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10.08.07
Niche Sites: The Understated Advantage
 By
Brian Turner
've seen a few conversations recently where people have suggested building generic over niche sites, as a general way to develop a stronger presence online.
The most recent is Rand Fishkin's Five Reasons Why It's Better to be Big & Popular than Small & Niche.
The trouble is, Rand's post confuses niche development with microsites IMO.
Microsites vs niche
My personal definition of a microsite is something created just to target a specific keyword. I'd say MFA sites play on this a lot. It's not really anything to do with targeting a niche - it's just a narrow string of keywords. You set up a site, just to have some kind of limited presence in that area.
Niche sites in the proper sense, as I use it, actively develop themselves into useful resources in their niche. And the amazing thing about hitting a niche is that it's incredibly easy to become an authority in a niche, especially in emergent markets. Anyone with SEO/marketing knowledge already has an unfair advantage here.
So how would I actually define a niche? Simple, really. Take DMOZ as an example - the front page shows a range of generic categories.
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Let's click through computers. What I see there is niches - Computer Law, Hacking, Supercomputing, MIS. Yes, I see these as niches - slam a syndicated news site in any of these areas with a heavy resource section and blog coverage, and I bet you would see a great return on investment from natural link profiles.
A microsite? Let's click through algorithms. What do I see? Pseudorandom Numbers, Compression algorithms, Numerical Analysis.
Okay, you build a site in these areas, you're going to be very limited in what you can do. Can you write regular syndicated news on any of these? Probably not really. A blog? Sure - but unlikely to update often, and because you probably would find it hard to find someone to write in these areas, you're never going to develop authority status. A few generic comments, trackbacks to other blogs in these areas, and you have a microsite - maybe fine for link placements, but not much else.
But develop a resource site dedicated to covering Algorithms in general as a niche? You could build that into an authority - if you take the time to do so.
So, niche is good. Niche is playable. The way you play is by the book - no switch and bait - just plain old good fashioned useful web publishing.
Benefits of Niche
I've already weighed up some of the pros and cons of generic vs niche targeting here: Consolidation vs Niche Targeting: Pros and Cons.
And though I was uncertain then, I'm more certain now - niche rocks!
Continue reading this article.
About the Author:
I'm a SEO & business consultant in the UK, specialising in SME's and start-ups. I run Platinax Internet as a free resource for small business trying to get the best out of being online and offer internet management services from my main company, Britecorp. In my spare time I'm an aspiring science fiction and fantasy writer, and currently live with my family in the Highlands of Scotland. Contact Brian
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