Niche Market Websites: Gateway or Authority?

An examination of a Gateway Affiliate site and a more complex Authority site. Is Simple better? Is Complex really worth the time and effort? Look at two and compare results.

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I have been in discussions with several people about Niche Market websites.

In the past I have always regarded a Niche site as someone’s Primary Authority site, probably because back in the olden days we all spent a lot of time building sites around our own products.

Which Niche Market Site?

If you’re going to build a Niche Market site, one decision you must make is the amount of work you are willing to invest in designing the site. You must determine whether it will be simple or elaberate.

If your market is pretty small (hence the reason it’s called a Niche) then maybe the bare bones approach is all that’s required.

Many out there advocate a Plain Jane Look & Feel.

The idea is to get your visitors to your Affiliate Partner as quickly as possible. You don’t want them lingering too long at your place, because it’s not your own product you’re selling. It’s not your credit card processing. You want to shoo them off to where they can actually buy.

On the other hand, John Chow advocates Pre-Selling on the real estate of your own turf before sending your visitors off to another site with credit card in hand.

The more time you expect your visitor to spend at your site, the more Authority you must have if you want to keep their attention.

Gateway Niche Market Website

This is not to say that you don’t want your Gateway site to be attractive. Alex Whalley goes beyond the Plain Jane look I have seen others do in this regard. More than the requisite articles and product shots, Alex produces nice, colorful headers and complimentary backgrounds.

Alex has shown us one of his sites that uses an Amazon plugin. It’s a basic site in an attractive setting, and it does the job nicely.

Baby Car Seats & Covers

Authority Niche Market Website

I’m using the very same Amazon plugin, but I took a much different approach. This site was built with Authority in mind, and was set up with a Shopping Storefront Look & Feel.

Cool to Be Native

This site also contains photos of jewelry handmade by the site owners, History articles about their own Native American ancestry, and a slew of cool videos for education and entertainment.

Of Madness and Methods

I have no doubt at all that I put more work into the design of my site than Alex put into his. That is easy to see. But one could just as easily argue that my site needs a lot more Authority then is presently included. To be a real rock solid Authority site, more work is needed.

And I know for a fact that Alex has put as much or more work into building his backlinks than I have into my design. Plus, I haven’t done anything at all to build backlinks.

So in the end, it may be a wash as far as how much overall effort went into each site.

We have very different approaches from beginning to end as far as these two projects are concerned, and I’m not even going to try to judge which approach is best. We are talking Apples and Oranges here. The method you choose really boils down to your particular strategy, and the skill-set you bring to the table.

There are many variables involved in deciding between Gateway and Authority, Simple or Robust. And then, of course, there is the entire gamut of Niches. It’s impossible to set any two sites side-by-side and come up with any concrete Rule for how to play this game.

The Use of Colour and Graphics

An embellished Design does not make Authority. You can make a Gateway site look really hot, but it would still be a Gateway. And if you look at the relatively plain Authority sites like CNN or Amazon, you can easily see that it’s the sheer magnitude of quality Content that given them their obvious Authority.

My Native site began with a plain white background. Only after all the elements were in place did I add pretty colours and cool graphics to the Home Page. I thought about keeping it White at the time, because many believe that White carries more Authority than Colour.

The real issue here is that a Gateway can be put together fairly quickly, whereas an Authority site takes more time. Colour and arraignment of elements can add to Authority if done well, but will just as easily reduce Authority if done poorly. Poor use of colour, as many of us have seen, can make a site look childish or amateur.

Alex makes use of colour to add eye appeal to his Gateway, which I believe gives it a little more Authority. It’s easy enough to add a bit of Authority to a Gateway site, so why not do so?

I think using Baby colours for a Baby Product Gateway is smart. The same applies for using Native colours to compliment a Native type product.

Colour can enhance the experience and usually requires very little additional time. And I believe that the better you make an overall Design, the more Authority you subliminally convey. How do we define, “Better?” That can be highly subjective, and is fodder for another article

But what about Traffic?

As I write this, I’m taking a look at the Alexa Rank for both sites, and found something very interesting.

Alex Whalley: Baby Seats & Covers: Alexa

Rick LaPoint: Cool to Be Native: Alexa

When I began comparing the two sites for Alexa Rank a month or more back, Alex was roughly 650,000 and I was about 4,500,000. Just a bit of a gap

What I will mention here in regards to SEO is that Google’s Famous/Infamous Matt Cutts has said that there are over 200 criteria used to determine how your site will place on the SERPS. Therefore, whenever I read anything about this Voodoo we call SEO, I merely nod my head and say, “Interesting.” Then I continue doing what I do.

The Bottom Line about the Basics

I enjoy Design. Alex enjoys SEO.

Both of these sites have Internal SEO, and I’m going to assume both are more or less equal in that area. But there are many things I’m “supposed” be doing, that I am not doing at all. Like Frank would sing, “I did it my way.”

We also must decide for ourselves if our Return on Investment harmonizes with the path we decide upon. If your Niche is so small you don’t anticipate much traffic regardless of what you do, then that alone pretty much sets the agenda.

But in the end, the lesson here may be that the best strategy of all is to simply do whatever it is you do best. Your very own Skills, Strengths and Personality are what make you Unique.

Maybe just being YOU is the best SEO Traffic Builder there is

We will be delving into the heart and soul of these ideas as time passes, but for now:

What do YOU think?

• What are YOU doing to bring Traffic to your site?
• Is your Expected Gain worth the Expended Effort?
  
• What are YOUR opinions about the best SEO methods?
• Do I even know what I’m babbling about ?!?!

Let’s talk about it   Be sure to leave an opinionated Comment in the Box below.