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Having 2 Sites as Competitors in Same Niche

by redstanford
23 replies
In some towns you'll have 2 competing jewelry stores a block a part. the two stores are in heated competition to get better business than their competitor. what the workers and even the lower management don't realize as well as the customers is both stores are owned by the same man/or woman.

regardless of what store makes the sales, he profits.

i'm currently in a profitable Amazon product niche and I am strongly considering creating an entirely different product review site (different theme, different text, longer reviews, slightly different information) this way i can appeal to a different customer base that may not have liked the way the my original site presents information.

honest opinions guys, is this a stupid idea?
#competitors #niche #sites
  • Profile picture of the author bobcath
    No its not stupid at all! I have 3 different 'competing' sites in same niche. Makes it easier for me to command positions on page one of Google. I'd recommend it.
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  • Profile picture of the author zaco
    Redstandford, I had the same issue few days ago, I am able to get the EMD which is a keyword, I don't like to use EMDs but this one is kind of premium so I am thinking to actually build the second site and have them up so if people don't go to the first site then the chances is they will go to the second site and get me more profits

    I prefer to have 800+ words reviews and its all high quality so that will cause an issue since I work on Authority sites, I don't build mini sites..I didn't decide yet as I am waiting for few things to happen to take a decision

    One of the ideas is to build the second site with 400 words high quality reviews and add Amazon links to it then put " read indepth review" and that link will point to the site that has a bigger review of the product , so in this way I am building backlinks too , I host the other site on a different hosting account tho..

    I don't think its a stupid idea, I think its a brilliant Idea..here is my original post

    www.warriorforum.com/main-internet-marketing-discussion-forum/528900-guys-i-need-your-help-one-i-need-find-solution.html

    Forgot to mention that I want to rank the first website first at page 1 then test the niche and see the potential.. but in u r case you already tested it
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Red, I think it's an excellent idea.

      In your case, though, I wouldn't try to interlink the sites as zaco suggested.

      Why not? Because you already have one site established and making money. If you started putting "read more in-depth reviews" and linking to a "competitor", you'll blow your credibility. My first question, as a consumer, would be 'why didn't he just put the longer review on this site?'

      Look at the shelves in the laundry soap aisle. When you read the fine print, it seems like half of the brands busily competing are owned by Proctor & Gamble. And you never see them promoting each other.

      As you said in your OP, it doesn't matter which site makes the sale, as long as it's one of your sites.
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      • Profile picture of the author zaco
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Red, I think it's an excellent idea.

        In your case, though, I wouldn't try to interlink the sites as zaco suggested.

        Why not? Because you already have one site established and making money. If you started putting "read more in-depth reviews" and linking to a "competitor", you'll blow your credibility. My first question, as a consumer, would be 'why didn't he just put the longer review on this site?'

        Look at the shelves in the laundry soap aisle. When you read the fine print, it seems like half of the brands busily competing are owned by Proctor & Gamble. And you never see them promoting each other.

        As you said in your OP, it doesn't matter which site makes the sale, as long as it's one of your sites.
        Thanks John , yea I thought about this too but my original domain is a generic domain that reviews alot of products its actually a really premium one that I was able to get so the domain is brandable which has high credibility and if people see the other site recommending the product on their site and on another site then this will also give the big site a higher credibility..

        I am not sure as of now what approach I will take..I might take the one site without linking or the 2 sites.. but thanks for sharing.. I will take your suggestions in my planning and decide
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  • Profile picture of the author redstanford
    appreciate the help guys
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    • Profile picture of the author troybh
      I have been thinking about this also. Question is how to keep google from knowing these are both your sites. Obviously articles must be totally rewritten and different spin on things. Also I wonder if google tracks you with adsense code. Two sites on page one with same adsense code might make google mad???? Any tips.
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      • Profile picture of the author redstanford
        Originally Posted by troybh View Post

        I have been thinking about this also. Question is how to keep google from knowing these are both your sites. Obviously articles must be totally rewritten and different spin on things. Also I wonder if google tracks you with adsense code. Two sites on page one with same adsense code might make google mad???? Any tips.

        i dont use adsense so i don't have to worry about thast aspect
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  • Profile picture of the author zaco
    I am just curious redstanford, where are u ranking for your site... how many visitors are u getting / how many they click and how many they buy? if you don't want to share then thats fine I would understand that
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    • Profile picture of the author redstanford
      Originally Posted by zaco View Post

      I am just curious redstanford, where are u ranking for your site... how many visitors are u getting / how many they click and how many they buy? if you don't want to share then thats fine I would understand that
      i'm ranking well on google, getting roughly 110-160 unique visitors per day.

      enough sales to net around $850 per month
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by zaco View Post

        Thanks John , yea I thought about this too but my original domain is a generic domain that reviews alot of products its actually a really premium one that I was able to get so the domain is brandable which has high credibility and if people see the other site recommending the product on their site and on another site then this will also give the big site a higher credibility..

        I am not sure as of now what approach I will take..I might take the one site without linking or the 2 sites.. but thanks for sharing.. I will take your suggestions in my planning and decide
        zaco, I never said it was a bad thing for you. If I'm getting what you say here, you are talking about linking short reviews on the brandable domain to the generic domain, with both of them recommending the same product. Or would it be the other way around, with the generic site linking to the brandable one?

        In your case, using one site as a combination affiliate site and feeder site for the other could also be a winning strategy.

        I made the recommendation I did to Red because his first site is already establishing some authority.
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        • Profile picture of the author zaco
          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          zaco, I never said it was a bad thing for you. If I'm getting what you say here, you are talking about linking short reviews on the brandable domain to the generic domain, with both of them recommending the same product. Or would it be the other way around, with the generic site linking to the brandable one?

          In your case, using one site as a combination affiliate site and feeder site for the other could also be a winning strategy.

          I made the recommendation I did to Red because his first site is already establishing some authority.
          Hey John,

          Not really, the new domain is the EMD which will have the kind of mini reviews but its high quality and lots of products, I build sites with 200+ pages and keep adding content even if its not about products since I believe in high quality content shows your visitors that you really care and spent the time on it.

          The brandable domain is my main domain that has the longer reviews, so the new EMD site will link back to my brandable domain if people need a more detailed review or they can go buy the product if that short review was enough.

          Both of our theories make sense , as you said why would another site promote another site that is competing with them so users might be skeptical and as I said if people visit the new site then they find the indepth review and go to it then read it and see the domain which is a really HIGH PREMIUM domain then that will give more credibility..

          On the other hand users might visit the bradnable site and decide that they want to read more reviews from other sites , so they go back and lets assume they visit the EMD and they found it has a different review but its linking back to the brandable domain then they might say yes that bradnable site had a good review and other sites are linking to it...it can be the opposite tho.. they might want be like.. why is this site linking to the other site I have visited before? let me look for something else..

          I am not sure which approach to use, I see yours and mine make sense but I need to pick one, if I do pick one then I won't add the EMD to Google webmaster since Google might know both of them are for me..tho I love Google webmaster tools as it gives me alot of information

          Thank you!
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          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            Aren't things like this part of what makes marketing things online fun?

            If everything were as cut and dried, paint by numbers, and step by step as so many people ask for, this would quickly become boring.

            Good luck to you, whichever path your choose.
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  • Profile picture of the author zaco
    Yea you are right! I love testing things lol sometimes testing can be harmful but you end up learning, thanks again for your suggestions
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    I have done this before and will do it again.

    The question is: how many ways can you package ghost writing and sell those services?

    LOL

    As many ways as you would like to do.

    Think price points.

    At one time -- not now, I had 3 sites selling ghost writing simultaneously.

    One priced at $15 an article. The second priced at $45 an article. The third priced at $500 an article.

    I made more money from the third site than the first two put together.

    One was branded as SEO articles, the second as syndication articles, and the third as a SEO service where I wasn't selling the writing at all, but high-rankings in Google!

    LOL

    As my grandpappy used to say, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      As my grandpappy used to say, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
      Warning - off topic...

      I remember using that line on another forum once, and got flamed by an animal rights activist who thought I was talking about actually skinning feline mammals.

      I told him I was talking about catfish, not Puff and Fluffy. He still wasn't happy, but the flames did die down...:rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author sriram rajan
    Don't interlink the sites....as making customers jump to another site is not a good idea for your conversions..

    Just get them all as best ranked and able to get more traffic ...and its a brilliant idea btw.. good luck..
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  • Profile picture of the author TBInternetMarketing
    Yea not a bad idea at all. If you're in a niche that is rocking, and you have already managed to rank one of your sites well, why not go for it. Stats show that the #1 spot only gets about 50% of the traffic, which leaves quite a bit lying around.
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  • Profile picture of the author Glen1
    bottom line i guess its always good to take up more positions in google - 1st page hopefully
    Especially if you are already finding it profitable...

    I would try to make the sites appear as different as possible - different themes etc (you are doing longer reviews so thats good). Less chance of a footprint.
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  • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
    I do this now and have for years. Not just with amazon sites but other sites too that nobody knows little ole me is a silent partner in.

    If you've found a niche that works, build another site in that same niche, put up unique content and make them look different, use a different affiliate account if you have to. Then build a 3rd and 4th until you own the first page of google for it.

    This duplication method is done with Amazon sites, Forums, hell even CPA networks have the same co-owner in some cases. It works and you've done the hard part, now scale it up through duplication and "compete" with yourself.

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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    James Schramko said to me at an internet marketing seminar once...

    "You've built Coca-Cola, now build Pepsi"

    I thought he was crazy at the time, but this thread proves his point perfectly.
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  • Profile picture of the author redstanford
    thanks for all the help guys!
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Daniels
    No not stupid at all, this is a life time thing, you never have enough, ya know..
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  • Profile picture of the author Jake Draper
    Yes, a great idea. I've just starting to see this alot. Maybe it's been around awhile, but I just noticed it.
    I'm on google 1st page. And I just realized that 3 of my competitors on the 1st page are from the same company--greedy *******s. Now I have to go and create a couple more sites, which I'm dreading. Cause it took me 4 months to complete my site, that has about 1500 pages.
    Hey, it's time to knock your competitors out of the way. Go for it!
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