Updated April 28, 2020.
The premise of this case study is to:
Buy a pre-made Amazon Affiliate Niche Site and outsource the work to hit a positive ROI as soon as possible.
This page will serve as the raw notes page as the case study progresses. I’ll add links to posts, resources, podcast episodes, and YouTube videos about the case study.
Be sure to check out my special links below for discounts with some companies.
The general process will be:
- Buy the site and migrate to my hosting.
- Order Keyword Golden Ratio Keywords. 25 informational keywords, 25 product oriented keywords so that’s TWO packs from Human Proof Designs. (5% OFF with HPD with discount code DOUGREF5OFF)
- Hire Content Refined (CR) to improve content – Traffic is up by 17.8% after they upgraded the content.
- Use KWFinder to prioritize the 50 KGR keywords. Save 10% with KWFinder with discount code “nichesiteproject”.
- Hire Content Development Pros (CDP) to write, format, and draft the content in WordPress. (Save 10% here & work with my acct manager. Email contact@
contentdevelopmentpros.com “(Att: Tim Wilson)”) - Comment on blogs using Okay Relax (a VA service).
- Get guest posts using The HOTH and Loganix to get backlinks.
Have questions for me? Send an email to feedback@doug.show or you can leave me a voicemail. (406) 813-0613
April 2020 Update
I got behind with updates after neglecting the site, moving to a new house, and it’s been busy!
Five Figure Niche Site is open for enrollment until May 1 at 11:59 PM MT. I’m adding new units in the next 2 weeks to address the new commission fees.
Two major things happened since the last update:
- Covid-19 spawn a drop in traffic for a few weeks, then a boost in traffic. You’ll see record traffic stats in the Google Analytics screenshots below.
- Amazon lowered commission rates on April 21, 2020. Traffic was up and sales were too. But Amazon sent out an email on April 14 notifying Associate members that rates were going to change.
I haven’t done any work at the site since November 2019.
No new content. No link building.
Yet the traffic kept rising. I’ll be adding some new sources of revenue soon – display ads and other affiliate programs. I’m still crazy busy with a few other projects so it might be a little while before I can get it done!
Check out the traffic and earnings updates in the sections below.
Podcast & YouTube
I’m coving the case study in audio and video but not all the same topics. So for maximum information, you have to listen and watch it all. It’s just a happy accident since I don’t record everything in both formats.
Doug.Show Podcast
It’s best if you subscribe
Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | Overcast | Google Podcasts
- Aged Site Case Study – The INTRO [ASCS] – DS052 – I explain what I’m doing, how, and why. Of course, I talk about some other random things.
- Q&A – DS056 – People sent in questions, then I answer them.
- The Budget and Using the Ideas Even If Your Budget is Smaller – DS060
- Weird Things With The Aged Site from Human Proof Designs – DS062
- The TWO Thumbscrews of an Affiliate Site – DS066
- How To Select the Site – DS071
- Q & A: Flipping and Which Site to Buy – DS073
- $250.29 after 5 Months, Aged Site Case Study Update – DS093
Doug Cunnington YouTube
- AGED SITE CASE STUDY. Fastest Way To START MAKING MONEY? #AmazonAffiliateCaseStudy. Also the intro to the ASCS but totally different than the podcast.
- SiteGround Hosting. I sign up and show you my general configuration. Full Disclosure: if you’ve signed up for hosting before, it’ll be boring-ish. So watch at 2x speed.
- Super Fast Sales. I talk about seeing a few sales coming through in days.
- Links and My General Approach. I talk about blog commenting and guest posting, then how I’m outsourcing it.
- Blog Commenting for traffic and backlinks. I show you how I comment on blogs for links.
- $13,000 down the drain? BUDGET & BREAKEVEN Point. I talk about what I’ve spent and generally how I’m approaching the budget.
- How to CREATE Custom Google Analytics Reports to TRACK Results.
- Q&A Session For ASCS. I answer questions from the fine viewers.
- RANK IN GOOGLE. links matter for niche sites. A lot of people only focus on content, but I think links matter a lot if you want to get traffic quickly.
- About the Link Building Services that I have been using.
- The End of the Year Update for 2019. I talk about how things are going after 6 months.
- Jan 2020 Update. I talk about what’s been going on for the case study and the results in January.
Timeline
As fast as possible!
I tested companies for a few months before starting the case study, (including 60 posts from CDPs and Content Upgrades from CR) that way I knew each company could deliver.
Aside: I took off about 1 month over the summer in 2019 and was off the grid. The goal is to grow the business while I’m literally not working. It worked very well and the team wrote and published 50 posts without my input.
Results
The site got traffic on day 1 in my possession – FAR exceeding my expectations.
The first sale on Amazon came in within 3 days, making me feel like a genius.
Is it a fluke? Dunno…
I don’t think so — The trend is upwards. August had some high ticket purchases so it’s an anomaly.
Check out July 2019 earnings.
August Earnings – First $100 Month
178.95 percent growth over July.
September Earnings – 50% Drop from August
October Earnings – 19.60% Growth over Sept
All of 2019
Jan 2020 Earnings
Jan to Apr 2020 Earnings
Traffic Growth – Google Analytics
I share the growth in traffic and compare month over month.
And I’ll show the November 8 Google algorithm update BOOSTED traffic by 29 percent!
Here is the full picture from June through October:
August compared to July – 25% Growth
September compared to August – 14% Growth
October compared to September – 16% Growth
November 8, 2019 Google Algorithm Update
In my stable of sites, I’ve seen one lose 10% of its traffic and all the others have gotten a lift.
BERT has lifted this site quite a bit!
It’s just a few days worth of data, but an increase is better than a decrease!
All Time Traffic (Through Jan 2020)
Jan to Apr 2020 Traffic
Content Improvement Results – 17% Increase
My friends at Content Refined upgraded 5 of the posts.
Some of the posts increase, some went down.
Metrics and Data on the Guest Posts
I’m getting a combo of links from the services, 50% of the links go to the homepage and 50% to internal pages.
Outsourcing backlinks is expensive. I’ve spent about $2,700 for 8 links.
That’s $337.50 per link!
Normally, I handle guest posting and outreach in house with one or two of my VAs following a simple process. Some people have more time than money or have failed at guest posting in the past.
I know it’s possible to get guest posts even with a new site so I look at the costs per link and cringe! I’m executing an in house campaign where the links are costing about $70 per link… So it’s a hefty premium for outsourcing a process with so many moving parts.
Outsourcing Resources
Here are the companies that I’ll be using for the case study.
Human Proof Designs
I bought the aged site and the keyword golden ratio compliant keywords here. GET 5% OFF with HPD by using my discount code DOUGREF5OFF
Content Refined
Content supplier and content improvement services.
Content Development Pros
High volume content supplier. Learn more here & Save 10% by using my affiliate link.
Be sure to work with my Account Manager: Tim Wilson (ext: 364) or email contact@
CDP published 50 posts in 30 days for me while I was on vacation. Definitely go for the 5-Star, premium level content.
The HOTH
Link building through guest posting.
Loganix: Link Building Services
More guest posting and I decided to try them out after I saw that Brian Dean from Backlinko has a testimonial on their site. The excellent part is YOU approve the site that your guest post goes on.
Okay Relax VA Service
For blog commenting. Learn more about the service. If you sign up through my link, then I’ll share my Blog Commenting Job Aide for my VA. Just send me the confirmation email so I can verify on my end.
Site Ground Hosting
I move the site to SG immediately. I’m using SG for just about all my hosting needs now.