A long time ago, I made a website. But I didn’t do anything with it. Basically, it only existed to host writing samples for my portfolio.
Last Summer, I buckled down and put some legitimate work into the website. Could I turn it into a profitable asset that pays for itself?
About the Case Study Website
I created this website around music and audio production.
When I left the website, there were about a dozen articles. They covered various sub-topics within the music industry. But none of them really fit together.
So there was some cleaning to do.
Content Strategy & Monetization
To start, I decided to focus on a specific target audience. That helps me decide what types of articles I should and shouldn’t write.
It also meant deleting articles that don’t serve that audience.
I focused on three sub-topics within the music industry. There’s heavy interlinking within each group. And anytime I publish an article, I update an older post to link to the new one.
No orphan pages allowed.
Focusing on just a few topics at a time helps Google understand what the website’s about. In turn, that builds the website’s authority in that niche. It also gives readers a better experience.
Types of Articles
Most of the articles include product reviews, product comparisons, and how-to posts.
There’s also some “Best X for Y” posts. But for the most part, I don’t write too many of those.
People are getting more cynical about those types of articles. That, and Google tends to punish sites that are nothing but affiliate posts.
Rate of Publishing
I want every article to be a banger, so I focus on quality over quantity.
That means all the articles are written by me. No tricks. No other writers. And no AI.
Just good old-fashioned SEO.
I also created most of the supplemental materials. That includes graphic design and audio-visual media to enhance each article.
On average, I published about six articles per month for six months. By the end of December, the site had a total of 45 blog posts.
Monetization
RIght now, the site’s only monetized with affiliate links. Of course, there’s Amazon Associates.
But I’ve also diversified with a few other affiliate programs. In fact, most of the revenue comes from the non-Amazon programs.
I also tried display ads for a couple weeks. But they caused some site-breaking issues. So I dropped the ad network and focused exclusively on Affiliate income.
6-Month Results
I’m very happy with how the site’s performed so far. Here are some quick stats:
- Date Range: July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2023
- Total pageviews: 5,249
- Affiliate Link Clicks: 1,029
- Affiliate Clickthrough Rate: 19.5%
- Affiliate Conversion Rate: 4%
And as of now, it generates enough revenue to cover all the operating costs. That includes domain registration, hosting, and plugins.
Boost Your Site’s Visibility With Quality SEO
A solid SEO and content strategy should be an essential part of your marketing mix. It’ll boost your site’s visibility, build trust with your audience, and dramatically grow your business.
Plus, having killer web content just makes you more legit.
If you need help developing a solid SEO plan, reach out to me. I’ll help you create a content strategy that ensures long-term business growth and builds trust with your audience.