If you’re preparing to launch your first blog or perhaps expand into a second blog, you may be wondering about the greatest blogger battle: authority vs niche sites!
Which kind of site is better for making money? Large, broad authority sites or small and focused niche sites?
Let’s talk about the pros and cons of niche vs authority sites.
What is an Authority Site?
An authority site is a website categorized by search engines as a well-trusted and respected source of information and content. Generally, an authority site contains well-organized web pages and blog posts that are unique and are considered high value by readers and viewers.
In an authority vs niche sites situation, the authority has high-value, long-form content of which users are more likely to share it with others. This, in turn, produces more engagement and viewership, hence more traffic. Web admins will likely link more to the site, and ultimately the website will positively rank among the search engine pages.
What is a Niche Site?
A niche site is a website that serves a single specialized segment of a bigger market. It mainly focuses on a particular field of interest within that market, of which may contain only one topic. But that one topic may include a wealth of information and other subtopics written on hundreds of web pages dedicated to that single subject matter.
A niche site would also be a site that attracts a particular group of people who has something in common related to the topic. Their connection could be a combination of many factors such as age group, location, interest, and many others.
Niche Vs. Authority Sites
The difference between a niche and an authority site is that authority aims to reach a specific market and group of people with the same interests. The authority site seeks to become the ultimate and only resource for that particular topic. Moreover, it also focuses on people’s passion, nurturing it to build customer loyalty in the long run. Such is the case in authority vs niche sites.
On the flip side, a niche site aims to cover a topic based on a set of keywords. It may also be a good source of content and information but is mainly geared towards getting that “instant sale.”
Niche Sites Are Easy to Launch
Launching a niche website is easy. However, you will need to do the proper research, and you must be able to create content based on search traffic potential. It simply means looking for and creating content for topics that most people are searching for. You may start your website by doing keyword research using a Keyword Research Tool.
After which, you may enter seed keywords on the tool that are related to your niche. It will then generate words or phrases that you can use for content. Regarding authority vs niche sites launching for beginners, a niche site is definitely easier to start.
Niche Sites Can Outrank Authority Sites Because They’re So Focused
Authority sites have a tendency (although not all) to be a little bit less specific because of the broad topic it tackles. It also tends to write longer titles which works okay on social media but not in Google searches. In contrast, niche sites have shorter titles which work well with Google’s algorithm pushing them to rank up in SEO.
Furthermore, niche sites use “how to’s” or “who is” phrases which allow them to receive more quality backlinks, subsequently ranking them up again in the search results. Lastly, authority sites tend to dwell on growing readership for newsletters, viewership, followers, and other adjunct processes to make a profit. In the meantime, the niche site may just go straight to optimizing content for SEO Google and once again getting the edge over the authority website.
Authority Sites Have the Potential to Earn More Money
Both niche and authority sites stand to make money through direct ad placements such as AdSense and the implementation of affiliate programs. But authority sites can earn more by selling their own products, such as an ebook or an e-course that you can easily download directly from the website.
In addition, authority sites may also use direct media placements, which are a very lucrative way of making money. Direct media placements bypass third-party promoters, allowing authority websites to work directly with big media ad agencies that bring in bigger clients. These agencies accept placements only for sites with high traffic volume. Hence, more potential income for authority sites.
Authority Sites Are a Lot More Work
If you are looking for a long-term business, you may have to treat your authority as such. And it begins with a business plan as your first order of things. A clear plan will help you map out the details, of which you will have to work out the legal process of acquiring an authority domain. The startup includes the tasks of registration for legalization, tax registration, opening a business bank account, and maybe a credit card.
Getting the necessary permits and many other startup requirements for authority entails more work than the niche site. Tasks like updating the website and consistently creating fresh content will help keep your site on the top rank. An authority website without maintenance may fall in rank if left neglected, and this is why it needs more work.
Niche Sites are Passive While Authority Sites Require Maintenance
Looking at the authority vs niches sites scenario, niche can become a passive source of income when you can set it up so that even if you sleep, your site is still continuously earning. For that to happen, you will have to outsource many necessary processes such as; research on and for topics, writing articles, adding images to your posts, adding links, etc. All of these you can outsource for you to concentrate more on other important tasks of your business.
On the one hand, once you have your authority site up and running, you will still have to attend to it by watching out for notifications from Google Search Console, just in case site issues occur. Other maintenance tasks include regularly updating and adding content, online and offline marketing, ads, social media, and other third-party sites.