needing help on deciding

[katy65]

hi everyone, i have a website based on homeware e.g. furniture & accessories but i was wondering should i stick to say just one particular item (sofas or dining room tables) and create a big web site on that or should i create a huge website doing it on all things for the home suites, units, tables etc etc

Thanks Katy

 

[imwebdev]

Hi There,
without knowing a bit more about what your doing, and how you are promoting your website, I think it is best to not spread yourself too thin!
Do one area really well, instead of doing lots of areas not so well.

I would concentrate on just sofas or dining tables instead of doing the lot!

That is from my experience anyway!

Cheers

 

[jazzguy]

Hi Katy. I agree with imwebdev...it's not good to spread yourself too thin. That beings said, you may want to use subdomains for a specific item. For example, let's say you have a domain name like www. iluvfurniture.com (fictitous site I hope) on that index page you can have categories leading to specific items like couches, chairs, tables, etc...then you could create a page for each and use a sub domain. For example www. chairs.iluvfurniture.com and you would optimize the chairs sub domain for the search engines so when people are looking for chairs you they would hopefully find the appropriate page on your site. And of course on that chair sub domain you can break down the chairs further into styles, brand names, color, construction and so on. I hope this helps a little. Take care and all the best.

ps: Someone should grab the above domain name quickly...

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi katy,

My guess is that many of the individual 'types' of furniture like chairs or sofas are pretty competitive too.

Take a look at WorkTracker:
Furniture Key Words From Wordtracker

If you are a newbie scroll down fairly far on the page to find some key phrases
that aren't quite so popular. Then you need to do the keyword research to compare
and find something fairly popular, but not as competitive as some other phrases.

To do the KW research you can follow through and use the tips I outline here:
<a href="http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5staraffiliateprograms.com/newbie-affiliate-forum/12699-newbie-interested-affiliate-programs.html#post38278">Step by step Key word research to evaluate niche</a>

Maybe look more at styles of furniture like wicker furniture, retro furniture, rustic furniture or furniture for more niche type of spaces like nursery furniture.

Then do as the guys suggested if you already have a generic furniture domain that could work for any of those niches. Pick the one to start with that has the best popularity/competition ratio to start. Build a sub domain and focus just on that one until you start getting traffic and sales. Then move on to another.

There are a couple of affiliate programs I hear good things about that have TONS of different very niche furniture sites.

View All Netshops.com Stores - Has sites as targeted as daybeds only, china cabinets only, rustic furniture, etc. Here's the Netshops affiliate program.

View all CSN Stores - CSN has all the different very targeted niche furniture and homegoods stores.
Here's the CSN Stores affiliate program.

IN FACT I'd look at all the stores on both sites to see if you see a niche that interests you, realizing they've done the research and have pinpointed some good niches. Then do the KW research to see if it looks good.

Very targeted niche stores like the ones above tend to have higher conversion rates. So if your site is all about "Rustic Furniture" and you send visitors to a site that specializes in and only carries "Rustic Furniture" you could possibly do better than you would sending them to a big furniture store that carries everything. (Possibly - just a suggestion!)

 

[katy65]

Hey thanks everyone for taking the time to reply all of your suggestions and comments have definately helped.

 

[jazzguy]

All the best Katy!

 

[clawson44]

Focus on a few items

I think you should focus first on a couple of items to test how they do and then you can do some more test until you find the one that people want. It is also beneficial to do a keyword search to see beforehand what people are looking for.

 

[itsalluphl]

I have a similar situation

Hi Katy,

My circumstances are similar. I have a site for pet stuff and I love animals so much that I had a hard time narrowing my niche since I want to write about all of it. I ended up doing as JazzGuy suggested - I created many subdomains. I'm happy to say I received my first check and the only traffic generation I've done so far has been SEO so I'm feeling very optimistic once I get my marketing campaign going full scale. I must say though I'm considering scaling back a bit just so I could manage keeping up with content.

Luba

 

[jazzguy]

Hi Luba and congratulations on the beginning of your success. That's wonderful news and I'm glad to see that something I have suggested actually works... Seriously, I wouldn't advise anything unless I knew it could benefit one's business. Great job and I'm sure you are going to do great! Take care and continued success. All the best.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Big congrats Luba on your 1st check!

Thanks SO much jazzguy for all the helpful advice.

 

[jazzguy]

Big congrats Luba on your 1st check!

Thanks SO much jazzguy for all the helpful advice.

It's my pleasure Linda. Now when do I get my 10%... All the best.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Well Lyle, you're paying it forward and I truly believe that what goes around, comes around.
SO hopefully you'll end up doing even better than 10%.

 

[jazzguy]

Well Lyle, you're paying it forward and I truly believe that what goes around, comes around.
SO hopefully you'll end up doing even better than 10%.

15%...just kidding...and I totally agree with you about the paying it forward notion... Thanks again Linda.

 

[itsalluphl]

Success continues & a question about link exchanges

Hi Luba and congratulations on the beginning of your success. That's wonderful news and I'm glad to see that something I have suggested actually works... Seriously, I wouldn't advise anything unless I knew it could benefit one's business. Great job and I'm sure you are going to do great! Take care and continued success. All the best.

I checked my stats and find out I have another payment pending! I also received a request from a company that's viewed my site, thinks it's great and would like to do a link exchange. It's flattering but I'm concerned about doing a link exchange with a company I know nothing about, in addition to the fact that I don't find them to be a complementary exchange.

I know it could help your google rankings by doing link exchanges but am I right to be selective about who I exchange links with?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Congrats on the new payment pending!!!

"I know it could help your google rankings by doing link exchanges but am I right to be selective about who I exchange links with?"

Important to read what Google has to say about exchanging links.
Link schemes - Webmaster Help Center

Google is becoming more strict about link exchanges in general and specifically you need to be sure anyone you link out to does not link out to any bad neighborhoods.

But keep in mind even if Google had not recently gotten really strict about link practices,
links that aren't very targeted to your niche really don't help you much.

 

[jazzguy]

I checked my stats and find out I have another payment pending! I also received a request from a company that's viewed my site, thinks it's great and would like to do a link exchange. It's flattering but I'm concerned about doing a link exchange with a company I know nothing about, in addition to the fact that I don't find them to be a complementary exchange.

I know it could help your google rankings by doing link exchanges but am I right to be selective about who I exchange links with?

Hi Luba. Wonderful news about the pending sale... And yes, you are right to be selective about who you choose to link exchange with. It's obvious that your instincts are telling you to be wary so trust them. I am always being offered link exchanges with very different and non-related sites and I always refuse. First off, I don't need the link...but more importantly, the link could work against you in the eyes of Google for a variety of reasons. So in this case, I would trust your gut. Hope that helps...great job...and take care.

 

[jazzguy]

Dang Linda...you beat me to the punch...