Specific Niche sites, really that important?

Because it's easier to rank for specific niches, than it is to go head to head with the authority sites like CNN.

Also some niches have more hungry buyer than others. Unless you have businesses paying boatloads of money to advertise on your heavy traffic site, you have to look for specific niches to make your money.

Do you have the budget, resources, marketing skills and team of staff that ORGANISATIONS like CNN and IGN have?

Probably not.

So you're gonna have to go niche.

It doesn't mean you can't be an authority site in your niche.

You can't realistically cover EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING on your site. It will be a mess of content that appeals to no one in specific.

Trying to cater for everyone actually leads to you catering for no one.

People come and find random articles on a mix of topics and decide that it's not for them.
They came looking for specific knowledge on one subject not advice on 100s of different subjects.

Go niche.

You aren't CNN or IGN so don't copy them.

Ask yourself if you have the sheer *energy* required to get the kind of traffic/publicity those sites you mentioned can do.

If so, go general... if not, focus on what works best solely for *you*.

I've build hundreds of niche portal sites and also a number of general ones back in the glory days. Now, I'm focusing solely on authority marketing.

It works best for *my* personality.

Never follow the herd... always work out what works best for *you*.

Hope that helps!

you dont rank sites, you rank pages. You dont have to go micro-niche if you dont want to.

That being said, its easier to generate traffic outside of google on something more focused. Google could very well also factor in your other content to see if its at least somewhat relevant for their algo.

from my expirience its better to invest in general site with couple of niches then risk to lose time and money on niche sites that could fail

The reason no one suggests this type of site is 1) it is really hard and usually takes a lot of time to build up that 'following" and 2) people that visit sites like that usually are not looking to buy anything. There are exceptions but it is more of a gamble.

Building an authority site that focuses on one particular area of interest makes both 1 and 2 above much easier, faster, and it also has a higher success rate.

I'm afraid personal life, fitness, love for cars are all specified niches including CNN news. In order not to get confuse I would prefer to see CNN like staying up to date in the world affairs like WF on IM which covers many areas including web design, SEO and more.

The reason why they succeed is because their is actually a market for what they are doing, it doesn't really matter what it's called.

Got it. I'll figure this all out. Thanks.

Niches are a great place to start. If you are at the beginning of your IM journey, it is best to start with a niche because it is easier to manage and you can organize yourself better. Having limited resources can sometimes make you more inventive than having endless resources.

Actually, the examples you gave HAVE a specific niche. For CNN, that niche is News. For IGN, it is Entertainment. The personal blog you mention sounds like it is about life.

Niches can be broad or narrow - it's up to the creator of the site. But just about all sites can be categorized by a niche.

First, let me mention that I've built dozens, upon dozens, upon DOZENS of websites over the years. (It's probably more realistic to say I've built hundreds, but who wants to keep track of mounting failures that have accumulated over the years).

(I've been a computer nerd since before Britney Spears was popular... Well since around that time haha).

Here's my two cents:

I've built every type of website imaginable. "Adult Theme" websites, membership websites, political blogs, IT blogs, a million different review sites... Design sites... Social media management sites... (You name it).

I also Remember a few years ago, my friend was bragging about "Niche Websites". You know the ones... The "Micro" Niche websites.

SO naturally I rushed out and bought 50 domains.

To make a long story short (yeah I know... A little late for that) 90% of the websites I've ever created have ultimately failed.

NOT because they were too hard, or that they weren't getting traffic...

But because they required too much upkeep. I ultimately lost focus.

Now, I run a few domains.

One of them (my personal blog), I pretty much write WHATEVER THE HELL I want.

If i want to write about the economy... I do that.

If I want to write about email marketing... I do that.

It's my PERSONAL blog, and I rant about whatever I choose.

Not really "niche" specific, it's more "ME" specific. Meaning I write whatever the hell I Want.

It's easy, because there's literally ZERO pressure when it comes time to write something.

And, it's probably the site I've maintained the longest.

Sorry for this disorganized rant... But hopefully somebody can make use from years of my failures, miscalculations, and doomed websites.

My advice at the end of the day: Create a website that you ENJOY, and would add content to for free. Regardless of who's looking, and how much money you're making.

And never let anyone tell you what type of website YOU should create. You're the one who's going to sweat, bleed, and cry over the years maintaining it and watching it grow. But it will ONLY grow if you stick with it.

(So, if you heed my advice, you'll disregard everything I've just said. Muahahaha).

Just do you.

Everything else is secondary.

-puts on goggles and rain jacket to protect against eggs and vegetables being thrown from the guru onlookers-.

Every day at lunch time, for years..."stand by for news."

When it comes to advertising, the more specific you can get, the better your results will be. You don't bid on "health and wellness," unless you want to lose all your money. (:

niche is the most important thing in websites in the matter of SEO, as you have harder time ranking 100 different things than 100 of the same things