In the last 30 days, I\u2019ve seen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- 813 clicks (86% increase compared to February)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 34.6k SERP impressions (123% increase)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Average CTR: 2.4% <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Average SERP position: 18.5<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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In October I set out to publish at least 6 well-written pieces of content each month, optimized for low-hanging keywords that I found with LowFruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s been a wild ride. The results are slowly (but surely) trickling in, which we\u2019ll get back to later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, it\u2019s time to meet the star of today\u2019s show!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her Majesty: The Niche<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The niche I chose for this case study is barbecue<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why I Chose This Niche<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Choosing a good niche is one of the most important things to give your website a high chance of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know because\u2014partly thanks to time, partly thanks to naivety\u2014I\u2019ve made all the mistakes one can make in this step. And I like to believe I\u2019ve learned from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I already have a few “cash cow” websites that get hundreds of thousands of impressions each month and bring in a few thousand dollars in revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My goals for this website were different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted a “side income” website in a seasonal niche that I could build up as a side hustle over a year or two, then decide whether to keep it or sell it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last fall, I researched some seasonal niches, and although a few ideas came up, barbecue seemed to be right up my alley:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personal Interest<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Barbecue is something I do<\/strong>, know <\/strong>about, and have a passion <\/strong>for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Niche Depth<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s broad enough<\/strong> that I\u2019ll never run out of content ideas and yet, specific enough<\/strong> to build topical authority on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Evergreen Factor<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Although there are new cooking techniques and equipment, the niche is generally evergreen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seasonality<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The niche is seasonal<\/strong>, which, in this case, was exactly what I wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It means fewer competitors and fewer resources needed to compete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This niche won out because it's something I do, know, and care about. It's easier to research and produce better content.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Not YMYL<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Barbecue is not a YMYL<\/strong> (Your Money, Your Life) niche. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t need to buy an aged domain, redirect aged domains, and\/or build many backlinks to be competitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stable Search Demand<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Search demand<\/strong> for this niche has generally been stable over the years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent years, many homeowners have purchased grills and smokers to gather friends and family in the backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good Buyer's Intent<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Outdoor cooking requires equipment and supplies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To start a fire, you need a bag of charcoal, a bag of wood chips, and some kindling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All kinds of accessories and gadgets are sold, written, and talked about\u2014some of them a must-have for the self-respecting outdoor cook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is an audience with good buyer\u2019s intent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commission Potential<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The equipment costs between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars. In other words, it is expensive enough to make good affiliate commissions<\/strong> (but not so expensive that no one wants to buy it online).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Different Affiliate Programs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The equipment is sold on Amazon, but that's not the only place people buy it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are opportunities to try out different affiliate programs<\/strong> with higher commission rates (and see if they convert well or not).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barrier to Entry<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The topic is not so technical<\/strong> that no one could write about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, it's difficult enough<\/strong> to create a barrier to entry for cheap, poorly-researched content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other niches I considered included camping, cycling, snow sports, water sports, hiking, and climbing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, barbecue<\/em> won out because it's something I actually do. This makes it easier for me to research and produce better content than what's already out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My SEO Game Plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Goals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
To date, I\u2019ve been mainly publishing informational content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have ideas for commercial content, but it\u2019s too early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My priority is to get this site to 25k to 50k page views per month, so I can start getting ad revenue<\/strong>. This will give me more money to reinvest <\/strong>back into content and promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will also give me insight into the subtopics and types of content that bring in the highest Revenue Per Mille (RPM).<\/strong> Then, I\u2019ll create more of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finding and Targeting Keywords<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When I decided I\u2019d launch the case study website in the barbecue niche, I made myself a cup of coffee, sat down on my couch, and spent a good couple of hours dividing the main topic <\/strong>(barbecue) into subtopics<\/strong> (grilling, smoking, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It didn\u2019t take me long to come up with a few dozen seed keywords<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I opened up LowFruits<\/a>, started entering them, and the hunt for search terms began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the first few months, I focused on publishing content for keywords with as many blue fruits as possible<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As everyone who already uses LowFruits knows, blue fruits stand for User Generated Content (UGC) like forums, Reddit, and Quora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lately, I have been publishing content targeting keywords with mostly green fruit.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Green fruits represent newer websites and websites with low domain authority (DA). Although my site is one of them, it can compete with others because it has topical authority and good content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LowFruits Tip of the Month<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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LowFruits clusters give you a way to bring in more traffic and rank for more than one search term.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The most heavily visited posts on all of my websites cover topics people are searching for in different ways, using more than one search term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every now and then, when you open a LowFruits report, you'll find a question that is asked in various ways<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can find them by looking at each result under the “Suggestions” or “Questions” tabs<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is: there\u2019s a better way! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
LowFruits can do the analysis for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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