Hub to a niche or diversify?

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  1. WryLilt profile image90
    WryLiltposted 13 years ago

    Just wondering how people go about building their hubs that they want to see traffic from. Do you:

    1. Write the hub all about one niche topic - for instance nothing but toy blue collectible trains.
    2. Try and go for a variety of keywords since it means more word count and also more traffic from different searches instead of just one - for instance toy trains of all types, brands and colors.

    I've been experimenting with both... which one do you find works best for you?

    1. Marisa Wright profile image87
      Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I would always recommend the second option to a new Hubber.  The reason? No matter how much you use the keyword tool, wonder wheel, related searches etc etc, you're just guessing what's going to work.

      I'm always surprised by which Hubs make money.  Once you see which ones are successful, that's the time to focus on those topics exclusively.   Focus too early, and you could discover, in six months' time, that you've been barking up an unprofitable tree!

      My only problem is that my profitable Hubs are on subjects I don't like writing about...

    2. lorlie6 profile image72
      lorlie6posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      What a great thread, WryLilt.  I haven't published too many hubs, but some of those I have are 'becoming' a niche.  I didn't realize it at the time-I've just started writing-but tobacco and smoking has become a niche for me.

      1. mega1 profile image79
        mega1posted 13 years agoin reply to this

        I'm staying diverse altho lately I've just been writing for fun - because otherwise I would have like NO fun in my life right now.  If I write the commercial hubs then EVERYTHING I do is like WORK!  so expect to see fiction on all kinds of subjects.  I'm enjoying trying to make it a bit commercial.  But the newest 2 don't have ads because it was "sensitive" subject matter and I didn't want to have to try to talk staff into it.  So, published without ads I don't have to worry about Adsense policies and waiting for it to be unrestricted.  I don't have that many viewers for my fiction anyway.

        My best traffic comes from my most commercial hubs, on one subject, to be expected.  I think because people go searching for somethings in the same general area and see your name in several places so they check you out.  Like - doll clothes, collecting doll clothes, vintage doll clothes - you know?  they see you have hubs on each of these and so they decide you must know what you're talking about.

      2. brettb profile image61
        brettbposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Tobacco? It's amazing how many good niches there are!

        One other thing to consider is diversification. Before I came here most of my web earnings were in the IT niche and it's a Mon - Fri niche. Now I have Hubs that make money 24/7, so my income is spreading around the week a lot more than it used to.

        1. thisisoli profile image73
          thisisoliposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Be careful, I am pretty sure Tobacco is a difficult area with Google Adsense, not 100% sure but it could be worth checking!

    3. Greek One profile image64
      Greek Oneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      hmmmmmmmm toy blue collectible trains, eh?

  2. lrohner profile image69
    lrohnerposted 13 years ago

    Niche, hands down.

  3. Flightkeeper profile image66
    Flightkeeperposted 13 years ago

    I'm all over the place.  I think I'm still in the process of exploring what I like to write about.

    1. Me, Steve Walters profile image79
      Me, Steve Waltersposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You go, Flightkeeper! (The same for me...I'm still trying to figure out what I want to write about, too. Ideally...It would be about everything, but I think that subject is rather too broad!?)

  4. livewithrichard profile image72
    livewithrichardposted 13 years ago

    Diversity works best here on HP and leave the niche writing for your personal websites. If you stay too niche here then you end up competing with yourself.

  5. profile image0
    Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

    Both. Don't fall into the HubPages "either or" trap. Too many people think that way here. If you want to be successful, think in terms of at least a 500 hub portfolio, and diversify the heck out of it.

    The biggest mistake people new to the internet make is not realizing how much content it takes to make a consistent livable income.

    At about 500 hubs, you should really start to understand what works for you content and interest wise.

    1. YesWay profile image60
      YesWayposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      In that case, I'm looking on the bright side - I only have 499 more hubs to go before I can expect to be earning a stable living! big_smile

    2. WryLilt profile image90
      WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Nelle I have a quick technical question for you.

      I've noticed on some of your sales hubs you have the adsense block top right.

      So I guess my question is: Should you keep your adsense taylored and your amazon taylored hubs separate or just throw it all into one hub and hope that someone clicks one or the other?

    3. netlexis profile image64
      netlexisposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I've always thought it was a number's game... along with diversity. My goal is to hit 500 by the end of next year. And not just hubs, but a little bit of everything including my own sites. I've learned a lot from so many hubbers here, so a big shout out and thanks to all.

  6. WryLilt profile image90
    WryLiltposted 13 years ago

    Thank you everyone for the feedback. I think I'll stay general then!

    I personally try to niche but I find it hard to write a good amount of words on something like "red striped men's socks."

    If I cover something such as just socks I don't find it too hard to churn out 1000 sales words on the topic because it means I can talk about long, short, kids, adults, knee socks, toe socks and everything in between.

  7. profile image0
    Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

    There isn't a right or wrong answer. Remember I don't write under Nelle much any more so you don't know what my newer hubs look like or sound like.

    I experiment ALOT, and change with the times. I've got close to a 1,000 hubs now under dozens of identities. And quite frankly, I really don't believe that there's a perfect hub format.

    Probably the niche or topic is the most important decision, then the choice of keywords is the next most important choice you make, then the products, then the marketing copy. How you smoosh it all together - if the first 4 are right... you can get away with lot of layout mistakes.

    The thing is to keep writing alot of hubs and developing your own instincts, so you know what you're most comfortable with.

    1. WryLilt profile image90
      WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Ok awesome thanks smile I experiment a lot but I admit I went back through some of my older hubs the other day and went "What was I THINKING!?"

  8. Kyriana profile image68
    Kyrianaposted 13 years ago

    I've been here just over a month and I'm all over the map with my hubs as far as topics. I have tried to write two or three that can be grouped together so I can link to myself some.

    I've used the keyword tool at Adwords I couple of times to see how something is worded in search.. if people search for the plural of the word I'll change mine to plural.

    Keep in mind I haven't been here long and don't really know what I'm talking about. big_smile

  9. liljen23 profile image74
    liljen23posted 13 years ago

    It seems like niche is the best way to go because you will get targeted visitors depending on how you use keywords and title, but since you will target just one keyword your hub will be easy to find. So niche is best in my opinion.

    1. Marisa Wright profile image87
      Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Ah, but that assumes you're sure it's a good niche.  If you're not sure, and you put all your energies into it, you may be making a big mistake!

      WryLilt, I'm wondering if I misunderstood your question. 

      I (and Nelle) are recommending writing lots of Hubs on different subjects, because you never know when you might hit a gold mine.  However, when it comes to individual Hubs, I do think you need to be as specific as possible with the content - because the more specific you are, the more targeted the Hub is and the better the chance of a sale.

      1. WryLilt profile image90
        WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Ok, sorry I think I misworded my question.

        Yes I'm referring to writing one hub about a variety of parts of your topic. I already have each separate hub on as varying topics as I can smile

        I keep hearing "Write lots of words so google sends people to your sales hub" but how can I write lots of good sales copy on one very specific niche like item? As I said there's only so much you can write on say blue striped male socks.

        1. brettb profile image61
          brettbposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I've found that fashion is a bit difficult to write a lot about, but adding loads of photos disguises the lack of words.

        2. Marisa Wright profile image87
          Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          LOL, maybe there is such a thing as being too specific!

  10. Misha profile image62
    Mishaposted 13 years ago

    Diversify until you find a niche. Then exploit it to the fullest. Rinse and repeat. smile

    1. WryLilt profile image90
      WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Misha. smile

    2. brettb profile image61
      brettbposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This is the best answer!

      I found a decent niche and I've now written 40 Hubs on it!

      Never quit until ALL of the related Hubs are your own!

  11. thisisoli profile image73
    thisisoliposted 13 years ago

    Both, I have a large number of hubs & websites on several different topics.

  12. alternate poet profile image67
    alternate poetposted 13 years ago

    Interesting info here !   anyone care to give an opinion on my moves - I am starting a shopping site for Chinese goods and expect to be writing hubs about each specific area that we put up with sales, along with a collection of very narrow hubs about specific items.

 
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