What could be better when preparing to build a niche site on an aged domain and turning it into a full-fledged enterprise than getting expert advice from one of the best in the business?
Doug Cunnington of Niche Site Project is back with his selection of Odys domains to share his thoughts and recommendations on their development and growth. He chose domains in the Gardening, Food, Environment, and Gaming niches. Take a few minutes to read through his advice to get a valuable insight into prospective opportunities.
DesignedVisions.com
This is perfect for any gardening enthusiast that wants to take their knowledge to the next level, or even if you purely want to run this is a business. If you already know your way around the permaculture world, this domain might be perfect for you.
There are a number of devoted Facebook groups to this topic, if it’s not something you want to learn, I would hire writers from there.
You can find endless information keywords in the area of gardening and permaculture. Monetize that content with display ads.
You can have product reviews for physical products to earn from affiliate programs (like Amazon and others in the niche). Even better, there are plenty of courses out there in the space. So you can promote those courses and earn a much higher commission rate than most physical product options.
Finally, you could connect people to permaculture pros in their area for a referral fee, basically, lead generation.
A YouTube channel would nicely support this site. If your writers are willing to record videos, you can build a brand that does not rely on your face being on it, which can make a site more attractive to a future buyer.
So, if you’re part of the gaming subculture, this could be the perfect domain for you. You would know all the ins and outs, and have plenty of topic ideas for this niche.
CheeseSupply.com
When you look at Google Trends, the popularity of the search term ‘cheese’ has only gone up over the years, so this is as safe a niche as any to go into. I love cheese, too.
You could take at least 2 approaches for this site.
First, I would look at building an information-based site around cheese for the general public. I would look at the history of cheese, the perfect drink pairings, and review new, up-and-coming artisanal creameries. This would team nicely with subscription boxes and promoting tours of cheese factories— yes, both are a thing!
Further, you could do expert, text-based interviews where you ask questions via email to experts in the cheese industry. That would help the Expertise, Authority, and Trust (or EAT) for the site.
Second, this site is prime to return to its roots as an online cheese store (to the public or B2B). Or, if you do not want to deal with inventory, act as an affiliate for another cheese merchant(s), or run it as a lead gen site. Either way, you could potentially run your own affiliate program off this, getting other people to do the hard sell for you.
They say money doesn’t grow on cheese, but with this site, it might.
PlanetExtinction.com
Sustainability is a massive growing industry, and I can’t see that this is going to change any time soon. The renewable energy niche does tend to attract higher than average RPMs.
I would rebuild some of the pages that are attracting a lot of links such as the pages on fossil fuels and greenhouse gasses.
Educational materials for children of all ages could be a great resource for teachers and parents, whilst driving traffic to the site for ad revenue. Great infographics will help attract backlinks to build authority without having to pay for links.
Alongside this, I would do a whole topic cluster about how to make the home more environmentally friendly with ‘how to’ guides and informational content. Another cluster could be around reducing plastics in the home through using more sustainable products. These could also make great YouTube content and will no doubt reveal products that you could recommend.
Once the site has built some authority, I would look at moving into lead generation for higher ticket items such as solar panels and home insulation. According to consumeraffairs.com, the average starter solar panel installation is $13,000 to $18,000 — and that’s just the most basic 6kW system.
InsanelyGaming.com
I’m personally not a gamer since I’m no good, but it’s a massive industry that’s only growing bigger from here. The global gaming market size was USD 203.12 billion in 2020.
You could feature product reviews for gaming, and there are plenty to choose from. Here are some off the top of my head as a non-gamer:
- Keyboards and Mice
- Chairs
- Microphones and Headsets
- PCs, Monitors, and Hardware
- Mobile gaming accessories
People geek out and get obsessed, so they might spend hundreds of dollars on each one of the products above. Amazon sells a ton, but there are other e-commerce shops that you can promote as an affiliate.
You can publish info guides for games so you can use display ads for monetization. These might be game strategy guides, but you could also target how-to guides for the challenges and problems gamers face.
The site also had some memes, so if you have a sense of humor, you could create memes and maybe something would go viral.
So, if you’re part of the gaming subculture, this could be the perfect domain for you. You would know all the ins and outs, and have plenty of topic ideas for this niche.
Choose a Domain. Define the Niche. Build
As Doug thoughtfully points out, it’s crucial to follow the domain’s original niche to make it all work. Start with connecting the dots and then take notice of your hunch feeling. If there’s none, there’s always expert advice you can resort to.
By the way, we’ve got over 900 domains in the Odys Marketplace in 50+ niches, so make sure to check ‘em all out: Odys Marketplace.
