Should I do anything about this micro-niche site I'm not happy about?

10 replies
Hey guys,

This is the first thread I start, so be gentle I've been reading WF for a while now but didn't really get involved in the conversation, just reading and learning. Anyway, it's been more than a month since I decided to take action and dive into micro niche sites. I also made my first sales and I'm really happy about it, but here's my problem:

I've started with four small sites (three for CPA offers, one MFA), each one having between 2 and 4 pages of content. Only one has decent rankings so far and gets decent traffic, the rest are still work in progress.

And right now I'm faced with a dilemma. This site that gets the most traffic, didn't get any sales. Traffic is at around 30 unique visitors per day and I get between 2 and 5 clicks on the offer (I have around 80 click in October) and so far no sale. While I think it's a little early to draw any conclusions, I'm a little confused because another one of my sites, that's not ranking that well and only gets a few visitors per day already made 2 sales from a total of 19 clicks in October.

Both sites are promoting almost similar products (women cosmetics) and even though the first site promotes a product that's a little more expensive, it has a free trial, so I'm guessing that should appeal visitors more. But it looks like it doesn't.

And right now I'm considering rewriting the content on this site, because I think I might have written it in a hurry (I worked more on the second one) and the site could perform better.

But...and here comes my question...do you think rewriting the text could harm my search engine rankings (I am #6 for main KW and #2 and #4 for two secondary keywords)? I would want to rewrite the texts from scratch, or at least some parts of it. I'm not unhappy with the SEO factors like KW optimization and stuff, but I don't think the message in the presell text is strong enough and perhaps that's why there are no conversions so far.

So, long story short:

1. How should I change the content so that my rankings won't get harmed?

2. What is a good clickthrough/conversion rate I should be aiming at? The first site got around 450 visitors so far, 80 clicks, no conversions, while the second one I don't know how many visitors got (I test if not using GA has any effects on rankings), but got 19 clicks, 2 conversions ($16 each).

So that's my dilemma, would appreciate any advice from you guys. Thanks a lot and hope I wasn't too boring
#happy #microniche #site
  • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
    Originally Posted by iepurilah View Post

    And right now I'm considering rewriting the content on this site,...............

    1. How should I change the content so that my rankings won't get harmed?
    Interesting question. Just a few days ago I discovered a neglected site that was getting visitors for one particular, ultra niche, keyword contained in an article that was written for me.


    The article wasn't up to much so I decided to do some research of my own and rewrite the article. In effect I edited the article - as in I retained a couple of the original paragraphs. The rest isn't even a rewrite, it's just completely different. I kept the original keyword and the number of visitors hasn't changed.


    I kept the page title the same and kept the URL unchanged.


    Google likes new content. So if your newly rewritten content is good, you might lose position for a few days but I would expect that you would regain it fairly soon. As you aren't making large numbers of sales this is a good opportunity to experiment and see what happens.
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    • Profile picture of the author hsvdm
      I think you can change the text that should be no problem. Just keep the on page seo and do a strong call to action for your visitor. Just say why the product is good and insert real customer testimonials if available.

      If it is allowed you could try to incentive this particular offer with a free report about this topic which helps the customer. For axample if it is an acne cream just offer a report on how to cure acne scars. This can help to boost conversions.

      Another point is to insert video reviews. This is good for SEO and a lot of people like that kind of review to get an inside look at the product.

      If nothing works then the sales page is crappy and simply does not convert. I have seen products (cpa offers) which convert 3 out of 60 and others only 1 out of 200. the only way top get around this is to try a related offer. Maybe it converts better.

      In terms of conersions rates and clickthroughs I think 20-25% is good. Anything above is great

      Cheers
      Mirko
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      • Profile picture of the author iepurilah
        Thank you for the reply, Mirko

        Originally Posted by hsvdm View Post

        I think you can change the text that should be no problem. Just keep the on page seo and do a strong call to action for your visitor. Just say why the product is good and insert real customer testimonials if available.
        Already doing this

        If it is allowed you could try to incentive this particular offer with a free report about this topic which helps the customer. For axample if it is an acne cream just offer a report on how to cure acne scars. This can help to boost conversions.
        Unfortunately, I cannot offer incentives on this offer.

        Another point is to insert video reviews. This is good for SEO and a lot of people like that kind of review to get an inside look at the product.
        I saw a lot of people recommending this and even though I'm not a big fan, I might give it a try.

        If nothing works then the sales page is crappy and simply does not convert. I have seen products (cpa offers) which convert 3 out of 60 and others only 1 out of 200. the only way top get around this is to try a related offer. Maybe it converts better.
        I actually considered this (the sales page not being too good), but it's not a crappy clickbank-type long sales letter, instead the website is extremely visual appealing. Also, I'm intrigued by the free trial, was expecting this to increase conversion rate (I just realized I didn't ask my AM what's the average conversion rate this offer gets, probably would be helpful to know).

        As for the related offer, don't really consider it an option. It would mean changing the site's entire approach, since the domain is ProductNameReview.com type.

        In terms of conersions rates and clickthroughs I think 20-25% is good. Anything above is great
        Thanks, that's good to know.
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    • Profile picture of the author iepurilah
      Originally Posted by rosetrees View Post

      Interesting question. Just a few days ago I discovered a neglected site that was getting visitors for one particular, ultra niche, keyword contained in an article that was written for me.


      The article wasn't up to much so I decided to do some research of my own and rewrite the article. In effect I edited the article - as in I retained a couple of the original paragraphs. The rest isn't even a rewrite, it's just completely different. I kept the original keyword and the number of visitors hasn't changed.


      I kept the page title the same and kept the URL unchanged.


      Google likes new content. So if your newly rewritten content is good, you might lose position for a few days but I would expect that you would regain it fairly soon. As you aren't making large numbers of sales this is a good opportunity to experiment and see what happens.
      Thank you for the answer...can you please tell me how much did you change (an approx. percentage)?
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      • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
        Originally Posted by iepurilah View Post

        Thank you for the answer...can you please tell me how much did you change (an approx. percentage)?
        Hi. I would say I changed about 75% of the content.


        I simply deleted most of it and replaced it with more targeted and better researched content, whilst retaining the same keyword.


        Then I just left the final two paragraphs of the original article as a "summing up" at the end.
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        • Profile picture of the author hsvdm
          If you do not want to take related offer because of your web domain etc try to build a list if possible from that traffic and try to show them a related offer etc. Or write in your review that you would recommend the product but with the related offer you had more success or is cheaper etc to lead them to another offer. Just be creative

          Anyway, if the offer is not converting, lets say 1 out of 100 clicks, then I would stop my promotion and start my next project or site. At the end of the day it is all a matter of ROI on your work.

          Cheers
          Mirko
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  • Profile picture of the author EdHanson
    Originally Posted by iepurilah View Post

    1. How should I change the content so that my rankings won't get harmed?

    2. What is a good clickthrough/conversion rate I should be aiming at? The first site got around 450 visitors so far, 80 clicks, no conversions, while the second one I don't know how many visitors got (I test if not using GA has any effects on rankings), but got 19 clicks, 2 conversions ($16 each).
    Is your link going to the owners salespage or direct to the "buy cart"?

    For your first site problem the question is: Is the content really direct related to the product? It could be the visitor is awaiting something else when he clicks your link and is directed to a "buy cart" OR if your link opens the owners salespage it could be the ownser salespage that "scares" the vistor. 80 clicks and no buys? It sounds like the visitor is disapointed from what they found on the salespage so its either your discription (missleading, not relevant) or the salespage.
    Its hard to say without seeing how to solve this. I would check the salespage and change the link to the direct "buy cart" OR if no owners salespage involved overwork my article/offer and point out direct what will happen on clicking the link e.g "BUY HERE".

    For your second question: It depends on your offer, your traffic and your audience. I have some sites with near 95% conversion and some with only 3%. Mainly your Offer hast to cover/match your site+traffic+audience+marketing technics. 19 visitors and 2 conversion is a good rate for just starting so your on the right way. I try to be at a rate from at least 5:1 so every fifth visitor buys/signs up or whatever sometimes it more sometimes less....

    I wouldnt say there is a "magic formula" to go after. I think you already did very good as you have your first conversions. From this point I would say look at your content and tweak it a bit but save your old work so if it doesnt get better you can switch back -> here you can only do trail and error.
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    • Profile picture of the author iepurilah
      Thanks a lot for the answer, Ed.

      Originally Posted by EdHanson View Post

      Is your link going to the owners salespage or direct to the "buy cart"?
      To the sales page. I don't think I can link it straight to the "buy cart".

      For your first site problem the question is: Is the content really direct related to the product? It could be the visitor is awaiting something else when he clicks your link and is directed to a "buy cart" OR if your link opens the owners salespage it could be the ownser salespage that "scares" the vistor. 80 clicks and no buys? It sounds like the visitor is disapointed from what they found on the salespage so its either your discription (missleading, not relevant) or the salespage.
      Its hard to say without seeing how to solve this. I would check the salespage and change the link to the direct "buy cart" OR if no owners salespage involved overwork my article/offer and point out direct what will happen on clicking the link e.g "BUY HERE".
      Well, the incoming queries are "product reviews", "does product work", etc. and that's exactly what visitors are finding (reviews, the way the product works, where to buy, how to get free trial, etc.). So I don't think this disappoints visitors. But I think the quality of the content might, and that's why I'm considering rewriting a large part of the content.

      For your second question: It depends on your offer, your traffic and your audience. I have some sites with near 95% conversion and some with only 3%. Mainly your Offer hast to cover/match your site+traffic+audience+marketing technics. 19 visitors and 2 conversion is a good rate for just starting so your on the right way. I try to be at a rate from at least 5:1 so every fifth visitor buys/signs up or whatever sometimes it more sometimes less....
      I'm guessing this 5:1 ratio means huge CTR and conversion rates...more than 30%, right?

      I wouldnt say there is a "magic formula" to go after. I think you already did very good as you have your first conversions. From this point I would say look at your content and tweak it a bit but save your old work so if it doesnt get better you can switch back -> here you can only do trail and error.
      Thanks, great advice on saving the old content (I don't think I wouldn't have done it).
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris X
    First off, congrats on your first post.

    To your questions:

    1. Changing existing content would be a bit tricky. Your site may lose rankings temporarily. I'd recommend let the existing content sit on your site and adding a few more unique and well optimized articles.

    2. Your conversion rate depends on many factors. Price of the product, landing page design and many, many other factors. So its a bit broad question I can't be specific
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  • Profile picture of the author iepurilah
    Well, I just talked to my AM and he said that the offer got a couple of thousand clicks so far and no conversions and that he'll have the network manager talk to the advertiser. So either the offer is simply not converting or the advertiser's not paying.

    To be sure I'm probably going to switch networks for a while (the offer is available on other networks too), see how that goes and then if still no conversions drop the offer and switch the site to Adsense or promote a related product somehow. I don't want to abandon it completely, because it's getting a decent amount of traffic and don't want to waste that.
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