[Music] So last year we did the podcast where we Analyzed seven Affiliate sites and actually broke down What was great about them and what you Could take away to improve your own Websites That podcast exploded and has one of the Most downloads of any episode that we Have so far so Because we kind of ran a lot of ideas This week we decided to do that format Again With seven new sites so in this episode Mark and i are going to be taking seven Affiliate sites And see exactly what’s quite interesting About them and we have some really cool Story With each one of them so let’s get Started [Music] Hey everyone welcome back to the atari Hacker podcast uh today we’re gonna do Something that actually we’ve done About a year and a half ago something Like that but i was really popular at The time Um and now we’re kind of doing video Podcast so if you’re actually listening To the audio Uh and you want more information i would Actually recommend you go check out the Podcast on youtube because we will be
Able to overlay The sites we’re talking about maybe i Should say what we’re doing today first Uh we are actually reviewing a bunch of Athletic websites and kind of like Picking what’s interesting about them Uh how they got started what makes them Successful uh In very different niches there’s some Low dr size and some high dr sites Uh and i thought there would be a lot of Inspiration for you guys to Maybe pick up some of the strategies They’re using there’s some pretty juicy Ones in there Uh and i think it’s gonna be interesting But not as interesting about coming next Which is how’s it going like Oh gosh i was like so nervous just Leading up to it it’s like such a Release to get asked that at the end of The week i don’t have a good answer this Week No dog prop no dog this week to get more Likes unfortunately it’s just Going good sorry well the good news is i Have mine and the reason i have mine Honestly the reason i adopted the cutest Dog in the world is basically So that we get a lot of likes on youtube Because your dog love likes on youtube So I just started a contest to see if my Dog gets more like so if your dog gets
More likes basically so Um that’s why i got him and you can also Subscribe if you want more cookie That’s my dog cookie is a great name for An affair marketers dog by the way that Was one of the reasons we call him Cookie You know he has this harness and then um You can put um these kind of like Stickers on it and so one of them is his Name cookie and then we can put Other things so we have like smart Cookie uh and then Also i i wanted to order one that’s like That says like 30 day cookie or Something like this Just to you know you know how people Just pimp their car and just pimping my Dog you know Um so that’s essentially uh yeah that’s My dog He didn’t get castrated last week but He’s a pretty kid So anyway that’s not where we’re Starting here Let me let him go but anyway that’s not Why we’re here so i’ll just let cookie Go And we’re gonna actually gonna start Reviewing the sites that we said we’re Gonna review We have seven in the list right now um Let me just start with the first one And the first one is alpha can i just
Say like we just Like the method for choosing these sites They’re just interesting sites that do Some things right something’s wrong and They give like a flavor of different Niches If your site happens to be one of these I promise we’re not singling you out Uh to try and get loads of people to Copy so don’t complain to us or Whatever we’re just trying to give a Fair reflection of what actual Decent affiliate marketing sites uh are Look like Yeah i had more sites actually at the Beginning but i suspected some of them Might belong to some h4 members or test Members So i removed them and also like i didn’t Include very very low dr sites because Then it would be easy for any copycat to Like listen to this podcast and go and Copy them so I always introduce sites that are like You know th They’re gonna be hard to copy to some Extent but you can get good inspiration From them basically so Um that is to protect the owners of the Site because You’re liking this but if it was your Site maybe you wouldn’t like this so It’s like i try to be a little bit Considerate
When we pick the sites and the first Thing i’m picking is actually not a very High dr site but it’s very hard to copy Uh it’s alphashooters.com if you don’t Know alpha is actually the branding For sony cameras um and so like the Camera we’re shooting the podcast with Is actually a sony a73 which is one of The most popular sony cameras so we’re Basically part of this community and It’s quite interesting because The photographic guilloche is Competitive As uh it’s quite difficult i mean You can find Some keywords i like that you’ll do a Competitive as [Laughter] But um but yeah so it’s quite Competitive um and And they’re quite low dr it’s quite Surprising they get according to hrf They get 23 000 Uh traffic according to semester they Get 31 000 traffic so You know somewhere in there i decided to Include both so that people get a bit of A fork of traffic It seems that they started around early 2018 that’s when i started seeing Organic traffic in the graphs on Uh ahrefs uh nscms Um and yeah they just focus on one brand
Which is quite interesting um They actually monetize with amazon b h Which is like a really big Fair program in the in the photography Gear uh industry and focus camera which I didn’t know about until i actually Checked them out Uh they only paid three percent though So i’m wondering if amazon’s not just Better Um but b h is actually can pay much Higher commissions than amazon so Uh it’s pretty good um i like I like the single brand aspect and they Also like covering all the news Uh in the sony industry so when there’s A new firmware that comes out for Cameras Uh when there’s new lenses etc so they Do a bunch of reviews for lenses Uh and we know like you know when i Picked the lenses for our camera I had a choice between like literally Hundreds of lenses and these these are Expensive as well right like uh Our lenses was 600 pounds i think almost Expensive as a camera i think Well the camera is 2 000. so i’m not Quite then No not exactly but actually they are Lenses that are like three four thousand Pounds it’s like if you buy those Official sony Lenses they’re they’re way more
Expensive even than the ones we have we Have a cheap one actually Um and that’s why this niche works right It’s because the products are so Expensive and there’s so many of them as Well you can put hundreds of lenses on On these camera bodies and then you can Buy you know microphones and Lights and also all sorts of like bags As well for traveling etcetera so This is also it’s a very upfront Kind of cost like you can’t get into Photography really Without a camera of some of some sort so You have to make that investment early On uh so anyone coming in is going to Going to be buying one as well It’s kind of like golf yeah another Professionals as well right it’s like A lot of people take photos for living Whether it’s like real estate agents or Like You know fashion photographers and People Like i mean there’s a lot less glamorous Jobs than fashion photographers that Take photos but There’s really a lot like people who Take photos of products for websites Uh people who take photos of people for Companies websites et cetera like There’s really a lot of people who buy These things but they buy these things To make money so they don’t mind
Spending a lot of money Um but not only that it’s like there’s Also because there’s so many options you Know and these are expensive You kind of like need to pick your your Gear properly so they have a lot of vs Keywords Um and that works really well for them So like you know comparing different Lenses comparing different camera bodies So like there’s this sunny a 6100 i think which is a bit cheaper than Ours versus this a73 for example Or there’s multiple models of these Seven three some of them are better for Videos some of them are better for Actual photos etc slightly different Sensors And so they’re able to actually rank for All these stuff and ending up With quite a bit of traffic again this Is not like you know you’re looking at That and you’re like 8 23 k traffic not a lot um but if you 23k Have traffic of selling 600 pound lenses To a thousand pounds it’s actually Pretty good money Um and um and they’re not that old and They Probably have a lot a lot to go for um So it works really well as well because They focus on that one brand right so They Um they have a lot of brand loyalty
Right so photographers essentially tend To pick a brand because Otherwise their gear doesn’t work right So like the lens mounts for example the Difference between the brands or you Need to buy adapters but then You’re losing sharpness et cetera it’s Complicated um so it’s much better to Stick to a brand and just essentially Start build up your gear around that and You rarely switch because Uh then you don’t have to switch Everything at the same time it’s awesome It’s also the point like if you are if You have a sony camera And you you have a choice between a site Dedicated to sony cameras or a general Photography site about Deciding you know reviewing lenses and Stuff you’re going to pick the The sony specific one because it’s going To be more relevant to you and the Information is going to be kind of yeah More relevant to You not just that i think google does The same thing as well i think like if You look at if you google a bunch of These Of these lenses keywords et cetera you See most sites they’ll be in the range Of deal like 45 to 70 80 let’s say like that’s gonna be the Range of people who rank for this kind Of like lens reviews etc
Um and and this side is much lower dr And Is ranking quite well for a lot of these Not all of them obviously they’re At their level but like they’re ranking Quite well and that’s something that We’ve seen as well it’s as if they Essentially built a single Hub of content around that one brand and Just You know completely expanded it and we Find on our site is that when we focus Our new sites on like just one one hub Or something We rank much better much earlier to the Point where we have sites that are below 10dr they are ranking for some big Keywords sometimes because we Um focus them on like a single hub or Something so They’ve essentially done that at the Scale of their site and i think it’s Quite smart Um they might heat the ceiling and i Think actually the next site will talk a Little bit about about potential Settings with your branding Um but it’s it’s it’s i like it Because it’s a hard industry to get in And they did get in without necessarily Having to force the The authority or wait very long because They focused and actually A proof that it works very well as well
Is they have a forum and it’s quite Active actually people actually like Put a lot of questions etc so it gives Them a bunch of long-term keywords at The same time And uh and well they get they get a Community that actually builds around Their site so it works pretty well So that’s one thing i would say one Thing i would say about Brand specific sites you just have to be Very very careful of Is not using any trademark name in your Domain name so if they called it like Sony alpha camera shooters site or Something like that Then what can happen is the brands they Have their legal teams are monitoring Domains that get registered and they’ll Like hammer you with Trademark lawsuits and all sorts of Stuff like that So you just have to be a little bit Careful here they’ve gone for alpha Shooters so You know alpha being part of the the Sony alpha Type camera but it’s not brandable Enough it’s not trademarkable enough On its own um that you can that they Would Run into any any troubles if they had The word sony in there they They would so that’s why they’ve kind of
Branded it a bit more subtly Yeah but overall i think i think it’s a Smart way Somehow angle to get in but they might Regret later if they hit the ceiling and Hit Most keyboards because they’re limited To that brand basically but we’ll talk About that For the next slide so why don’t you pick The next site and we’ll bring that Debate back yeah so the next site is Baldingbeards.com it’s a dr 50 website ahrefs traffic’s 191k a month And sem rush says three two three k so Actually noticing A no yeah noticing a big difference There but also noticing that Um the last one sem rush reported Significantly more like fifty percent More or something as well but you see In the future there’s some that a actual Interest report small they’re kind of Trading blows but i i wanted to put These numbers of the two because it Like you talk a lot about keyboard tools Being accurate etc like It shows that through real examples and I think uh i think A lot not a lot of people have access to Boost tools so it’s quite nice for People to see that i think Yeah so baldingbeards.com was started in Around end of 2014 according to ahrefs
It’s a site about beard and facial hair Care And uh going bald and like dealing with That Through all sorts of products and Tactics and and stuff yeah but they kind Of started like that but they expanded To basically male grooming Yeah that’s so happening basically it’s A guy who was bald and had a beard Talking about this stuff i think um who Has then tried to try to niche out but Has been somewhat constrained by his Branding branding i think initially the Site was for People who were bald and had beards Which is you know like a very small Subset of people who are interested in Facial hair care and you know hair care And all that kind of stuff It was a good way to use down as well i Guess but they’ve the way it’s branded Now Is it’s like balding and beards and some Other stuff beyond that as well Uh so it certainly doesn’t indicate that You have to Have to be bald and have a beard to you Know consume the content on On the site i mean you can see the Traffic right 100 between 200 and 300k let’s say um Basically what’s happened is they built A niche site and
It worked well better than expected And then they were like oh how do We capitalize on this And ended up diversifying massively now They write about skincare they write About like All sorts of stuff like uh belts and Ties and like Micro pigmentation hair tattoos and Yeah yeah um so i think two things that Happen is they I i remember checking that site about Four years ago actually Um so it’s kind of it’s kind of nice to See the evolution but there used to be a Pure Blog pure amazon as well they’re still Very much amazon Uh this have some charocell et cetera um But what they’ve done is they First expanded the scope so now they do All their grooming And also they’ve expanded to do Advertising so they run mediavine And um they do a lot more info content As well to try to max out The revenue on that site i do believe It’s like a small niche site that struck Gold and then they were They they tried to expand and they Couldn’t I mean they did it but it’s just weird You know because it feels the branding Is just not in phase with the content
Anymore I think it works okay actually like Building beards Because they don’t have a tagline they Don’t really say what what they are Specifically um so i i think it works For most of these Most of these things the the branding of It it’s i like it it looks like very Clean It reminds me of like a you know five Years ago WordPress theme for like your typical Blog Um also as it’s like exactly what it is Yeah as they generate price basically You know Yeah it looks like it yeah it’s it’s Just i don’t know it’s nice and it’s Nice and clean it works Um one thing i know about this industry Is that These uh uh dollar shave club style Um like subscription services for razors And that like hugely popular A lot of money in those um so i i Presume they are Promoting those Well i mean there’s a million other Clones of it um Anyway but what i see on on their Homepage Bowling beers homepage is they have this Enter the monthly giveaway and get more
Content like this And you enter your email address and Sign up I think that’s an absolutely terrible Opt-in um Yes because monthly giveaway for what More content like we’re on the home page Like it’s It’s just yeah they haven’t really done A good job in matching the Um i guarantee you you sign up they Don’t email you like the way they Collect emails Um they don’t care about emails um so It’s like it’s one of these things where They like they read a blog post of like Oh you should do my marketing And uh they put a they put a box and They they probably have an autoresponder And then when it’s done you get no Emails Yeah again there’s actually a lot of Online marketers out there who collect Emails but don’t actually email their Their list like ever And they think that having a lot of Emails is going to increase the value of Their site and when you you sell it you Could you have this big list or Something but If if you’re not actively emailing them And they they’re not engaged Then that list is completely worthless Um so
You need to if you’re gonna do it do it But if you’re not gonna email people Then don’t bother Putting that on your site until you do Pop-ups that promote fake products Instead It works quite well actually um did you Find anything interesting in that random Previews Um not really so they have like this They have a fairly sort of cookie cutter Um Set up uh for for how they do it they Have the the intro Um this like standard summary Table box i know that’s aawp or whatever They’re using Um but right what’s in well i guess Somewhat interesting is they go Inside like the value the value add Section Um where they’re talking about like Things to con six things to consider When purchasing Shave soap and then it’s like the Information there Before they get into like the specific Products and Uh the mini reviews that that they have Um It looks honestly it looks like a Standard authority hacker best xy Template the way the way the way they’ve Done it maybe this is a
Member site i don’t know nowadays we Would reverse probably Probably put the products above and the Info content below For higher conversions yeah but then They have some Uh further down there’s like how we Chose the best shaving soaps of 2020 Uh and it just seems like there’s a lot Of like filler content In there to to pat out a bit i don’t Know it’s like it’s not it’s not Terrible but i mean it’s like it’s It’s well above average but it’s it’s Not something i’d say like oh we need to Learn something from this as to how it’s Pretty standard the way you put your Essentially filler content at the bottom Of your page is just You pick the uh people also ask Questions i mean you pick the most Relevant ones and you just Answer them you just write it as an h2 And just answer for like 100 to 200 Words And do like five six seven of them that Works quite well actually for google Uh another way another way to treat Google and sending you more traffic Basically They do i mean in fairness to them like In the fourth paragraph Near the top they do have the our number One choice is this
Um and their our second choice is this Maybe the stuff like wire cutter and Inspired or something yeah um so i like I like having that Key recommendation at the start it’s Just not obvious it’s there because There’s no image or anything Next to it so they should maybe draw More attention to it maybe For sure for sure um they use i believe I think there’s a lot of stock images But i don’t know they’re Using some kind of filter or whatever But it they They don’t look they don’t look too Stocky does that make sense yeah they They’re just like instagram filter stock Images basically Let’s just say that let’s just say that You do it on canva um there’s these Effects you can put on canvas really Fast Really easy uh i mean you can do it on Other tools but canva is probably the Easiest one And you can do it for free so yeah i i Believe that’s what they do The raw information itself like i mean i Don’t know too much about either of These worlds but um It looks pretty good actually um just The The organization structure could be a Bit better i think yeah
I mean honestly it’s just a standard a Quite well executed standard affiliate Site let’s just say that but like what The interesting part was like How they got constrained by their Branding and um And how they’re kind of paying for it They could change the domain right they Could Put a new domain redirect but there’s a Bit of a coin flip still when you do That Um i’m like you’re not gonna get all Your traffic back they get quite a lot Of traffic as well Uh i would probably not gamble it um Especially like they don’t they don’t Need to but like um This is kind of like i like this this One after alpha shooters because it’s Kind of like the reverse side It’s like alpha shooters was great Because they niched down and you got all These advantages At the same time heal the cost of this When you actually are really successful In your niche then you wish you were Actually Larger maybe branded larger the thing With alpha shooters is not as obvious Um like i guess photographers will know But um yeah i don’t know like uh you you Could probably rebrand in the way that It’s not as obvious
When you put it when you put alpha Shooters on the list i thought it was uh Gun sight about you know there’s a lot Of things you could imagine from alpha Shooters yes yeah Let’s not go into all the Interpretations um let’s just jump onto The next one Which is going to be a t-mile actually So it’s actually in a wordpress niche This time Uh there are big dlc the gi 88 um Traffic according to a trap 346 000 and According to seo merch 173 000. so You can see this time actually semester Estimates uh lower than eight refs I do know they get a lot of traffic they Rank for a lot of failed keywords In the wordpress niche which are quite Lucrative the fa programs In here in the wordpress initiative it’s Pretty much they’re either on carousel Cj mostly trsl oh they run their own fa Program so it’s There’s no like single one because there Are like you know hundreds of them you Know like elemental and thrive and all These guys They all have a program and like gravity Forms and all this But the interesting part about that site The why it’s a little bit different Is i don’t know if they are a theme Company or an affiliate site
You know what i mean like they actually If you go on team aisle it’s like it Doesn’t look like an effort side because They actually run teams on the front end Um but most of their teams are free Um and for a long time the teams had Two links in the footer um back to Back to them so it’s like actually bill Like it’s almost like the The theme park like it’s they are no Follow now i just want to point out That most of them are no follow-up People who didn’t update for a long time Still have twofold links back Um so they changed it later when they Updated the team Uh it seems but uh what is interesting Is Uh they get hundreds of thousands of Links from footers from people who use Their free themes that the teams are Pretty good it’s not nearly it’s not as Good as like a generate press or astro Something like this but it’s Still pretty good um but i like the i Like the angle because the wordpress Finish is probably one of the most Difficult issues to get in In terms of being an affiliate uh and The site was started In early 2015 so um they’re not They’re kind of like on the end of the Times where it was Still doable to make it but the reason
Why they are Actually killing it and ranking for a Lot of stuff i mean apart from like the Wpbeginner and a few others They are i think a top five wordpress Site like about wordpress Uh in terms of organic traffic and they Really run A lot of editorial content they run Question and info content so like for Example is wordpress free like you know The really really big topics that like People would be googling and they rank For it There are tutorials on like quite Technical stuff so install Xampp uh on wordpress locally and stuff Like that like how to run a wordpress On your computer without hosting and They do a lot of random previews for Pretty much everything not even just WordPress like even like social Schedulers and stuff like that Are they an affiliate site though but That’s the question Put them in a traps you will see that Most of their content that gets a Ton of traffic Is pretty much affiliate content so the Question is well i believe Personally that they make more money From affiliates that they make from Selling themes at this point Do you believe that despite the fact
That they don’t have affiliate Sites affiliate links on the website They do have a feeling something like so I’m on this uh Best social media management campaign Okay but because there’s no affiliate Programs for this one Actually um none of them for most of Them there’s none yeah edgar oh An affiliate program for sure they just Have a referral program So they will like um they’ll like give You a free month or something but Honestly when you’re these guys you Don’t care that much Um let me just get you one uh You’re going reviews you go wp engine Let’s see if they don’t have enough Link there yeah it goes through charles Hell Yeah they’re hosting one does definitely Bluehost um it’s just because surprises Guys they have a bluehost as their Number one yeah A shared hosting platform um and and Social scheduling is Is a pretty bad uh space for effect Programs like buffer doesn’t have one Hood switch Pretty um handling the rest like It’s just not very Good um so that’s why they probably Don’t bother but they just capture the Traffic but like on the actual money
Queries they are they’re absolutely Running after links Uh they were competing with us on like Several kilos etc so so that’s that’s That’s a really interesting concept Though they’ve built this Essentially a theme company that’s not Monetized and They monetize through well they probably Sell some themes but like You know it’s like if you go and check Like what are the best teams i think They’re recommended in the free ones but Not that much from the paid ones you Know Yeah um but like yeah and but the thing Is like the theme company the It’s like it makes it a legit company It’s easier to get link building it’s Easier to like I mean obviously the footer links were a Big deal now they don’t follow them so i Don’t know how much they count But they might have counted quite a lot At the beginning to actually get the Rankings and then eventually get links From ranking and kind of get that Snowball of stuff going et cetera But for me i like the idea a lot of Essentially starting a real business as An excuse for link building and also Making Almost products free you know and we’ll Talk a little bit about
Uh the same concept on the last site That we’re going to talk about on this Uh on this podcast because it’s it’s It’s slightly similar and you will see That this guy is also is also Ranking and banking um so i think um Yeah i like i like this idea and Personally is the kind of Stuff that i’m quite interested in doing Like if we wanted to build like a Challenging project together That’s the kind of stuff i’d be Interested in how do we actually make Something That uh is more legit than than the Just a random preview website Um doesn’t the main activity doesn’t Need to be Amazing at generating a lot of money Just this to be amazing at generating Links Um and then just use the Domain authority to monetize with Affiliate and essentially make this A much more passive thing in the long Run because all they have to do now is Just maintain their free themes i guess And um and then they get a lot of links They get because how many people Recommend themes et cetera and we link To them or whatever like it’s There’s a big opportunity and also um With the wordpress teams what they have Access to
As well is webmasters through widgets in The wordpress Admin panel like you know when you when You have a plugin or a theme on Someone’s Website you can actually put a widget on The Dashboard and then you could even Promote your content you could do stuff Like that so it’s good It’s got a big opportunity overall but i Like i like i don’t know which comes First kind of like chicken in the egg You know like i don’t know if it was Even their plan initially it feels like They probably pivoted into that at some Point Mm-hmm yeah but like if you look at the Amount of content they have and How much have they published et cetera They’re definitely a published Publishing company now and there’s at Least as much effort towards that as There is towards the wordpress the WordPress team Side of things and i would suspect There’s a lot more effort towards that Actually Um so yeah that’s why i would i like This one i would also just add that the Content is actually Pretty damn good it’s good on the site Like it’s really really well written Um they’ve broken it down nicely it’s
Very easy to read off the page um It was one of the inspirations for the Atari hacker we design actually they Were on the list Um because i think this site is really Well built um Like the way they recommend videos at The bottom as well to boost their Youtube channel and things like that We took that from them um so yeah that’s Why i i quite like this site i think It’s it’s worth looking at and i love The idea Of building you could be building maybe Even a service company at the beginning Right you could be building Um but like it you you and then you Build free tools Let’s say that like people can use and Then people link to that and then with All that you eventually Transition to content but you have the Domain authority the r4050 at that point It’s much easier to actually grow from That so um Yeah i i think for several niches it’s Something that can be done And that is a bit of a fresh take on Building an affiliate site So that’s t-mile basically i’ll let you Take the next one which is also very Interesting The next one is supercomfysleep.com Um unsurprisingly uh a sleep um
Mattress type type site and it’s Definitely one of the best i feel niches Yeah good niche i i do not like this Site though Um me neither but look what’s it what’s Interesting about them What’s interesting about this is they Have the highest traffic to dr Ratio i think i’ve ever seen uh so Their their dr is thirty three zero And ahrefs is reporting 265 k months of Traffic And semrush 650k a month in the sleep Niche Um which is very completely super Competitive Highly highly monetized high value Products Huge affiliate commissions and from what I’ve heard as well Very very cutthroat like sites are doing All sorts of nasty stuff to each other There there’s like That that crazy lawsuit with uh casper And sleepopolis.com Uh several years back uh back if just Google Casper sleepopolis.com and you’ll find The whole story about how The company the mattress company like Sued them and then took it over and then Changed all their reviews and all it was Crazy um so that’s the that’s the Industry they’re in
Their uh sleep supercomfysleep.com Uh was started just a few years ago so Early 2017 Only has i mean i say only still quite a Lot but Considering how much traffic and Probably how much money they’re making Only has 865 linking root domains in ahrefs They monetize surprise surprise by Amazon but Mostly through um i’m presuming more of Their money comes through the mattress Affiliate programs for They do a lot of amazon too because they Write about random that’s Semi-related to sleeping like you know Most comfortable futon for example is The Number one page for traffic um i’m just Not monetizable through these high Paying Mattress uh programs they do have some That are but yeah Yeah so there’s uh casper is a classic Example in in the us They it’s like a mattress in a box um i Think you can try it for a hundred Nights and Still return it and also stuff like that Um But i think they pay six percent Commission Um at a sort of base level i’m sure you
Can negotiate much higher than that Beyond beyond that But the mattresses cost i don’t know how Much it costs like 600 bucks or something like that um i Could be wrong um But it could be even a thousand like i Don’t know exactly but it’s pretty i’m Sure they have different Tiers of it right but uh either way Mattresses huge Huge huge amount of money um in in that Space Very very competitive and this the site Just seems to be doing very fast growing As well Very fast growing in trends they just Seem to be doing really really well And the crazy thing is the content’s not That great It’s yeah i mean i wouldn’t say if you Were buying a mattress and you found one Of their pages How would you yeah so when i was when i Was you know Researching this um i i was like getting Tired and like Bored just like looking at the content On the page there’s something about it Which just looks Like oh my god i do not want to read This they have this Paragraphs with like 50 sentences in it Huge walls of text
Really really bad featured images that Look like they’re done in microsoft Paint This they use every classic stock image In the book They’re badly aligned the font just Doesn’t Look nice and it’s just ah i hate it i Hate it i hate it Like just to be clear though we’re Saying it’s But that’s through our kind of lens As a user i i guess the the raw content Like it’s not Terrible like it’s there’s many sites Out there that are really really bad They just They’re there’s a few things that They’re doing really really badly Um and i don’t think it really Encourages the phones are too small Et cetera the spacing in like the the Whole thing looks Weird um but basically i think this is a Testament of how our gray hat probably Still works That’s my opinion um because if you’re In ahrefs they only have Um 525 pages which is a lot but it’s not A lot for the amount of traffic they get Um so it’s like you know initially when I saw that site i was like okay they’re Brute forcing it through publishing an Absolute ton of content so i was
Expecting 10 000 pages or something and i’d be Like okay then if you divide the traffic Per page then maybe It would make sense um but that wasn’t The case either right so In my opinion i mean two things i went To the backlinks Obviously and i found a lot of like Quite relevant links from Random sleep sites um so that’s why in The nose In a note i put sleep site mafia Question mark Um because um there’s either some kind Of pbn That is hidden from ahrefs where there’s Like you know a thousand sites linking To that site The ahrefs doesn’t even crawl because They’re blocked through the urban txt And so even the dr is not considered There and maybe they actually like if These were crawled they would be dr 70 Or something like this and like That would look a lot more real um Oh i don’t know they like they seem to Have some like some some links from Very sleep related sites as well that i Mean i don’t think many people read These sites Um they actually get links like they got A few homepage links from some E-commerce companies
In the sleep niche as well for example Like um testimonials stuff like that Um so it’s like there there is some Fairly good links in there but i refuse To so are you are you saying that There’s a conspiracy theory and all Uh big sleep sites are are owned by one Individual slash company But probably the guy who created bitcoin As well that nobody knows who it is Um but uh it’s the is the deep state i Think But uh no it’s like i don’t know like But like It seems like there’s a lot of Connections happening here like this This might be a site that uh they Created on the site but they all know so A bunch of e-commerce brands and things Like that like I could imagine something like that it’s Like you can’t just Jump in that niche and get that level of Success idea 30 with that And and with content that’s really like Nothing to write home about So yeah it’s there is something hidden Here i couldn’t crack it exactly Um i so usually the thing i do Is uh this is when my uh my life My lifetime sub start account is very Useful so substat is basically a much Smaller competitor to Hr and cmrs it’s not as good uh but it’s
Also cheaper and they run an appsumo Several years ago Where they sold a lifetime account and And Very often people block hrs blog see a Much etc but don’t block serves that And so that’s when i jump on myself that Account i’m like okay what are you Hiding guys i couldn’t really find Anything this time Um but uh but that is a trick by the way It’s like you can use much smaller tools If the bigger tools are being blocked so If you’re in a very competitive niche It might be worth actually having Subscriptions to these smaller tools Just to actually find the stuff that They forgot to block from the smaller Tools Robots um something something Is like my spidey sense is tingling Something is off about this site so When i first came when i first came on The site um There’s a picture which i now think is a Stock image i thought it was like the Owner of the site and his like wife and His kids On a mattress like sleeping but it’s i Think it’s just a stop stop i saw this i Was like The image if you load it in a 4k monitor It’s not even centered it’s like off to The left
Their facebook and twitter icons on Their Their menu don’t leave it anywhere they Have no social media presence Their contact us page is just a form it Doesn’t even say anything it’s just uh It goes nowhere as well the about us the About us page oh let’s check this Out oh my god I’m gonna read the whole about us page For the purposes of people who are Listening to this We are we are a team of experienced Researchers and writers with a genuine Passion for high quality sleep products All types from mattresses and pill Matches to pillows and down comforters We recognize the importance of sleep in Our life As such our mission is provided Genuinely useful relevant high quality Information to our readers Which will help them to choose the right Mattresses and sleep products That will allow them to get super comfy Sleep Right sensors like you you do girl you Know with like six farmers in it It’s probably my site i just do it i Sleepwalk and i just build that side This This but that’s the entire about us page There’s no photos no inform Information nothing there’s no writing
At all it’s just There’s one paragraph of text is the About us page their privacy policy Mentions no company or individual people Um they have no way of contacting them As far as i can see Um i’ve no idea who owns a site um Although they seem to have their logos Has a registered trademark around it Apparently Um do you think our life is at risk for Revealing this site I’m a bit scared that the sleep the Sleep mattress mafia are going to come Get us now to be honest Yeah it’s possible um okay anything else To say about this side because Like i think we’ve said what we have to Say yeah yeah so that’s a real sight The article about casper and sleepopolis The title of it is The war to sell you a mattress so that That gives you an indication of how Hostile this this industry is Yeah and so and when you see these kind Of sites it’s just like I’m sure someone if someone can crack it And put it in the comments on youtube That’d be amazing by the way Um i had about like i i looked at that Site for like 40 minutes or something And couldn’t really crack it um but if Someone can crack it i’d be quite Curious i’ll show you when i cracked at
The end of this podcast later the last One By the way cracked we’re not telling you To hack this right we just mean like Uh you know figuring understand how they Do it how it’s working well and So well in google considering they’re Like do not hack these sites we’ll call A toy hacker i get it it’s a good term It’s a bit scary Um people we still look like a Company We got a funny funny side note i’d say We got blocked On some banks in canada’s uh Wi-fi network because they had a um I guess keyword filter anything which Had hacker in the domain name Your site got blocked and uh some guy Who’s a member Couldn’t couldn’t get access to our site So i had to like email their It department and say hey we’re not Actually hackers we’re Talking about growth hacking and because Good hackers put hacker in their domain Name Yeah exactly exactly it’s like they can Fish you etc but They forget about that always it’s Really easy to catch them actually Um anyway next one um it’s going to be Security.org A much much nicer site um which is about
Home security home cameras stuff like That also pretty It’s like it’s not as competitive as Like mattresses but it’s still Still like up there in the competitive Niches so this side is the r66 According to ahrefs they get they have 226 000 Uh traffic and according to scmrush they Have 290 1000 so it’s pretty close this Time you know like Let’s just round it at 250 and they have 418 pages indexed So about as many as the other slip side But that side Is different however this they actually They might be just better than these Slip guys because um Same if you open the homepage you see This uh our mission is to help you etc With these amazing Office photos and you actually see the Site on the laptop when you do that Right So reverse a reverse image search the Actual images and they’re all Blatant stock images as well so all of This is actually fake Um and they’re actually uh so yeah this Is not real basically all the all the Imagery Is um poorly edited stock images With their website with their branding i Wouldn’t say poorly edited
Like it it would have convinced me if i Didn’t really take a double look at it If these people didn’t look so good yeah Um it would have convinced me too Um but like i don’t think uh especially In the uk that’s not how people look Like Um anyway Um how do they monetize are they Monetized with amazon a lot actually Um amazon has it’s pretty deep into the Market for like the Cameras when you for the doorbells et Cetera like they actually have their own Product lines Uh they monetize with other affiliate Programs for security Uh programs which actually play quite Well stuff like simply save for example Um these as well offer subscriptions now So you can actually pay for someone to Actually check the camera At your place and notify you there’s a Problem like they basically offer that As a subscription So there are affiliates for all of that Uh the reason i like this site because i Really like the branding i think they’ve Done a good job at picking Even though the stock images are are Questionable the thing is like it’s Questionable but like 99 of people would be would not see that Um and i think it’s it’s it’s quite
Believable and they’ve done a good job At picking up the stuff that’s like From the wire cutter and all the stuff That a lot of people have uh done Recently And beautiful layouts For their pages so if you go on the best Home security camera for example you see That they have their top picks Uh that look really nice with some Skulls and then they have a horizontally Scrollable table so you can on mobile It’s quite easy to go through that as Well Um and it’s it’s really really really Quite well built so even though the Branding For the photos is is pretty bad overall I think Uh if you wanted to build a modern Looking affiliate site these days You would build that site actually um So i quite like it they also have some They do skyscraper as well it’s it’s Funny because They it looks very much like what we Would build for our sites In terms of like choices for content Right so for example they have like a Social media reading your life et cetera So they got a bit broad But they’re able to generate quite a bit Of links um They also have one thing that is
Interesting is they Have something that i like a lot these Days they have brand pages right so if You’re going to home security on the Menu And you have on the right you have Popular home security brands and they Actually have spotlights for the Individual brands And they essentially like um use that to Structure their site ending to the Products that they review etc which Is a clean way of promoting your site And also maybe getting The brands to link to that page itself So it’s kind of like a link bait for the Brands themselves Um so i quite like what they’ve done They’re good seo people and it shows From their traffic from their branding Et cetera so if you want A site to model after there’s not much Else it’s just Well executed overall um then it’s a It’s a good site to look at i believe i Didn’t look in their links I’d be curious to see how How clean it is i’m not sure it is super Clean actually it’s a very new site as Well it was Only uh i think it was like 2019 or Something And i couldn’t find much else but They’re doing very aggressive link
Building from the link curves I’ve seen actually so um if you have a Look under one thing they do do well is They have Uh the actual people behind it who are Working on it On the about page but what’s interesting Is they have links to their linkedin And so i went the the guy who’s at the Top Is not like it’s not usually have Co-founder or owner or ceo or something It’s just director of content so it that Said to me like okay maybe this is part Of a larger organization so i went on His linkedin And it says director of content at Security.org At center field and like center fields Uh the the company name essentially so i Clicked on the company name Um it took me to their linkedin page and It says they have 1000 to 5 000 Employees Um centrefield.com it’s one of these It’s i believe it’s kind of like red Ventures the company that owns Um the pointsguy creditcards.com and a Bunch of these Bunch of these other sites um and The tagline is turn shoppers of your Service into buyers of your brand Marketing services omni channel media Automated optimization end-to-end
Measurement I don’t really know what this that that Means but it looks as if They are a massive company who is Uh starting or running a bunch of these Websites As a small part of a much wider Operation to like Direct traffic to specific brands if You’re on this website it’s very easy to Reach out to you know adt ring alarms Simply safe and say hey you know we can Feature you on here and Uh you know try and upsell them to all Other marketing services And and that so it’s it’s part of a big Big company that’s why It looks so good um the content’s really Really good the design That makes sense because when you click On the simply save link actually the Only attributes on it are like um Analytics attributes so they just tag With utm but i’m pretty sure they have Um They have custom deals based on that Traffic etc and they’re just like Invoice monthly or something Yeah um so it’s quite interesting but The links are Really good actually they have links From wired wikipedia engadget Uh pc mag I mean there’s there’s a good chance
That they they own a lot of these these Companies as well yeah i don’t know you Know It might be but like they’re yeah They’re they’re big and it’s like if you Compare that to the The sleeping site it’s it’s night and Day still it’s still like really well Built basically like it’s it’s much Nicer much more professional Than the sleeping site and much less Dodgy when i look at the link profile They actually say and they have a Section Uh on who they serve home security they Say they drive more than A hundred million dollars in sales for Leading home security companies Now i’m sure it’s not all from this Decide they’re probably on many sites They’re probably doing a lot of Paid traffic ppc media buying campaigns As well But it’s just i guess it’s like another Way another thing to bolt on to your Your agency really Um but it’s really impressive what They’re doing yeah So yeah they’re doing uh it’s like it’s A good site to look at i think it’s like I like to look at these big sites and How they do things and i think um I think it’s a good example if you want To decide to model after even though
You won’t do as well it’s normal don’t Worry it’s still A good inspiration um let’s jump on the Next site Next site is garage gympower.com Unsurprisingly a site about garage gyms Very very popular Um in 2020 at least So it’s a dr29 site which is relatively Low But still getting a hundred uh ahrefs Reporting 100k Traffic it has 471 linking root domains And it’s a little over three years old Started in january 2017. Um this is quite realistic for people Who listen won’t start Building a site like that this is within Your reach you know for pretty much Everyone listening For sure what i love about it is it’s a I think it’s a really really nice design Really really slick they do use stock Images throughout their uh their site But they also use it looks like their Own illustrated Images to to highlight certain points They have this Always stay motivated section which Looks like there’s a bunch of like Instagram Quotes and um people so i’m not sure if They’re Trying to do some community stuff not
Just be a plain affiliate site basically Exactly exactly and uh their content is Legitimately good So i actually set up a home gym uh Earlier this year so i’m Somewhat familiar with it there’s There’s a lot of really good content in This space Um there’s garage gym reviews i think is Yeah uh is really popular it’s a youtube Channel um And yeah just really really good content That Most of people genuinely know what They’re what what they’re talking about And Recommend good products and know what to Look for all that kind of thing Um so difficult space in terms of like Competition from a content knowledge Perspective i guess Um but not insurmountable either um you Don’t need any kind of technical Degree or whatever um to to To partake in this i think i like their Content a lot It’s very short very snappy they almost Write like gail does when he’s writing a Email copy for authority hacker there’s A lot of like One-line sentences like that’s great Exclamation mark is one paragraph and Then they go on to that it’s almost like There’s a copywriter behind it uh which
Which i love Uh really easy to consume this this kind Of content On a blog there but they still do the Classics right they still do roundup Reviews they still do all of that so It’s like They don’t break that’s that’s what they Just think that’s what they oh you know That’s within the roundup review they’re They they talk like that um so their Best power racks for home gym Um very sort of cookie cutter intro Table of contents Uh they have 15 mini reviews of of all The products what i would have liked to See there is maybe Best gym rat or best power rack for On a budget for tall people for whatever Um different situations that’s maybe a Way to break it down Um it doesn’t appear to be ranked in Terms of Which is the best it’s just a dump of 15 Of them then they go into the how to Choose section which is A little bit bit filler and then they Have It looks like they’re targeting a bunch Of additional related keywords so Difference between power rack and squat Rack for example and then below that They have what Uh like a heading what is a power rack
What is a squat rack I went and checked they’re also asked Questions no Yeah so i i went and checked and they Rank number 26 for what is a squat rack So You know there’s something in there it’s Not obviously doing anything for them at The moment but I feel like they do that enough it’s Probably having some kind of result Right No it might work so it’s like if they so They might be the answer in what is a Square rack Or what does this call right because When you click on one is on one of these People also ask you i actually get a Link at the bottom right Um so they might be in there actually And they might be on page one for this Uh even though they rank 26 for the Actual query I think it’s it’s what they might be Getting for and overall what this does Is when you write these it just Increases your relevancy for the terms And it just helps you rank higher For even like best power rank and stuff Like that essentially so Um yeah i like doing that a lot as well These days just to be taking People also ask it’s easy for the Writers it works for google
People don’t mind reading that too much As well just like quick and snappy they Just like scroll Through the questions and then they just Pick the one they want to read and you Know in the in that new google this is This is where What kind of works basically yeah um Yeah I like this site because it’s realistic For people to build something like that But i think it’s quite well executed While also being reachable by a newbie Basically i also think that the The images are probably stock images but Whatever they’ve done to them they look Quite good they don’t look like They’ve just taken them straight out With shutterstock or whatever Um they embed a lot of youtube videos Not their own Other people’s um in in there if there’s Like a specific question about squatting Within a review say they use a lot of Images sections uh boxes color boxes To break up the the content they Definitely don’t have They’re probably one of the best Examples of avoiding wall of text Syndrome Um i think i’ve i’ve i’ve seen so maybe Someone should send their site over to Uh supercomfysleep.com and for they can Give us some inspiration
And they can fix that uh okay anything Else on this side No no i think it’s a great site okay Let’s wrap it up and the next The next one which is the last one uh is An interesting one because Uh he’s actually he’s like he was Competing he’s competing with us For some kills actually destroying us Um so it’s foreign it’s quite good Because it’s like uh and the website is Adamantfreud.com uh i think he was on Petfin’s podcast as well Um so he’s trying to build a name for Himself it’s very interesting Because he popped out of nowhere and Started ranking for Some pretty big keywords both Informational And affiliate in online marketing right Uh and he started the site at the end of 2019 That’s where i saw an interest let me Check that actually well that sounds That sounds really ugly but he’s dr 77 Already which is Quite impressive to be honest and so i Saw this guy pop on the subs and Actually beating us for a lot of curry We have a lot of continental updates On the tory hacker we know what we need To do we just don’t have really the bad Ways to deal with it right now so Uh don’t blame us but like it i saw this
Guy pop and actually i showed him to Team solo right And uh and i’m like i don’t care what Happens but i will crack what this guy Does I will understand how he ranks so high And i will just sacrifice my entire life To that task if i need to but i will do This you know And so i spent a lot of time looking at It until Mark realized that he had a he had Literally an ebook where he just Explains how he does it or something Um but anyway i actually found Through other ways how he did i can’t Really save where it comes from because I promised that person i would not tell That but basically the way adam got a Lot of links to his site Uh because that’s the interesting part How he got the r77 how he got this much Traffic he has 200 and six thousand According to hs by the way Uh and 151 according to seomah but the Way he got so many links Was very very smart and i think uh A lot of people are starting to pick up That tactic in terms of link building we Should maybe even do a whole podcast On that at some point um but what he did Is he approached Very very reputable sites that have an Editorial team et cetera
Um high dlcs like the r60 plus etc size And uh and actually adam used to be The affiliate manager for big commerce i Think So he got to meet a lot of people etc so His job etc And what he did is he essentially Secured a few Regular contributor spots for Some big blocks and then what he did is He approached other sites saying he’s Like guys i’m posting on these four or Five Really high dr sites do you want me to Include links to your site When i do a blog post next time and in Exchange all you have to do is add links To these pages on my pay On my site from these pages on your site Etc and the way i spotted that by the Way is because One of my friends actually has links to His site uh Can’t say who and i was like there’s no way That that this guy that i know Personally would have linked to that Site with our incentives So i was able to essentially get the get The interaction basically Um and this guy didn’t know as well he Told him how did he did his post before That Um but anyway so it’s essentially what
The what the deal Adam offered to a lot of people and what He ended up getting is pretty much links From a lot of sites because We all know that links in this industry Is like crack and cocaine In like a like you know a junky Neighborhood you know It’s like people will literally just do Anything especially if nobody else can See and it’s like in a in a private Email Correspondence et cetera and so what he Got he got a lot of exact matching Context to His roundup reviews for like this Webinars etc from Very reputable blog posts on very Reputable sites and not just random Pages pages that have a lot of links Themselves so he was really smart about That In exchange for him mentioning them in His guest post and As he did that then he was just Essentially expanding the number of Places he could do guest posts on and Keep doing more trades and trade and Reaching out to more sites and Eventually he was able to build that Giant network where he was able to like You know get the link trays in a way That would actually favor his website Um whether that’s good or not like
Honestly i’m not here i i don’t think It’s a very dirty tactic I think it’s not bad compared to like What most people do for link building Is actually i believe in the on the Clean side like he doesn’t pay for Anything etc like Uh fair enough actually i don’t know if He doesn’t pay that part i don’t know But I don’t think he does um and i think the The approach was very very smart i’m Kind of pissed off i didn’t come up with It myself Um so congratulations to him that was Very good Uh and as a result he ranks really high For a lot of affiliate keywords in the Online marketing space that has highly High fit commissions he makes a lot of Money for me i think he has an income Report i think he makes 80k something Per month Um so yeah i think that was quite Interesting That is the interesting part about his Business i’m honestly not a huge fan of His content on his site i don’t think It’s It’s you know he’s breaking um there was A there was that french thing that said It doesn’t break two legs to a duck Don’t ask me why people say that in French
But they said actually My mom would say that okay so my mom Would say that doesn’t break two legs to A dog Um i don’t think he’s amazing but the The way he did the link building the way He orchestrated it Was very smart and obviously from Looking at his site it works I think his his content is like it’s Okay um Yes it’s like terrible it’s not amazing His link building is genuinely amazing i Think it’s one of the best cases of A well-executed um Sort of white hat i guess link building Campaign Um i think if you go to dreadmuller and You ask john mueller He says that though yeah he would say Anything we do is greyhound too so it’s Like I’m just saying like let’s just fair Enough fair enough But no i mean like hats off the guy i um I bought i think he has like a course Like it’s not a very good chorus i’ll be Honest with you Um but is uh there’s there’s a really Good point in there and he Just the way he structures things he’s Very well organized he has a real sort Of like hustle about him And i can tell he’s he’s really good at
Good at lean building but he’s So he’s pre-linking to sites before he Outreaches to them to ask for a guest Post In another guest post so he’ll he’ll Have like six links out of one guest Post And it like fight one will be to his own Site and five will be to a target Which he’s um going to outreach to in Future then Yeah he can go in saying hey i’ve Already linked to you can i get a guest Post Kind of thing um so he’s really smart About You know taking taking different angles To try and offer Some value up front and and get his foot In the door Um oh maybe we’ll have to have him on The podcast at some point and interview Him and grill him about how he how he i Don’t know what you said about his Course i doubt it but uh let’s see Um honestly i would like it though it’s Like um i think it’d be quite Interesting but uh yeah i think that was This is a really great case study it Shows that uh i i think he hustled like Crazy though i think he like he Walked like 15 hours a day like non-stop Super hardcore grind et cetera like he He he earned it um but this is this is
Like it’s a good thing it’s like this is What you can achieve In a really short space of time if you Like go for it you know yeah So that is basically it for this part Guys i kind of like i’m ready to wrap it Up here i think that was The last one uh let us know if you like This because actually the good thing With this format is we can just pick Another step inside if we one day and Actually just do that format again so Uh drop us a comment below and let us Know if you want us To do more of this kind of format uh if You guys enjoy it or not Or if you’d rather us just go for like Broader topics etc Um but overall well we hope you enjoyed And if you did don’t forget to Yeah i just want to say as well if Anyone’s like listening in their car and Didn’t catch any of these sites so they Want to go research them in more detail If you go to authorityhacker.com podcast You’ll find this episode and in the show Notes we’ll put links to all these sites So you can you can check them out there Yeah and if you Uh want to if you want to see the video Version as well if you haven’t seen that Because we’ll be putting Bureau and you’ll be seeing the pages we
Talk about etc you can go and check that And if you are on youtube You can drop us a thumb up and you can Subscribe below because that would help Us a lot And you can also subscribe to the audio Podcast as we mentioned We hope you enjoyed this episode i will See you in the next one [Music] You