Some of us are creating new sites and need a way to fill the site with content – where to begin? Then others have a site already and it’s doing well with AdSense, but you know it could do MORE, if you could just expand the topics to more pages.
It just seems easier to go to an article database and find whatever you can on a topic and slap it up on your site with AdSense. The problem is 90% of the articles from an article site is CRAP – boring, generic information that barely scratches the surface in 3 paragraphs. Bleh. Plus many of these general topics are lousy for making money with AdSense because the themes need to be more specific to a product or service that someone is spending money to advertise.
If you're looking at expanding your website to include new topics and new categories for AdSense publishing or affiliate marketing, you have to start thinking like a consumer and fill a need or solve a problem. It's easy to just brainstorm new ideas, but if you don't solve what I call an emotional problem or need, the pages you create aren't going to be as effective in making you more money. Another way to look at it is to take away the reader’s “pain” by providing a simple solution through your content.
Recently, I was asked to take a look at someone's Home Interior and Décor website to help them figure out ways to expand the site topics. They had 10-20 pages of general articles related to home interior and home design. The articles had information, but not what someone wanting a home interior problem solved would find interesting or useful. I thought the website had a lot of potential to expand in many directions, however, the owner of the site wasn't thinking enough in depth to create interesting topics.
I use a simple, 3-step process for finding topics to expand my websites by solving the users problems and headaches:
Step 1. Determine the Users Needs. In this case, the webmaster needs to think like a homemaker (most likely a woman) and what kind of emotional needs (hassles, pain, inconveniences) they need fixed. For example, a woman today has a lot of household responsibilities and not a lot of energy to complete the task. Or they have to clean the
bathtub, and want an easy way to get the soap scum off without strong chemicals or hours of scrubbing.
Step 2. Think from the perspective of I. "I wish I had more free time." "I wish I could have a clean and beautiful home." "I need some appliances that get the job done faster and quieter." "I want more time to relax."
Step 3. Meet those “I” needs in step 2.
“Home TV Show Secrets to a Beautiful Interior.” (Need: I wish I had a beautiful home)
“Buy Appliance X and Add 30 Minutes a Day to Your Life.” (Need: I need some appliances to get the job done faster)
“Hire a Personal Organizer to Organize Your Home for You (Need: I want to relax and enjoy my home)
There are so many different ideas and viewpoints you can take, suddenly you have a ton of options to put on that website and each page can be tightly focused. The tighter the focus, the better you're going to target your user that comes to your site and the more likely they will click on advertising on that page.
Other ideas I came up with for the Home Interiors website:
1. Compare the best vacuum cleaners on the market, their price range, the different models, and what makes each one of them unique and useful for different types of homemakers.
2. Products that help you relax in the evening: New kinds of spas and home saunas and steam showers.
3. A how-to article on buying and installing new fixtures to give your bath a fresh look.
Service focused sites can use the same technique, too! I spoke with another webmaster in a very competitive industry – Insurance. Let’s use the three steps to brainstorm new topics.
Step 1. Find the Need. What are big insurance buyers headaches?
Step 2. Think from the perspective of I:
- “How do I pick the best insurance?”
- “What if I don’t get my insurance claim paid when I need it”
- “I’m tired of paying higher insurance premiums for nothing."
Step 3. Meet the Need (headache, pain or aggravation gone!)
- The Right Kind of Life Insurance for Your Family
- US Insurance Companies Rated Best for Payouts.
- Decrease Premiums for Your Good Record with These Insurers.
If you look solving someone’s headache and meet that need with good information, you will definitely improve the quality of the content on your website, and find a treasure trove of money making topics.
I know what you are thinking….Where do I get the information I need to fill the topics, and who has time to write all this stuff? In part two, I will take away the pain of creating new content and finding the information you need to do it, with some ideas on how to do it yourself.
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