the Niche Pursuits podcast is John Ainsworth. He's making $10,000 a month from 20,000 monthly visitors. And in today's interview he's gonna deep dive into how he did it!
The income John talks about is staggering, and it's hard not to feel inspired and excited about the possibilities. |
Wed, 18 May 2022
Today's guest on the niche pursuits podcast is Andrew Amann. Andrew is the CEO of Nine Two Three Venture Studio, a software development agency that invents, develops, and grows online business ventures. Andrew shares his thoughts on how to come up with new business ideas and how to grow them.
Direct download: Niche_Pursuits_Podcast_-_Andrew_Amann.mp3
Category:Online Business -- posted at: 3:21am EDT |
Tue, 19 April 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast is Cole Humphus. Cole's story is inspiring, exciting, and somewhat unique. He talks about his photography side hustle, which turned into a multi-million dollar business, and highlights his steps to scale the company to seven figures per year. |
Wed, 13 April 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast is Ted French who is a is a website builder who has reached some significant success using aged domains.
Ted walks us through his first big profit sale and shares the strategies and steps he took to build and sell the site for over $200,000 dollars. |
Wed, 6 April 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast is former Penny Hoarder executive and successful business owner Alexis Grant.
Alexis shares her thoughts on how her journalism background has helped her content writing and she talks about what she did to get it to rank better in the search engines and how she increased traffic by around 80%. |
Wed, 30 March 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast is John Murphy who has a successful eCommerce website that sells e-bikes. He shares how the site went from a few thousand dollars in revenue to over 3 million within a few years.
John talks about his SEO strategy and explains how it's different for eCommerce sites compared to general informational websites. |
Wed, 16 March 2022
Todays' guest on the Niche Pursuit podcast is Chandler Bolt, the author of 7 best-selling books.
The conversation and advice during the interview are relevant for website and business owners alike, and Chandler does a great job explaining the benefits and reasons we should all publish a book. |
Wed, 12 January 2022
Today's guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast is Joe Valley, the author of the newly released book 'The Exitpreneur's Playbook.' Joe talks about selling your business from the beginning rather than when you want to sell and offers advice for getting prepared and ready to make the process smoother. |
Thu, 30 December 2021
Today’s guest on the Niche Pursuit Podcast is Spencer Haws — yes, the guy owns this very Podcast and the Niche Pursuits website. Spencer’s aim with this podcast episode is to update the listeners on his plans for the website and to explain why he’s no longer the face of the Podcast and Youtube channel. He also wants to answer the questions that the Niche Pursuits audience would be interested in hearing about.
Direct download: NichePursuits_Ep_Spencer_Haws.mp3
Category:Online Business -- posted at: 12:40pm EDT |
Wed, 15 December 2021
Today’s guest on the Niche Pursuits podcast is Eric Hochberger, one of the co-founders of the ad-management company — Mediavine. The topic of conversation during the chat is the worrying future of the Ad Revenue industry for content creators and Ad sellers.
Direct download: Niche_Pursuits_-_Eric_Hockberger_1.mp3
Category:Online Business -- posted at: 10:03am EDT |
Wed, 1 December 2021
Today's guest on the podcast is Emilia Gardner. Emilia is a former Lawyer turned website builder who quit her job to learn how to make money on the internet. In this podcast she offers advice about the tangible and intangible benefits of website creation. She talks about the importance of accountability and staying focused on a project until successful.
Direct download: NichePursuits_Ep_Emilia_Gardner.mp3
Category:Online Business -- posted at: 12:38pm EDT |
Niche Pursuits Podcast: Find Your Next "Niche" Business Idea! (Online Business)
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