Wave Issue 101

First...

Let's start off with what everyone is waiting for...the 2 winners of the topical map giveaway are:

myd*******[email protected]
jas*******[email protected]

The *'s do represent letters, so there are 7 letters in the middle I removed to protect the email. There shouldn't be false positives based on the emails entered in the draw.

I will email you to redeem your topical map extension pack!

A big THANK YOU to everyone who entered!

It's great to see the interest in topical maps too!

If you didn't win the giveaway, don't fret! For the Issue 100 anniversary and launch of TopicalMap.com, there's a 20% OFF discount on all packages!

All you need to do is enter this discount code at checkout: HAPPY100

I'll give everyone another week for the discount. Although, I may have to turn off orders earlier due to my bandwidth capacity.

Now, onto the good stuff from this week!

Niche Creators

Scott DeLong - niche surfer

This week's Niche Creator is Scott DeLong! Scott is actively sharing on Twitter and on his email list. He's had a lot of success in the past with multi-million dollar exits.

His latest journey is a $20k-500k Challenge where he's investing $20k into a niche site and turning it into a $500k exit in 1 year. Read all about him:

Scott DeLong

I love his top 3 on-page SEO tips and had to give you a preview of it here:

Create amazing content

Realize it isn’t that amazing

Make it even better

Completely in sync with what I said last week (and all the time): "... you should always be striving to improve." It's hard to look at your own sites and content objectively, so you should be practicing to do that. Look at case studies and site breakdowns from others. The issues and improvements that are noted - are you seeing the same things on your site?

SEO

Google September 2022 Product Reviews Update Released - Sept. 20, 2022

Another day, another Google Update. This time it's the September 2022 product reviews update for English-language product reviews. Yes, the Sept 2022 Core Update was released Sept. 12th and it's not completed yet. Check their ranking updates page to see when rollouts are completed.

Thankfully, Google gave a great explanation on how to differentiate between what is a Core Update and what is a Product Reviews Update effect if you see changes to your rankings and traffic:

If you produce product reviews, then it's probably related to that.
If not, then it might be related to the core update.

What's not to understand??

Part of me wonders if the reason Google is overlapping updates is to avoid the questions and complaints from info-only site owners about why their sites were hit by a "Product Review" update.

Google Core Update September 2022. Analysis, Winners and Losers

Sistrix takes a look at some of the winners and losers from the September Core Update. Some interesting ones in there, along with notes from Sistrix on why some sites lost or gained traffic.

September 2022 Product Reviews Update - Data and Trends

Sistrix has some early data on domains and content that have been affected by the September Product Reviews Update. Development patterns are clear and the impact is big for domains that are affected. They share some of the big losing domains.

This early data is a good reminder that "product reviews" don't need to always be physical products like vacuums. It can refer to the reviews of films, music, news, etc.

Do Google Sites Rank Better?

Olga Zarzeczna discusses her thoughts on whether Google ranks its own sites better. Here are some of the key takeaways:

Google sites do not rank better than “normal” sites that are not affiliated with Google.
Websites hosted on Google servers or domains registered with Google domains do not get any ranking boost.
Both Google sites and all other sites are subject to the same algorithmic evaluation.
There is no manual element when it comes to ranking sites, i.e. Google employees cannot manually change or improve rankings of particular sites (i.e. Google sites).

How Helpful Was the Helpful Content Update?

Moz's resident search scientist and MozCast wrangler, Dr. Pete, looks at the results by comparing data two weeks on either side of the latest Google algorithm update. He also covers his analysis on the infamous conch-house.com site:

"What happened? I have no idea, but it quite definitely, almost certainly, very probably maybe was not the Helpful Content Update."

Tools and Resources

Link Whisper and Niche Website Builders Deals and Giveaways!

Link Whisper $25 Off - Ends Sept. 26th

Get $25 Off with the Discount Code "FALL22" on the Checkout Page

Niche Website Builders End of Summer Deals - Ends Sept. 26th

15% more content with our Content Packages (Internal Linking included)
15% more content on website orders and aged domains
15% discount on Shotgun Skyscraper Link Building packages
15% discount on Link Packs, Niche Edits, HARO or Guest Posts
15% discount on Combo Packs (Excluding Subscriptions)

NWB End of Summer Giveaway - Ends Sept. 26th

This year you could win:

A 12.5% Extra Content Code to use anytime in the next year after the End of Summer Sale ends
A 30-minute strategy call with one of the Founders of NWB
NWB merch of your choice

Content

How Homepage SEO Can Make a Difference

Take advantage of your homepage. Don't let it just be a list of your latest posts. The natural backlinks that niche sites build will usually point to the homepage, so take advantage by optimizing your homepage. These techniques can help your homepage rank for highly competitive keywords.

How to Write a Blog Post Outline (7 Simple Steps)

Don’t start your draft on an empty Google Doc. Don't give your writers just a keyword/topic to write on without an outline. This is a good overview of blog post outlines and how to create them for your writers. I always do some initial research on what's going on in the SERPs to inform me of what should go into each article.

[Frase is super helpful] when it comes to researching and creating the outlines for me. They have an outline tool that gives me all the headers and content without needing to leave Frase.

How to Identify and Refresh Outdated Content

Keeping your content fresh and updated is more than overcoming the unfairness of your past work fading away — it's also a legit marketing tactic that saves money and makes your users’ on-site experience smoother. Ann Smarty at Moz covers how to identify and refresh outdated content.

Education

5 Ways Programmatic SEO Can Generate Growth

Andrew McDermott at iPullRank discusses how to use programmatic SEO for five different scenarios:

Local SEO Location Pages
Travel and Hospitality
Long Tail Content
Ecommerce
Informational Content

Programmatic SEO has been growing in popularity and I've seen newly built sites continue to grow in traffic in the wake of all these updates. I have a couple spreadsheets that need to be cleaned up and I'll have at least a couple new sites to throw up using programmatic SEO!

How To Avoid Google Penalties & Algorithm Updates According to SEO Expert Lily Ray

SEO expert Lily Ray is a guest on the Niche Pursuits interview. She's one of the most knowledgeable experts on E-A-T and Google algorithm updates. Lots of great information in here!

Case Study

Digital Marketing Case Studies: 35 Examples for Online Success

Stephen Hockman shares a list of the top 35 online marketing case studies along with the results and key findings from each example. There are 5 sections in total covering the different aspects of digital marketing, including content marketing, SEO, PPC, social media, email, video, and affiliate. Within each section is also a link to find even more expert insights and data examples on that particular topic.

It's always good to spend time reading case studies to see how others achieved success because they can often give you ideas to grow your sales and earnings.

Can adding pricing information client-side increase SEO performance?

SearchPilot's case study this week tested whether adding pricing information into the title using JS would impact organic traffic. Almost half of their twitter followers said the test would be neutral and the positive/negative was split.

Control <title>Cheap flights from London to Seattle | travelcompany.com</title>

Variant (with JS enabled) <title>Cheap flights from London to Seattle from £300 | travelcompany.com</title>

How did this experiment perform? There was a 12% increase in organic sessions.

Business Ideas

Why A Recession Is The Best Time to Invest In Your Website

John Doherty at Credo makes his case for why you should consider putting more into your sites now:

Your Competitors Are Scared
If They Buy In This Market, They’ll Buy In Any Market
Ads Are On Sale
You Have Extra Time On Your Hands

If you're making extra disposable income, I'd say to go for it. If not, I'd always exercise caution and consider what is going on in the world economically. See what you can afford and not afford.

Like Niche Surfer?

Join the Niche Surfer Community

Be sure to also join others riding the passive income wave in the Niche Surfer Discord group.

Have questions? Reply or email me at [email protected]. I’d love to know what you think and if you have any ideas.

I’d also appreciate it if you shared it with fellow niche surfers.

Have a great week taking your niche sites to another level!