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Health Niche and WebMD

by Jad Daou
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey guys

So I've chosen to start my affiliate marketing journey in the health niche, particularly in heart disease. And while doing my keyword research last week, I discovered that WebMD dominated the results for every keyword that I searched. It's not optimized for long-tail keywords, of course, but it's still controlling each one of the results. So I was wondering if there's a chance for me to excel in this niche. I mean outranking WebMD and similar authorities is such a hard and somehow impossible job. Also, I read something about Google's medic update and the E-A-T guidelines, and things seemed even more complicated. I want your opinions and advice on this issue. Thanks in advance.
#health #niche #webmd
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    You should not decide on a niche until AFTER you do the research. WebMD is only one authority site in the heart health niche - there are at least a dozen leading sites and, no, you won't outrank them. Some of these sites are backed by serious money and have been authority sites for years. CDC, Mayo Clinic, NIH, American Heart Association, heart.org...it's an impressive list of sites.



    Just from a simple search - 'heart disease' (no quotes) has 544 MILLION results in google; 'heart health' has over 3 BILLION results.



    If you are new to building and ranking sites - and not a recognized expert in the field....a tightly targeted niche site may be possible to rank but it will be a tough slog.


    Just my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author palmtreelife
    Lots of people make money online in seemingly saturated niches. There are going to be dominant forces in almost every niche now, but there is still a lot of room for you if you find the right angle to pursue. SEO is just one of the many many marketing strategies out there.

    Do some research and find alternative ways you can market your content to a targeted group of people and you'll be fine.

    You don't have to be the next WebMD of heart disease to provide value to people and earn a good income.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    You don't have to be the next WebMD of heart disease to provide value to people and earn a good income.

    True - but in the health niche you need to know what you are talking about. Why was this niche chosen? Experience? Education? Interest?



    It's not niche saturation that concerns me - but the experience of the OP in entering a specialized health niche that is dominated by well known names and experts with post grad degrees. It's something you have to consider before you jump in...or should consider. Only the OP can say if he has plans/experience/knowledge to compete in this field...and that was not mentioned.
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    • Profile picture of the author palmtreelife
      Yup, that's true too. I wrongly assumed the OP going into the health industry, specifically heart disease, would be qualified to provide quality content and provide added value. Even as an affiliate, one still needs to know about the product they're selling...ESPECIALLY when related to someone's heart health!

      Jad?
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      • Profile picture of the author Jad Daou
        Actually, I'm a pre-med student and I'm highly interested in pathology and healthcare. I can do extensive research about any scientific topic that I choose. The only problem is that I'm not a native English speaker (I intend to hire proofreaders to check my work). Also, as Kay King said, the people who write for WebMD all hold post-grad degrees, so what can I add to what they provide?

        What I'm thinking of is that I can talk about very specific topics in the heart health niche or target the very rare keywords that health authorities didn't rank for, but what about the long-term? Even If I succeed to rank for keywords that have a search volume of 100-1k a month now, would that be enough traffic for my site? Plus, what if Google didn't rank my content because I didn't meet their E-A-T guidelines?

        I don't want you to sense pessimism in my words and think, "Oh he gave up after encountering the slightest inconvenience," I just believe that I should ask myself these decisive questions before I jump into writing content for the next 6-12 months.

        P.S: I'm really so new to this, but I put in mind that I will succeed in it no matter what, so every piece of advice you provide me now will just repel more confusion and help me find my way faster. Thank you <3
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        • Profile picture of the author palmtreelife
          If you've even watched Shark Tank on tv, you'll see many people throwing their life savings and every waking hour on their invention or new idea. The "sharks" feel terrible for them because they have sold the farm for a terrible idea...but the inventors told themselves they would do whatever it took to make it work.

          I'm not saying you have a bad idea here. I honestly don't know if it will work or not. However, I would be VERY careful in telling yourself you will succeed at this no matter what. Your idea may not work and you need to accept that as an online marketer, inventor, creator etc.

          It's one thing to have a strong work ethic with persistence and desire, but in business, you also need to be aware of when to cut your losses in both time and money and move on.
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  • Profile picture of the author humaidan
    All niches are saturated, yet somehow every year there are new people who seems to crack the impossible.

    So, you could try but it won't be an easy ride.
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