Niche Websites and Evergreen Content

I keep telling myself that it's going to work out. I know what I'm supposed to do to get noticed online, I know how to get Google to index my articles, and I know how to write. There are glimmers of awesomeness, but nothing has really taken off like I'd hoped. If you're thinking about a website for a business, take some advice from someone who has certainly been there and done that.


Niches Are Important
You'll hear this all the time. Find your niche online. It's true, but you need to be ready when people get to the website. If your niche is really just one article, then that's not enough. I recently updated a church website that has been posting sermons since 2006, and I made the effort to save all that content because the niche had been found. Many of the articles had thousands of hits, and it's likely some people have even bookmarked the website because they know that each week there will be another sermon. I had a teaching website that was like that. I had all my lessons on there, and after realizing that many of those lessons had thousands of hits, it made sense to monetize rather than give away my ideas. My satire website has also done well over the years, though I don't have the time to add much new to it now.

On the other hand, niche websites keep you in one place. People showing up there are expecting you to be one-dimensional. It might get boring for you as the content writer. Besides, with the right article, your everyday blog can still get big hits. I've found that with two articles, specifically. One article is about getting free college t-shirts. I get hits all the time for it, but I didn't write it on some kind of college website. The other article I have that does well, but in a different way, is one about trick or treat times in my last neighborhood. I got almost 1000 hits in one day this year on that one. The t-shirt article might get 100 hits a week, but that's all the time, which means it's achieved evergreen status.

Content is King
So you've got a niche. Now it's time to write. A lot. Don't waste your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter. Link your thoughts from those places to your own website. Get a good freelance website builder and away you go. One article a week. More is better.

Get Permission and Bother People
If you own a business, this is so simple. Offer a coupon if the visitor signs up with an email address. Make them opt-in to receive emails from you. Send the emails. Use your weekly article as your email, and you kill two birds with one stone. This is the one area I can't do as well with the way I try to sell myself online. If I was selling a product, it would be easier.

There's More
I just wrote a short article here. There's a lot more I can give you if you want. Just send me an email with the contact form on the right. I'll assess your current website for free and offer the best, honest advice out there.