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Critique & advice required

by Sumpter
10 replies
So I think I've finally decided on my niche.

If only I had a pound for every time I said that ^^

As a serial domain buyer and idea person I think this time I may have found by best niche idea so far. As with most people, I've never really followed through with the previous ideas.

My aim is to make an Amazon affiliate store but also to use other suppliers if they offer an affiliate scheme. I know commission on Amazon is low but I like the idea of gaining affiliate sales through other purchases.

I've been using LongTailPro and GWP and have found a niche of which the term "product reviews" has 4.5k monthly searches - this is the product type and not a specific brand name.

For this term LTP shows a keyword competitiveness of 20 and nearly half of the sites in the top10 are niche affiliate sites. Very few have juice page links and I wasn't overly impressed by a few of them. Some of them are also relatively new sites ~1.5 years.

I have no prior knowledge of the subject area and I can imagine it being actually quite specific, but I'm willing and excited to dive in and become an expert and provide some real valuable content for my visitors.

My first problem is choosing a domain name, most related terms are taken, with my only 2 options being:
My niche is in no way related to electric shavers but comprises of two words similar to the above. I think the 2nd looks tidier with fewer hyphens but was wondering:
  1. Do I need to worry about having 1 hyphen vs 2 hypens? I've read conflicting views about how Google treats hyphens
  2. Does it matter that the biggest search term contains "reviews" and not "review" in terms of the 2nd domain?

For the actual site itself I am planning to have one main page (homepage) with a wealth of information on the product subject containing numerous long tail keywords. This seems to be the way most niche affiliate sites are structured - please advise if you disagree!

I will also have a review section for the specific types and brand of products.

Other than these 2 pages and a privacy policy, what else could I include? I've seen a lot of product by price range sections but I'm not sure they would be so applicable to my product niche.

As you will have gathered I am extremely new to this process but have found some cracking resources both on the WF and other websites (all of which I've found with help of the WF!).

Any advice is greatly received!

Jim
#advice #critique #required
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Sumpter View Post

    My aim is to make an Amazon affiliate store but also to use other suppliers if they offer an affiliate scheme. I know commission on Amazon is low but I like the idea of gaining affiliate sales through other purchases.
    Jim, here are two threads (one very short and the other very long) which may really help you, if you give them a very careful read-through.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...er-amazon.html

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6608638

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author SocialSEOs
    Just my opinion...I don't like domains with hyphens. And I don't think Google and other search engines favor them as top quality either. Not saying it can't work, but to me it's like a .info domain - you really have to jump through more hoops just to prove yourself.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by SocialSEOs View Post

      I don't think Google and other search engines favor them as top quality either.
      Domain-name hyphenation isn't relevant to SEO at all. Not that SEO itself is very relevant to this project anyway. Amazon affiliate marketing and search-engine traffic would be far from a propitious mixture: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post8659398

      What matters, in that context, is whether you really want to set up and build a business on a hyphenated domain-name of which the unhyphenated version already belongs to someone else.

      .
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      The URL of your site is exactly that a URL. It could be bingo.com and you sell electric shavers it just does not matter.

      Using electric shavers what does "Braun" have to do with electric shavers? its a brand name yes... but you dont see a key word in there now do you?

      I personally think that the SEO benefits of the URL are easier to accomplish without the keywords in the Primary URL.

      Just get you name, or some silly word.

      And just think next year this time you decide the electric shaver market wasn't to hot... you don't have to look for a new domain. Just remove the shavers and insert something new!
      Signature
      Success is an ACT not an idea
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  • Profile picture of the author jezter6
    Like others have said - don't waste a domain with a super spammy over hyphenated exact match domain.

    This is a good time for branding because you can get a domain name that sticks out and is easy to remember without people having to remember where the hyphens go.

    Why not look towards something related, but not so exact. If you would have been going with electric shavers, why not create a domain/brand like "TheBeardGuy" or "IronicHipsterBeards" or something like that?

    At least those don't instantly scream "affiliate website ahead"
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  • Profile picture of the author Sumpter
    Excellent advice I was possibly over-analysing the EMD!

    I like that idea jezter6 though the niche is so specific I can't see how I would create an associated brand name without using the type of product in the URL.

    The type of product can be used for a variety of purposes, all of which completely unrelated to each other. I would therefore not want to restrict my visitor base by targeting just one in the URL.

    I am trying to think of an example to make what I just said a little clearer!!

    Thanks for the links Alexa I will take a look
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    • Profile picture of the author jezter6
      Originally Posted by Sumpter View Post

      Excellent advice I was possibly over-analysing the EMD!

      I like that idea jezter6 though the niche is so specific I can't see how I would create an associated brand name without using the type of product in the URL.

      The type of product can be used for a variety of purposes, all of which completely unrelated to each other. I would therefore not want to restrict my visitor base by targeting just one in the URL.

      I am trying to think of an example to make what I just said a little clearer!!

      Thanks for the links Alexa I will take a look
      An example would be most helpful, as you've said that it's "so specific" but then also say open to variety of uses...which is it?

      Of those variety of purposes, which one is (if any) primary or most popular? When you do the google search for the keywords, what's coming up? Are people focusing in on a single use that is likely to provide the most buyers?

      Are they ALL focused on one use, that you can stand out and be the one site out there that gives everything for another popular use that nobody is covering that would make you potentially an instant expert on using the item in one particular way?

      Without knowing the product, it's hard to say...but it almost sounds like potential to dominate the review query with a few different sites as long as there's enough information on each use that would have enough content to fill out each site. Though I'd probably start with 1 and see how well it ranks and then decide to compete with yourself if it goes well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sumpter
    Great reply I agree with my tremendous contradiction!

    To illustrate my point about the domain name, imagine something like a petrol generator (completely unrelated) - other than using the term petrol generator in the domain how would you create an associate brand name? Or would you use a completely unrelated brand name which people would only relate once visiting the site?

    Your point about a few sites focusing on different uses is actually very applicable to the niche, but I agree 1 site at a time!

    I think 1 site with sections focussing on the different uses would look at a little strange for someone researching with regards 1 single use.
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    • Profile picture of the author jezter6
      Originally Posted by Sumpter View Post

      Great reply I agree with my tremendous contradiction!

      To illustrate my point about the domain name, imagine something like a petrol generator (completely unrelated) - other than using the term petrol generator in the domain how would you create an associate brand name? Or would you use a completely unrelated brand name which people would only relate once visiting the site?

      Your point about a few sites focusing on different uses is actually very applicable to the niche, but I agree 1 site at a time!

      I think 1 site with sections focusing on the different uses would look at a little strange for someone researching with regards 1 single use.
      I think that's an interesting example, and one that could (I guess) go in many directions. Since you're British, I have to do some deduction, but I'm assuming you're talking about gasoline engine powered electricity generation devices?

      So let's start on just the "product" side. From a branding standpoint, focus less on the technical name, but what it does.

      "Mobile Power Solutions", "Power by Petrol", etc. Generic enough to be a site about generators without being too specific about the use. Gives you a wide array of potential buyers and could make for an authority site if built out with many potential generator options.

      Though that would assume you have multiple categories of electric generators, of which there are hundreds. Not sure about your product as you were saying you only had enough information to basically fill a single page or so.

      If you want to laser target to your audience, generators have a ton of uses that might generate some resonance to a buyer with a specific purpose.

      Living off the grid/powering your backwoods hunting cabin
      As an emergency backup for weather disasters (floods, hurricanes, etc) that take out power.
      Small construction sites for use with power tools

      Each of those have a potential to be a site on their own, with multiple supporting pages that can grab all sorts of long tail keywords.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sumpter
    Damn that English-English language barrier!

    You've definitely got me thinking now and I've already come up with a few potential domains so thanks for that.

    I think I need to start delving deeper to decide how much content I think I can create and whether to diversify into multiple product uses without confusing visitors.

    It's the most frustrating thing in the world having to work an office job thinking about IM all day!
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