Niche Pursuits Podcast: Find Your Next "Niche" Business Idea! – Détails, épisodes et analyse

This week Jared and guest host Thomas Smith take on all the latest news on this episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast. 

Yelp is suing Google - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/technology/google-yelp-lawsuit.html

Yelp's gripe? https://www.searchenginejournal.com/yelp-sues-google-over-local-search-dominance/525687/

A new Lawsuit - https://searchengineland.com/google-adtech-antitrust-judge-business-practices-446086

HCU hit sites - https://x.com/glenngabe/status/1828798317960061090

recipe sites - https://x.com/lilyraynyc/status/1828768199057522967

Retro Dodo - https://shorturl.at/d4jJ3

Niche Pursuits Podcast. - https://www.nichepursuits.com/my-local-email-newsletter-makes-over-200k-year-heres-how/

Sportern - https://www.spotern.com/en

Backyard Chickens - https://www.backyardchickens.com/

Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and hear from industry experts each week? Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com

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Tony Hill is a digital marketer with decades of experience, but when his sites’ traffic started to tank, he rolled up his sleeves and started looking for an alternative traffic source. And he found Pinterest.

Tony has gone deep into the rabbit hole on Pinterest, studying how it works and poring over its data, to come up with strategies that work. 

Currently, he’s getting a million clicks a month on the platform, and he’s constantly experimenting with new sites and new tactics. 

Tony talks about how he believes Pinterest works, how Pinterest SEO is similar to Google SEO, and how he tailors his content to his Pinterest audience.

Links & Resources

• Tony’s previous podcast
• Theia post slider
• Tony’s newsletter
• Tony’s free Pinterest masterclass
• Tony’s tool, Pin Clicks
• Pinterest trends

Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and hear from industry experts each week?  Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com

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Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative

Welcome to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast, where Spencer and Jared offer their thoughts on the latest news in SEO, Google and AI; talk about their side hustles; and share some funny and weird niche sites.

They kick things off by talking about the SearchGPT announcement. Spencer talks about how the tool looks like it will work and whether it will include links to sources.

They reference an article on Wired and talk about how SearchGPT’s initial search functionality would be limited, but what will it look like when and if it eventually expands? 

What type of approach will SearchGPT eventually be based on? How does this impact publishers?

Tune in to hear Spencer and Jared’s initial thoughts on this bombshell news item!

Moving along, they talk about how Google is planning to scrap its plans to kill 3rd party cookies in Chrome. This news is quite shocking, as Google has been talking about killing those cookies since 2020. People have been preparing for it for years!

Why does Spencer think they made this decision? And what trend does Jared highlight and question? How’s this going to play out in other countries? 

And what’s likely driving this decision by Google? Is this good or bad news for publishers?

Next up is more Google news. Google recently released its Q2 earnings and revealed some interesting data, such as growth in its search revenue.

Although the company beat some of its estimates, where did its projections fall short? And where does its stock price stand? What does Jared point out about CEO vs public perception? And does this performance suggest that there’s room for SearchGPT to get a piece of the pie?

Also, what’s the status of AI Overviews, according to Sundar Pichai?

It’s on to the Shiny Object Shenanigans, and Spencer kicks things off talking about his experience in the Facebook Performance Bonus Program.

After just 2 months, things are going very well. In the first month he earned slightly less than $3k and this month he expects to surpass that.

How often is he posting? How has his strategy changed? What does this mean for the niche website associated with the Facebook page?

For Jared, he talks about a side hustle within a side hustle: Creator Connections inside the Amazon Influencer Program.

He recently discovered higher-paying opportunities within the program. How did he find out about them and how do they work? And why did he and Spencer describe them as “free money?”

Check out the episode to hear all the details!

Spencer shares his weird niche site first when the time comes: Test My Thumbnail, which allows you to upload a sample of a thumbnail and see what it will look like alongside others on YouTube and tweak it accordingly.

The site offers lots of other features and functions, such as a/b testing thumbnails and YouTube revenue calculator.

What does the traffic look like? What do Spencer and Jared have to say about this site?

When it’s Jared’s turn, he goes pretty weird with Gift Wrap My Face which, as the name suggests, lets you print your fact on wrapping paper.

This DR27 site doesn’t get a lot of traffic and isn’t ranking for a lot of keywords, but what’s so interesting about it, according to Jared? What’s the story behind the brand?

Jared also checks back on a weird site that was featured previously. Find out how that site is doing!

And that takes us to the end of another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast! 

Don’t forget to come back next week for some more insight, inspiration, and fun!

Ready to join a niche publishing mastermind, and hear from industry experts each week?  Join the Niche Pursuits Community here: https://community.nichepursuits.com

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

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Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative

Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast, where Spencer Haws and Jared Bauman, of 201 Creative, discuss the latest news and important recent events in digital marketing, SEO, and website creation.

The first news item that Spencer and Jared address this week is the rollout Google core update, which concluded about a week ago. They share some of the key takeaways from Lily Ray's analysis, one of which was the importance of EEAT and the massive post-update boost to UCG platforms like Reddit and Quora and dictionary-type sites. 

Is this in response to AI-generated content? Will their rankings change over time? And what about the pre-update volatility that many sites experienced? Tune in to hear what Spencer and Jared have to say.

Moving on, they talk about how tech leaders like Elon Musk and Bill Gates recently met privately with the Senate to discuss how to craft guardrails for AI. This is especially interesting for website owners and content creators because regulations on AI could affect how we create content.

Other news covered in the episode is Google’s announcement that it will no longer be showing how-to results for desktop users. It had previously been removed from mobile search results, along with FAQ results. Spencer and Jared talk about the impact of this move by Google and why they think it was done.

The last news item they touch on this week is an exhaustive State of Digital Marketing report. They talk about the decline in the cost of ads, which is good news for advertisers. On the flip side, RPMs are low, which negatively affects website owners running ads. Will there be a comeback in Q3 and Q4, or is this trend here to stay? Jared and Spencer share their thoughts.   

In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the episode, Spencer shares how he launched 2 new challenges. In the first one, people will build AI sites from scratch and document the process. In the second challenge, people will scale an existing site with AI. 

He created a free community to follow along, and the person in each competition who has the most organic traffic after 6 months (new site challenge) and 3 months (existing site challenge) will walk away with $2,500. 

Jared talks about doubling down on his Amazon Influencer side hustle as we move into Q3 and Q4, making 99 videos in the last week. He also shares his takeaway after looking at his August earnings, which had declined, suggesting that consumers weren’t making large purchases during the month. With 638 videos currently on the platform, Jared is ready to earn some serious money as the year draws to a close.

Then it’s time for Spencer to share his Weird Niche Site. The single-page site he found is getting 2.4 million organic visitors per month, ranks for 30k keywords, and is monetized with display ads: Compress JPEG. Although it seems like a very simple tool and website, Spencer and Jared talk about all the work that goes into creating and ranking it.

Jaren then shares his site: Your Novel, where you can submit your story, have a novel written about you, and get it shipped to your house. The books are available in a wide range of categories and come in hardback, paperback, or ebook formats. Although it doesn’t rank for many keywords or get a lot of traffic, they agree that the website has potential if certain SEO strategies were applied to it, and most of all, it certainly qualifies as weird. 

And that concludes another episode of the latest news in the industry. We hope you feel informed and inspired. See you next week!

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Welcome to another great episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast!

Sarah Bond joins host Jared to discuss her journey building the food blog Live Eat Learn.

The site gets over 1 million monthly visitors, and so she has great insights on content strategy and growth tactics.

Sarah started her blog in 2015 with the goal of turning it into a business. She was inspired by the income reports of other food bloggers like Pinch of Yum and knew, as a nutrition major, it was the niche for her.

She actually originally used the blog to document her process of learning how to cook, focusing on a featured ingredient each week. And over time she's not only learned how to cook but inspired millions of others as well.

Sarah's focus is on creating content clusters around specific ingredients or topics to establish herself as an authority in those areas. She emphasizes the importance of SEO in driving traffic to her blog, noting that Pinterest, which was once a major traffic source, has become less relevant.

And she also highlights the value of recipe development and photography in building trust with her audience. She ensures that her recipes are reliable and visually appealing, using her background in nutrition and photography to create high-quality content.

Her site has been around for a while and has over 1300 posts, so Sarah also has some great, quick tips on updating content. She prioritizes retitling posts to make them more appealing and stand out in search results.

She also likes to add social proof, such as positive reviews, at the top of posts to build credibility. And she adds step-by-step photos and videos to enhance the user experience and keep readers engaged.

Sarah then discusses her email list as a crucial aspect of her business and how it allows her to build relationships with her audience and promote her digital products.

She sends regular emails, including seasonal and evergreen content, to keep subscribers informed and engaged.

In addition to Live Eat Learn, Sarah also has two niche sites: Brew Buch, focused on kombucha brewing, and Bone Appétreat, her dog food site.

These sites serve specific interests and allow Sarah to diversify her online presence. She plans to continue expanding and refining these sites while continuing to grow Live Eat Learn.

Overall, this is a great episode on how to take a strategic content approach, prioritize quality and expertise, and adapt to changing trends and platforms.

Don't miss it!

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Spencer Haws and Jared Bauman, from 201 Creative, are back with the latest news in niche sites, SEO, and affiliate marketing. 

The first order of business this week is the news that the Google Core Update has finished rolling out. Jared talks about how, instead of looking at his Google Analytics to see how his sites weathered the storm, he looks at his ad networks.

Jared shares information about the impact on a few of his sites and he talks about focusing more on earnings as opposed to fluctuations in traffic. Jared and Spencer also talk about how the update doesn’t appear to have had much of an impact on AI content.

The next news item on the agenda is the upcoming trial between the US vs. Google. Spencer talks about the potential implications of this monopoly trial, which is expected to last 10 weeks, on niche site owners and bloggers. 

The main focus of the trial is whether or not it was illegal and monopolistic to not allow any other search engines to be used by default, although there are many other issues that will also be addressed in this important trial, which is expected to set a precedent.

They also mention quickly how Google is also in the news in the EU, where it’s accused of being a “gatekeeper” and has been ordered to give more freedom to other companies to compete under the new EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), starting in 2024.

The next topic they discuss is how YouTube is making it easier for creators to choose the perfect thumbnail. The platform is coming out with an A/B testing tool and this function could be available next year. This would allow users to upload 3 custom thumbnails and then YouTube would test behind the scenes to see which performs the best. 

Jared and Spencer talk about how this will affect YouTubers and why they think this is a good move by the platform.

Then it’s time to talk about some Shiny Object Shenanigans. Spencer talks about hiring 6 local people to create reviews for his Amazon Influencer Program account, where he has 453 videos at the moment. 

After earning around $1500 in August, he’s going all-in with this side hustle and expects to see an improvement in September and beyond. He also created a YouTube channel, where he’s going to publish all of his Amazon videos and see what happens.

Spencer also talks about a survey he recently published where he’s looking for people to create an online business and he will document it publicly on Niche Pursuits. The type of project hasn’t been decided yet, so don’t forget to vote for what you’d like to see!

Jared then talks about creating videos for his Weekender Growth YouTube channel, which has about 800 subscribers and 1,000 watch hours at the moment. Although he’s a far way away from monetization, he’s going to dedicate more time to this project going forward.

Then it’s time for everybody’s Weird Niche Site. Spencer shares his, which is HTTP Status Dogs, which combines HTTP status codes with photos of dogs illustrating those codes. The site used to get 20 to 30k in traffic but now only receives about 1000 visitors per month. It’s not monetized in any way, but it’s a good laugh.

Jared’s site this week is Cornify, a unicorns and rainbows on-demand website. Aside from lots of functions like adding unicorns and rainbows to photos, coloring pictures online, and making your own younicorn, the site also has a store linked to Amazon products. Despite this, it only ranks for around 400 keywords and less than 1000 monthly organic visitors, although it does have a DR of 57. Jared and Spencer also talk about what the site is doing right and how it could improve.

And that brings us to the end of another episode of Niche Pursuits News. Tune in next week so Spencer and Jared and keep you up-to-date with everything that’s happening in SEO, website building, and content creation.

What Niche Pursuit do you want to see started next?

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Want to hear how a first-time niche site builder is succeeding in the finance niche... in less than 24 months?

Sammie Ellard King sits down with Niche Pursuits podcast host Jared to share his journey of building a personal finance brand.

Sammie's background is in hospitality marketing, but when Covid hit, he had to reconsider his future. He took the opportunity to dive into online business and started developing a brand centered around his true passion.

Sammie's approach goes beyond just building a website. Perhaps thanks to his traditional marketing background, he's building an entire ecosystem with a website, podcast, YouTube channel, and social media presence.

He's choosing a long-term approach, aiming for a 5 to 10-year project.

And Sammie's brand, Up the Gains, has already started to see success. The site has over 50,000 monthly visits, podcast sponsorship, and a growing YouTube channel.

And today, he walks us through the process of how he's able to scale all of these simultaneously.

User experience is a priority for Sammie. He wants to make personal finance more accessible. So, he prioritizes incorporating visual elements, infographics, and simplified language to engage his audience.

To choose topics, Sammie conducts competitor analysis and covers multiple categories simultaneously, focusing on building topical authority through hub pages.

He also discusses the importance of link-building in this niche.

This includes digital PR, creating stat articles with unique data, and podcasting which he highlights as being particularly valuable for attracting links, leveraging social media audiences, and attracting sponsors.

He also discusses how embedding original YouTube videos improves rankings and attracts organic links.

Email marketing also plays a significant role in driving affiliate revenue for Sammie's brand.

Looking ahead, Sammie plans to scale the website by optimizing affiliate revenue, expanding content, and leveraging different channels.

This is a great interview with a very smart and strategic marketer who's managing to quickly succeed in a competitive niche.

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter 

Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhi... 

Get ready for another great episode of This Week in Niche Pursuits News to help start your weekend.

Spencer and co-host Jared kick things off by discussing Google's August Core Update. They share whether it has affected their sites and discuss some of the devastating screenshots they've seen from other site owners.

They also discuss a study highlighted in the Search Engine Journal regarding ChatGPT and its reach among USA adults. A shockingly low number of Americans have actually used the tool or feel that it will affect their jobs. So, the guys spend some time weighing in on this interesting topic.

The conversation then gets into the ongoing adoption of AI-powered features in search engine results and the inclusion of links within results.

Plus, Reddit just launched an AI-powered keyword research tool. A development, they discuss, could be very useful for content creators and advertisers looking to optimize their strategies.

After a nice catch-up on the latest news, it's time for their shiny object shenanigans.

Spencer starts by sharing how he's hiring local individuals to assist him in recording product review videos for the Amazon Influencer program. And discusses how this will not only help to create engaging content but also support the local community.

Jared then chimes in with his own Amazon Influencer program update and how he's ramping up video production.

In fact, he just set a personal record by recording a staggering 122 videos in just one week!

As usual, the conversation then goes into awesome and weird niche site discoveries.

First up is a website called Language Guesser. It's a creative and simple game for language enthusiasts to guess the language being spoken in videos.

After that, they discuss another fun little site called Word Unscrambler. This site offers visitors a handy tool for unscrambling letters and finding words, particularly useful for Scrabble players!

As always, they discuss the traffic and potential revenue of these niche sites and give some valuable insights into their profitability.

They also offer suggestions for improvement, such as design tweaks and creating mobile apps.

To wrap things up, they highlight subscribing to the newsletter to get regular updates and stay in the loop on the latest online business news and success stories!

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Want a great story filled with practical insights from someone who successfully jumped into online business without any prior experience?

Will I.O. joins the Niche Pursuits podcast this week to share with host Jared how he transitioned from teacher to full-time site owner.

It all started with a teacher training program he started growing prior to 2020. He started the side hustle because it was about something he knew well. But then Covid hit and he was forced to pivot and move his business online.

This was all new to him but with the help of Project 24 he managed to get started and building momentum.

Soon he was building his site and email list to sell info products and teacher training courses.

His email marketing strategies were crucial for this. Will even says that 50% of his revenue came from his email list.

And the email strategies he shares are very practical for any niche.

Eventually, he sold that site for over $100,000 and used the profits to start buying and selling more sites.

He now has a portfolio of five websites but primarily focuses on three.

His strategies are working though as he recently enjoyed a successful flip after buying an outdoors site for $5k, improving it, and selling it for $82,000.

Some of the best tips he shares is how and where he finds sites to buy.

He emphasizes the importance of backlinks and domain authority when evaluating sites for sale. He looks for low-hanging fruit opportunities, such as improving ad revenue and utilizing underutilized email lists. And he prefers niches that are less competitive and seeks out sites with steady or increasing traffic.

When it comes to content production, he emphasizes the importance of keyword research and creating tightly clustered content around successful topics. Will also mentions using AI tools like ChatGPT for content creation, but heavily edits the output to make it sound more human.

He plans to continue buying, building, and flipping websites while maintaining a measured approach to minimize risk and ensure profitability.

Overall it's a great success story. And it's interesting to hear how a relatively new site owner is finding success with. strategic approach to growing a profitable portfolio.

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

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Spencer is back this week so everyone’s favorite duo is together again for the latest episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. As always, he and Jared Bauman, of 201 Creative, bring listeners up to speed on the latest in SEO and digital marketing news.

Spencer begins by sharing that Google has announced a brand new broad core update, the biggest kind of update Google does. It kicked off on August 22nd and usually takes about 2 weeks to complete. It’s too early to say how it’s going to pan out, so keep an eye on your rankings!

The next news item they cover is the article in The Verge reporting that The New York Times has blocked OpenAI’s web crawler. But not only has this huge news media outlet rejected OpenAI crawling its site and training its models for ChatGPT, it’s also considering legal action against OpenAI for intellectual property rights violation. 

Spencer and Jared talk about the implications of this decision and what this may mean for content creators. Spencer shares a study whch shows that 9.2% of the top 1,000 websites in the world are currently blocking the GPT bot. They talk about what this means for Google and, potentially, the future of AI.

The conversation then shifts to SGE. Spencer shows his search page results, where the information now has down arrowhead symbols next to it, allowing users to access the sources for additional information. Is this good news or bad news for content creators? Hear what they have to say.

Jared and Spencer then move on to talk about their Shiney Object Shenanigans. Spencer kicks it off by talking about the latest news with his WordPress plugin Rank Logic and some new features he’s adding, which should be ready in about 2 months’ time. These include a Google Analytics 4 integration and the ability to update your content using AI.

It’s Jared’s turn, and he talks about his Faceless YouTube channel, for which he now has over 5k subscribers, unlocking some monetization features, but not all of them. He also talks about the Amazon Influencer Program and how Amazon is offering bonuses to influencers who create product comparison videos. Jared and Spencer share their thoughts on the program, a tip or two, and where they think it’s headed in the future.

In the Weird Niche Site portion of the podcast, Jared starts by talking about the site Always Judge a Book By Its Cover, which covers books that are “confusing.” The DA30 site is monetized with display ads and affiliate links but doesn’t rank for many relevant keywords, and probably isn’t making too much money. That being said, it does have scope for growth, and it can serve as inspiration for anyone looking to set up a humorous website or something that’s off the beaten path. 

Spencer shares his weird niche site, Watermark Remover, which likely gets 5 million visitors a month, both organic and direct, and is monetized with display ads. This well-designed website removes watermarks for free, although there is pricing available, and is owned by a larger company that has several image-related tools. Spencer and Jared talk about launching a single-tool website and the strategies that can be used to do so successfully.

That wraps up another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. Tune in next week for the latest news and a large dose of inspiration!