Fridays with Vicky 71
What would it mean if you could create a site, that’s pretty hands off? Where content and outsourcing plays a large roll?
A site that will slowly grow over time, like my 7 year old says “like the snail slow and steady wins”.
This has certainly not been a race, but with consistent growth in rankings, traffic and sales this site, is a “winner”.
You can do the same thing, create a “winning” site.
I share my ups and downs, what works and what doesn’t in this Amazon Niche Site Case Study.
A site that is build on mainly outsourced content, to make it as hands off as possible.
If you missed the previous posts you can read them here:
- How to set up your niche site for success.
- Who is your customer, 3 month update.
- Is the site out of the red, 6 month update.
- Amazon niche case study 9 month update.
- 10 month December update.
- 1 Year mark of the site.
- Find the Latest Case Study Updates Here!
My Amazon Niche Site is 14 months old and in this post we take a closer look at the traffic, rankings and sales numbers. Let’s dive in…
Traffic Progress
February Month 12
- Session 3452
- Users 3127
- Pageviews 5225
- Session Duration 1.38
March Month 13
- Sessions 4141
- Users 3779
- Pageviews 6224
- Session duration 1.32
April Month 14
- Sessions 4839
- Users 4326
- Pageviews 7383
- Session duration 1.39
This is very exciting progress, since a lot of the keywords that rank organically are ranking for pretty seasonal keywords. I’ve been working on content (or rather my writer has) that are non seasonal and I’m glad to see that the growth is continuing.
Ranking Result
My main traffic comes from organic listings, so it’s important for me to keep an eye on the ranking results and the way they change. This is not something I dwell on daily but I do check in to see that the overall picture is inline with what I want to do… grow my rankings.
I use SemRush to check my rankings, a reliable tool that’s easy to use.
Here is the keyword growth over the months:
New and Lost Keywords
February Month 12
- Gained 615
- Lost 151
March Month 13
- Gained 233
- Lost 54
April Month 14
- Gained 303
- Lost 163
There was a Google Adwords update in February. This was a paid search update but it affected both paid and organic results. Not sure if this had something to do with the big gain of keyword rankings in that month. Hey, I will happily take it no matter what caused it.
The site is gaining rankings a positive trend that I’m happy and excited about.
Sales Result
We have traffic and ranking gains, what about sales and commission do we see an increase there as well? Let’s take a look…
February Month 12
- 141 Sales
- Commission: $327.79
Expenses
- Content 10 articles outsourced $60
- Pictures for blog posts $8
Total Expense February: $68
February Result: $259.79
March Month 13
- 144 Sales
- Commission: $409.50
Expenses
- 12 outsourced articles $72
- Pictures for blog posts $8
Total Expense March: $80
March Result: $329.50
April Month 14
- 156 Sales
- Commission: $569.83
Expenses
10 outsourced articles $60
Pictures is no longer an expense. The service I was using was sold to another company and I decided to not sign up with the new one. So for now I use images that I have downloaded in the past, have quite a few of them that I have not even used on the site yet…
Total Expense April: $60
April Result: $509.83
Total Result for the Site
- Result Month 1 – 6: $-265.36
- Result Month 6 – 12: $817.13
- Result Month 13-14: $839.33
Total result after 12 months: $551.77
Total result after 14 months: $1391.10
The number of sales as well as the total sales amount is increasing each and every month. I’m excited to see that the site made more in the last two months than I did the previous 6 months before that.
Again we are slowly growing, we are slowly making progress and making more money. Exciting things ahead for this site!
How I Will Continue to Grow the Site
Non Seasonal High Ticket Sub Niche – I have just started to work with a non seasonal niche, with high ticket items.
Two reasons why:
1.I want to make sure I have a site that generates good traffic, growth and sales all year around.
2. High ticket items will bump up the revenue. Most items recommended today are products under $100, many around $50 which is great because conversion is good. But making $3 – $5 per sale, well let’s just say it’s more exciting if those numbers are higher.
In comparison promoting a product that is $1500, you will make over a $100 per sale with a 7% commission.
My goal is to have a good mix of low and high ticket items to recommend.
Product Review Writer – In addition to my content writer I hired a writer to focus on product reviews for me. It turns out it’s not the one I’m looking for so my search will continue.
3 Articles Weekly – Right now I’ve been submitting between 2-3 outsourced articles weekly. I want to continue to submit 3 weekly articles and in the future maybe bump it up to 4.
The site is growing on all levels, I can’t wait to see what it will do when the holiday season is here!
Do you have an amazon site? Please feel free to share your updates and your progress with it, would love to hear from you below in the comment section.
Have a productive day,
Vicky
Vicky, this is a great read. I read way too many articles that glorify internet marketing without offering any real numbers. It’s helpful to see how much you’ve made, and the time and money invested.
Thank you Ish,
Exactly why I started this case study… So that others can follow along and get real numbers and stats.
With that comes realistic expectations. Imagine if I would have quit after 6-9 months because it wasn’t worth it… well this shows if you work with your site with long term in mind, great things can happen.
I see so many that gives up way too soon. This might inspire somebody to keep pushing and reach success…
Not saying the site is “there” yet, this site has a long way to go, but I see great progress and a bright future!
Thank you Ish,
Vicky
I love this site and think it will be very helpful in my reaching my own goals quicker maybe. I have only been at this for about 3 weeks. I have not reached the point of adsense or any monetary product/service links as of yet. Your site is very encouraging for someone new like myself. Thanks for the information.
Hi Hook,
Glad you like the site!
You got a great journey ahead of you, very exciting! Let me know if you have any questions or if you need a hand with anything, will be happy to help,
Vicky
Hi Vicky, Thank you for all this information. I have been looking for ways to earn money on the Internet now that my kids are a bit older and this seems like a viable option. It is great that you include all the real figures so we know what income and expenses to expect.
I just wanted to leave this note before I go and check out all your other posts.
Hi Stella,
Thank you for stopping by. Yes, it is very possible to make a good living online. This is one of many projects that I have going.
I try to be as transparent as possible. I feel that so many do not include the whole picture. Some will say they made 10 K last month but did they do that through paid advertising and spend 8K in ads?? Well then only 2K was profit… Big difference to say I made 10K or I made 2K…
I want to give realistic expectations when starting out… it takes time to build something, specially when you do it with FREE organic traffic… but in the long run is it worth it? I believe so yes.
Thank you Stella,
Vicky
Hi Vicky
Interesting read. It just goes to show how long it can take to get a decent amount of traffic to a site but it also shows that if you keep going, it will eventually pay off. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jessie,
Since this site is built on FREE organic traffic from the search engines it will take some time to build. There are many ways that you can drive traffic and speed up the process, paid traffic, social media and so on. I wanted the site to be hands off so main focus was outsourced content. I’m ok with this building slow, it will pay off in the long run.
Thanks for stopping by Jessie,
Vicky
This is great Vicky good job! 😀
It’s amazing that you’ve been able to build this with outsourced content!
Wish you all the best in the future and I will be checking in on your progress, really excited where your site will land next!
Chris Lee
Hi Chris Lee,
That’s what I love about the site… outsourced content 🙂 I’ve been so lucky to find a great writer with great expertise that’s really affordable.
I’m really excited to see what this site will do in November, December this year, if it keep the same growth with a little holiday bump, it should be able to do pretty good!
Thank you!
Vicky
Hello Vicky
I’m so glad to chance upon your website. Amazon is certainly my topic of interest.
Thank you very much for your sharing. It’s helpful and assuring.
Best wishes to your success.
Sincerely
Cheng
Hi Cheng,
Glad you found the post helpful.
Do you have your own amazon site? How is it going if you do?
Vicky
Hi Vicky
Interesting read, I’m glad you showed us the results, especially as all of this comes from organically growing.
This will keep me inspired for a few more months to know you can achieve results organically.
Paul
Hi Paul,
Yes, growing traffic organically to your site can take some time but it is worth it in the long run!
Vicky
I love how open you are to sharing your experiences as a blogger. It really offers a great educational resource for someone like me, as I’m just getting started with my own blog. I’m excited to continue following your journey!
Hi Stephanie,
Glad you enjoy the content, excited to have you join my journey!
Vicky
Hi Vicky,
I followed through your Amazon site updates since month 3 and curious about how did you hire your writers. Do you use the same writer all the time? I’m a bit surprised that the article writing fee is so low, I thought it would cost at least $20 per article. Mind to share where did you hire your writer? Perhaps next time you can create a step by step guide on outsourcing blog content, author hiring tips, and such. I think that would be an interesting topic.
Hi Rina,
Thank you for your comment.
I do hire my writers on an ongoing basis, I like working longterm with them.
I use mainly upwork (former odesk) to hire people that I work with.
Here’s a post on hiring writers, but a great idea to do a updated version.
Vicky