Hey everyone in today’s episode we are Going to be trying something completely New with the podcast we are going to be Diving deep into a single niche Analyzing the top players looking at What they do looking at how they do link Building etc it’s going to be really Interesting because that is one of the Niches that i’ve often taken as example As i you know show examples in seo in The newsletter on twitter etc and that Is the vpn so we are going to dive deep In we’re going to be talking about how They’re monetizing and we’re also going To be drawing Lessons from what these sites are doing In this very competitive niche that you Can use on your sites in maybe less Competitive niches and you know even if You’re not in a vpn niche i expect You’ll get a lot of value from this Episode so let us know if you like that Kind of podcast in the comments and if You do don’t forget to like and Subscribe because we might be doing more Of them if you guys are actually Enjoying it but without fluffing it Anymore let’s get started with the Episode [Music] Hey everyone welcome back to the atari Hacker podcast this week we are trying Something a little bit new uh something We haven’t done before so we’re looking
Forward to hear your feedback on this Whether you like it you don’t like it And what we’re going to do is we are Going to be talking about a niche in Particular we have spent some time you Know googling it looking at the keywords Analyzing it looking at the top sites Etc check what they do etc and we just Want to dive deep and kind of like use Their example as you know a more generic Uh Source of ideas for what to do with your Site but before that Mark how’s it going It’s going good and i’m just thinking This must be the only way the only video On youtube talking about vpns that’s not Sponsored by a vpn company Every video i seem to watch these days Is sponsored by surf shark or nord or One of one of these big vpn companies Yeah yeah it’s like it’s interesting That uh Just so you know we didn’t say that but We are going after the vpn niche today So we’re going to talk about the Viennese uh which is an interesting one If you don’t know what vpn is a vpn is Basically a piece of software that you Install on your phone on your laptop Whatever that uh essentially wraps your Internet traffic through some servers so That you can anonymize your web traffic So people can’t tell what you’re doing
Um so it’s used for example to access Like a lot of people use the an american Ipo bro to access you know netflix Content or amazon prime content that Kind of stuff that is geolocalized uh You can use it for that you can use it Also to protect yourself on public wi-fi So that the people administrating the Wi-fi don’t see all the websites you’re Visiting they just see you connecting to The vpn Ip basically uh and it does a bunch of Other stuff that’s essentially what it Does what else do you use a vpn for So i think a lot of people use it for so Privacy from their isp so they can’t Like spy on them or anything like that And in some countries where yeah You know censorship and stuff then it’s It’s a bigger deal um but i’m not 100 Convinced that the public wi-fi thing is Really that big of a deal i mean Everything’s sort of https secured these Days anyway so Um yeah i think that’s that’s more like A marketing angle than uh I mean benefit my personal angle is Nobody gives a about your life It’s like that’s very true and it’s like It’s like it doesn’t matter how crazy Using your life is but it really isn’t For most people uh and so like from that Aspect i wouldn’t use it but at least That’s what that’s how they promote it
And they’re doing very well They got really popular after the whole Nsa edward snowden thing when was that Like 2012-13 Um and that when everyone real i mean Everyone kind of knew that that that was going on we you’re being spied On all the time but that was that really Like brought it to The mainstream yeah um yeah i mean i Don’t want to open the whole debate We’re not going to talk about politics Here um but i think uh there’s a reason Why we picked that niche at this moment Now and is that a bunch of big sites Have sold right uh big really big big Transactions right yeah so there’s a Press release uh very recently that a Site called comparatec Sold for didn’t give the exact number But it was between 50 and 100 million Dollars Which is a pretty big amount for uh an Affiliate site uh remember back in the Day when we were talking about the wire Cutter being you know this this massive Sale was only 30 million and then that’s Not even the biggest one uh vpn mentor Which i think Uh is probably the biggest vpn affiliate Site out there um at least the biggest One i could see on ahrefs um and that Sold recently for 150 million uh that’s A nine figure deal which is just crazy
It’s like this crazy like you know it’s Like it’s getting to like Big business numbers like i mean we’re Not in the billions yet it’s not like There is it’s not the instagram sale or Something like this but uh you know it’s Not it’s getting closer you know Right Yeah And what’s what’s so interesting about Both of these sales is that They were bought by like conglomerates Of Company or a company which owns a number Of other actual service providers so vpn Companies And in each case this was i think their First Foray into sort of vertical integration Buying buying an affiliate site as well And that’s something we’ve seen in other Niches it’s quite popular in the the Sleep space with uh the whole casper Sleepopolis uh story you can you can Read about that in the the new yorker The the article the war to sell you a Mattress I think we may be entering this of war To sell you a vpn quite soon as well With with all this consolidation but It’s just very interesting space and Clearly a lot of money uh go going Around if uh if they value these these Sites so highly yeah i mean they’re
Gonna use it basically as their sales Funnel right they’re gonna capture People on these pages then they’re Instead of being links it’s just gonna Be links to their vpn service or Whatever and then it’s just direct sales And they don’t have to pay the Affiliates anymore and um and that’s Pretty much the plan right Yeah it’s it’s it’s quite interesting uh I especially because it’s a tricky one Because i’ve always wondered if the the Vpn niche has picked already because i Feel like for a long time it’s been Growing a lot and a lot of people talked About it and and and it’s like they’re Doing lots of sponsorship and so on and But i don’t think I mean i don’t see people talk as much About it and so on especially with like Think about it people were like using These to watch let’s say streaming Services from the u.s abroad from the us For example like that big use of vpns Actual users are like it’s actually Useful for that um but the thing is uh Netflix for example posted a much like a Reduction of subscribers recently and It’s like it looks like even streaming Services are peaking right and so you’d Imagine that an adjacent industry like Vpns Is probably peaking with them And so it’s an interesting time to buy
When you you know the valuation might be Lower in like two or three years or Something i don’t know i don’t know what You think about this that could also Just be related to the economy in General you know if we’re heading for a Sort of recession even a short one then Everyone cancels these um you know extra Expenses to cut cut back of it so you’ve Got a lot of subscription fatigue that Came about during the pandemic as well And people are going to look for for What they can they can cut out if They’re cut out their netflix then Obviously it makes sense to cut out the Vpn if that’s what they they use it for As well but And the other thing as well is travel so That may work the other way around Because People haven’t been traveling that much Um over the last couple years but you Know the world’s starting to open up Again and more and more places are are Sort of opening so maybe vpns will be Be more used for that i mean like who’s Going to travel to visit china at the Moment hardly anybody unless you’re sort Of working there even if you’re walking There i don’t think you’re going you Know like Next next year the year after maybe it’s A different story and uh you know things Will things will change and then vpn
Suddenly more more needed on that front There’s actually also vpns are becoming Illegal in some countries i think india Just made them illegal um really yeah Yeah yeah i mean uae i think it’s Illegal as well um So yeah but the the uae a lot of stuff’s Illegal but it’s like it’s not really Prosecuted you know when i was Researching that niche uh for the Podcast i saw that like a lot of vpn Companies are now removing their servers From india following the the new laws And stuff so i haven’t like gone super Super deep into indian news But it looks like you know these kind of Governance are making illegals so it’s An interesting time to purchase i think Like i’m i’m surprised but i think what Happened is these sites they were Getting paid so much money in affiliate Commissions that it’s a net saving for These for these companies that are Buying them anyway because they were Giving the millions away uh and then There was no end to it as long as these Sites were ranking whereas now it’s like A one-off transaction and it’s probably Like overtime maybe performance-based Type stuff like you know you don’t just Get a lump sum of like 150 million Usually when you do these kind of deals Um so it’s like it’s possible dave There’s a downturn maybe it’s gonna be
Less and things like that i would say um Anyway let’s go and jump into like now We talked about vpn let’s talk about Like vpn sites i feel affiliate niche How do these sites work right so how do These sites make money All of them the Vast majority are making money as Affiliates so they’re promoting Vpn companies vpn service providers and Very little else you’ll rarely find ads On any vpn site um they rarely have any Other kind of like sponsorship deals or Anything else it’s a very simple Um model actually and there’s like a geo Affiliate There’s a lot of vpn companies but you Know there’s there’s maybe sort of like Five to ten big ones and everyone seems To to promote those those same few Um and so that actually simplifies your Site a lot and there’s a lot of Advantages there if you think of you Know any amazon site you have especially Like a broader site you’re promoting Hundreds possibly thousands of products You have all the links to manage you’ve Got to worry about stuff being in and Out of stock because it’s physical Products you have none of that hassle With uh with a with a vpn uh affiliate Because you’re just promoting the same One they’re never out of stock and You know if you get enough volume um
Then you could probably get some pretty Good um like commission raises or bumps Uh through negotiation as well just Because you know it’s very easy to Direct a hundred percent of your number One rankings on your site to one Specific vpn and sort of change that Around yeah one thing that’s interesting As well is like yeah there’s like 10 Products probably 10 products you’re Promoting across all your pages But you also have lots and lots and lots Of keywords that you can promote in this Niche for the times 10 same products It’s kind of like a dream as an Affiliate it’s like write lots of pages That can write for that can rank sorry For lots of uh keywords And all promoting the same products so You don’t have the problem like them Being out of stock or like you know uh Like they change there’s a new model for The year things like that but if you Think of keywords i mean What i saw from looking at uh vpn sites And i look at that initial lot because Because it’s such a pure affiliate niche Actually like you know they’re like It’s it’s the archetype of the affiliate Site when you look at the other vpn It’s a it’s a very place a very good Place for me to learn so like you know When i was writing newsletters and stuff It’s been a great place for me to find
Examples to show stuff uh especially Because as we’ll talk about later it’s Very competitive so these people have to Be cutting edge as well but in terms of Keywords do you think about it how to Sell a vpn well there’s people people Are using it to access content from Their country abroad right so one of the Types of keywords that is available is Best vpn for countries so best vpn for Friends the vpn for the uk best vpn for Ireland best vpn for the us vpn for Korea et cetera so there’s as many Keywords as there are countries and Actually even i’m sure that i haven’t Looked but i’m sure there’s like Regional keywords as well like people Like you know best vpn for europe svpn For south america best vpn these are not Countries but like all geographies you Could think about right um so that’s Already like hundreds of keywords just For that one category but also people Are using these vpns to Access content online right to access Content that should not that is joke Geolocally uh targeted so you cannot Access where you are And so people target keywords also like How to watch Uh and then name of content online or Name of network online so how to watch Amazon prime outside the us so how to Watch uh orange is the new black outside
The us like name of tv show name of Whatever and again like as many types of Contents as there are there are there’s A new keyword that has its own intent And everything so you here’s a few Hundred more pages for your site now There is 10 very popular 10 ish very Popular vpn services as well and people Google the vs keywords at a very high Volume as well thousands for the top Ones like you know not vpn versus Expressvpn is thousands of visits per Month for thousands of searches per Month and eight trips which is quite a Lot for vs keyword uh so again with all The permutations that you can think of And you can probably go down the top 50 Services and get some volume That’s a lot of traffic and lots of Pages that they can write about selling The exact same services and if they’re Popular there’s also alternatives right So people are looking for like you know Node vpn alternative soft shark Alternatives Pia alternatives et cetera like lots of Them yeah there’s a there’s this like Constant battle that uh the some of These sites some some of these vpn Companies have with streaming services Like netflix and amazon prime where the Streaming services has to have to be Seen to be Sort of trying to combat the vpn um for
Whatever to satisfy the thing Yeah exactly yeah i’m not sure how much They really care But They at least have to make an effort to To fight fight back against them um and So that the copyright holders are you Know happy everyone’s getting their Royalties in the correct country and Stuff um but as a result if it doesn’t If it’s not working on one vpn then People quickly look for an alternative That does work and then you know not Only that Like they’re looking for alternative Right they might be looking for like pia Alternative for example but Uh they’re also looking for solution to Their problems right so it’s like they Will be googling like netflix is not Working with self shock or like netflix Not working with whatever or like and Then it’s like amazon prime not working With vpn so it’s like service not Working with and then uh name of vpn for Example again hundreds of kilos Permutations here with traffic that is Potentially buying uh quite easily then One thing i didn’t mention as well is You can install these vpns on like you Know your phone your laptop your tablet Everything all of them have different Models and they have different uh Operating systems and again like you
Know best vpns for mac with vpns for Windows but vpn for chromebook there’s Vpn for android buzzypin like there’s Like Dozens and dozens more keywords there And then there’s so much more like so It’s like It’s kind of the dream Uh affiliate niche because as i said few Products Lots of keywords to say to sell the same Products and so that that’s why People can do a vpn site with thousands Of pages eventually All selling the same products all very With very high buyer intent for all These keywords And so it’s quite it’s it’s really quite The perfect storm of a niche i would say You know it’s quite it’s quite Interesting how there’s so many Permutations like people are looking for A very specific like best vpn In La rochelle france to watch netflix but It’s not working with but uh you know They’re looking for a very specific Thing But i i don’t know like i’ve used vpn Software for a number of years now and They’re kind of like all the same really They’re all the same there’s nothing i’m Pretty sure they cost through the same Servers too actually
They’re not really One is not really that much better than The other especially for a very specific Use case um i was reading this book Alchemy by by rory sutherland and he Said that there are there are drug Companies who they’ll make like Headache or pain medicine for your lower Back but it’s still just basic Paracetamol they just put it’s a Labeling and marketing so it’s kind of Like similar dynamic here people like A more specialized solution even if It’s all the same underlying solution at The end of the end of the day i think That’s what’s what’s happening there Yeah but but you can see if you go in Ahrefs and you check for this keyword Like just type best vpn in any queue Tool and look at all the long term Variations Uh and and you will understand like how Much demand there is for all these Different things and and the thing as Well is like it’s not just that but People might also be googling like how To Watch netflix in france for example or They’re not saying vpn in their query But they’re looking for a vpn you know And a lot of these like use cases There’s so many because it’s applying to So many platforms and so many things Like that so really thousands and
Thousands of keywords that you can find For this niche are all selling the same Products and that means that it’s quite Interesting because that means you can Do volume for given products so it’s Like the hard thing as an affiliate it’s It’s like if you go off amazon forget Amazon Is to sell a high volume Of the same product because then you can Negotiate commission higher commissions And you can essentially get more money For the same amount of work uh and so When you do traditional seo It’s it’s quite tricky right let’s say You’re selling uh i don’t know selling Paintball guns of course uh It’s more difficult because um if you Are like going for like best Short range paintball gun versus best Sniper paintball gun you’re gonna sell Two different products right um they Might be from the same brand so might be Able to get a deal but they might also Be from different brands whereas if you Do base vpn for mac and base vpn for Windows it’s the same product usually Like it’s just like it’s just a Different client and it’s all the same And so you’re able to achieve volume You’re able to negotiate higher Commissions and again it kind of like Adds up to that perfect storm of uh Being an affiliate for that niche
Basically i don’t know what you think But yeah I think that also makes it incredibly Competitive yeah though that’s the one Thing we didn’t say it Because that that’s i guess the biggest Downside because all of those perfect Storm factors are in alignment a lot of People have tried to make sites and a Lot of people have succeeded to the sort Of nine figure level at least so You know it’s it’s difficult for a new Site or it looks like a very difficult Niche for a new site To get into You know even if you google some of the Top top level keywords the vpn sites uh The ones we’re talking about that sold Are not ranking it’s all sort of pc mag And Big international publications have Created vpn sections because It’s just so so lucrative and they’re There’s you know we’re talking like dr 98 being the average on page one for Some of these keywords Uh so yeah it’s quite quite an Intimidating place to get started in i Think it’s one of these niches that i’ve Used as a benchmark to evaluate how big Publications are like taking over Affiliate queries for example obviously It’s probably one of the most extreme Ones and if you go to like more niche
Stuff it’s going to be not extreme but Like it’s the perfect case study like You would google these keywords like Three four years ago you’d find these Vpn sites that sold like you’d find like Comparitec you’d find like uh oh you Know vpn mentor and so on and now that They’re like not on page one they did Yeah like 80 plus you know they’re not Like tiny sites or something they’ve Done like hard calling building and so On like again these are the kind of Sites that i look at to learn seo and so On uh and still They they couldn’t fight that tidal wave Of like the real big publishers like the You know the pc max and the cnets and Everything um and it’s quite interesting To see What’s been happening here because it’s It tells you like What now what two three years of uh core Updates have done to some subs um i it’s It’s really replaced like the niche Sites with like just big publications You know i the other day i can’t Remember i think the keyword was best Stake service like stick to eat you know Um forbes was ranking another one And i was like i’m sorry i’m sorry well I’m not exactly looking for forbes where I’m looking for that um and it’s like Yeah i think it’s a It’s one it’s really a good example of
This competitiveness um Where like niche sites are not Necessarily welcome anymore for the Biggest queries i mean if you check like I think vpn mentor still gets millions Of visits per month right it’s not Exactly like they’re like they’ve been Destroyed by updates but yeah there’s so Many other keywords exactly and lower Mid-level ones that it’s it’s still Massively massively profitable obviously For them Yeah so it’s like i’m not saying that This is like oh you can never do it Doing gloom etc i’m just saying that for The biggest queries of the niche Google has said pretty much like we Don’t want these specialized sites Anymore we just want these big Publications and it’s kind of like an Illustration of google’s fav google Favoring big dr sites i would say uh in This case Yeah um Although like in terms of content as Well like one one other thing i Wanted to talk about is how easy it is To actually create content in the in the Space compared to other affiliate niches Because we’re talking about a software Product here so getting hold of that i Mean you can pay whatever 5 10 bucks These these things cost And use it test it take the screenshots
Run whatever you need to to run and You’ve you’ve essentially got like a Product in hand type review Um versus you know if you’re reviewing Lawn mowers or garden chairs or Something you’re you’re spending Thousands of dollars to buy all these And Um you know take photos in your garden Of of their performance and and that so It’s The barrier to entry for Creating content i think is is Relatively low Um also just looking on sites like Problogger um there are I mean when we’ve run job ads in the Past for Specialist writers in like internet Marketing say you know you end up paying Quite a bit more than you would on it For like an average tech writer or Whatever i don’t know how much they Would cost these days but i would say Maybe about like six seven cents for Like a tech writer per per word Would be realistic do you think that’s a Fair estimation yeah i mean it depends On the level i would say like an average One like Yeah not world class not not terrible You know so you’re you’re not in a Situation where you have you know super Expensive writers like you might do in
Some kind of like medical field or if You need to hire vets or something like That Um it’s just it’s it’s fairly fairly Sort of like cookie cutter stuff too There’s a lot of yes That also means it’s really difficult to Stand out though because These Companies who have been doing this a Long time and who are just like They just have it down perfectly like The affiliate side of thing with the the Um Review the review boxes at the top the Individual um reviews of each each Product on like the roundup roundup page The screenshots like all that it’s just It’s well done and i don’t see too much Room to come in and like Improve on that because it’s already Kind of About as good as it can realistically Get there are many niches out there you Look at and think yeah the content’s Kind of average i could come in and do Something you know quite a bit better And gain a competitive advantage there With vpns like how are you going to gain A competitive advantage in content Very very difficult so then you’re Looking at well can i do better link Building And the answer is probably not because
Again Sites like vpn mentor They’re just insane the way they do link Building we talk we talked about them a Little bit in the podcast before when We’re talking about uh creative link Building examples i think we’ll maybe Link to that over here for those of you On youtube But they have What appears to be a team of people team Of security researchers Who just go around and try and find Security Breaches or you know data dumps of Passwords And they they try and break the news so They’re kind of like ethical hackers i Guess but they break the news to The world that hey that such-and-such Company got hacked and they’re trying to Cover up or whatever i think they tell The companies before they publish Um like that’s how you do ethical Hacking you tell them and then you get The right to publish about it when they Have fixed it And when they do this the results are Just some of the best links i’ve i’ve Ever seen on on such a campaign so they They had uh This like biostar 2 leak uh it’s the Standards of practice for for that kind Of thing and they got 363 links from it
And the top ones are from the guardian Bbc harvard.edu cnet the verge mashable Zdnet fox news pc mac like just all Aaa Sites you know just the best of the best Sites on on the internet and they have Hundreds of pages like this with links Do follow links from All these kinds of sites and so You know for a new site to go and Compete against that It’s a Pretty tough ask i would say yeah you Need to be good like you need to be like It’s like i think the top two percent of The industry can consider it Um the rest i wouldn’t it’s really Difficult like this is like pr level It’s not just like they’re not like Sending an outreach email To the ppc You know like they have uh people on the Inside they pay pr agencies that know People and then they create their Content and then the pr they pass the Comment to the pr agency that then uses The in their contact but like you know It’s not just one agency they hire they Probably hire like four five six seven Agencies always different networks that Can then all promote the same content And to get to that result like it’s a It’s a big operation Um
And i’m just orchestrating that even Doing it once is Uh is extremely difficult but what’s Impressive if you go on vip in montauk It’s like all the time they’ve done it i Think it’s like they found the this new Space so much That they found The best way to monetize ethical hacking Like it you know what i mean it’s like The best way to do it for free basically It’s to just do that and then just get Paid with the links and it’s it it was Worth it for a long time given the fact That these guys have sold 450 million You know And they were i’m pretty sure they were Profitable while they were running that Even forgetting about the exit of the Site or something so yeah very very Impressive but if you want Live examples go check vpn mentor go Check that page that mark mentioned all Like just throw them in a traps and look At top pages by links You learn a lot like it’s one of the Best places to learn like you like if You like examples when i do content That’s that’s the kind of places where i Go The other site which got acquired which We talked we were talking about earlier Comparatic they Uh look to have i’m not sure if they
Acquired it or what the the deal was but There was a couple of sites blocked in China.net and great firewall of China.org that if you look in ahrefs uh Are redirected to a subpage where it is Basically a tool that allows you to go And check if a website’s blocked in China or not and i guess a lot of people Want to do that a lot of people find it Useful and most importantly a lot of People link to those sites Um so they’ve they’ve somehow acquired These these existing tools and then just Swooped up all their links as well um Through through redirects so that’s Seems to have given them quite quite a Boost as well Um and that’s the kind of thing you have To do you know spend I don’t know how much money but like i Spend a lot of money to to acquire Uh tools that have links and and and you Know grow and grow in the space so it’s Like a it’s a lesson as well for any Other niche if you want to Um Sort of shortcut your way to higher dr And towards the top of the niche then Look at what tools exist out there what Free tools exist out there that maybe Are not monetized and are there any that You can acquire and just buy them for The links basically yeah it’s it’s crazy Actually it’s uh it’s it’s case studies
For link building as well uh i was Actually checking um Comparitech as well and i found Uh they did the same they actually they Also made like some very it’s funny Because this size in vpn is quite Because it’s about you know protecting Your privacy et cetera they took that Very strong Uh freedom angle but then it went Towards this patriotic stuff in the u.s Etc and so like um you know they made Like lists of lists of stuff like the World’s most surveilled cities in the World um And that kind of that content got 1 200 Linking root domains for example um It’s quite interesting but not but you Know you know the bait for that and it’s Quite interesting because that’s Reusable in many niches Um debate for that when you do These uh when you list cities is that You do get the opportunity to then Promote that list to all the local Newspapers of these cities or countries Or whatever and you do get the Opportunity to get lots of links because It’s like oh like in our case like Hungary is quoted as like the most Corrupt state in eu or something right And then it’s like all the local Newspapers will run that story um and uh And it’s a really big opportunity and i
Believe that’s why that piece worked but It can be done In many niches right it’s like think About how you could Uh rank You know cities or areas of your country Or whatever in a lease post Um Associated to your niche so it’s like Again if you’re doing paintball it’s Like are the cities with the best Paintball fields in in the world or Something and it’s like you code them And then you send that to local Newspaper and just a source of pride you Just ego trip them uh on the on the fact That they’re like are the best city for This thing and they will run you and You’ll get a like these new local Newspapers they are like 62 80 usually Or something and it’s quite worth it Actually and it doesn’t even need to be Super high level content uh there was That one example of slosia the swedish Casino website that made a list of the Best cities to party around the world And you know the price of a beer and the How many night clubs per square meter There were or whatever um it was it was A very sort of simplistic thing that They had built but it got picked up by Like all sorts of local newspapers from Like russia to israel all over europe And they just they featured it because
It’s like a fun thing to to talk about And they they need content i guess to To to make their newspapers work yeah i Think it’s that angle Most people can use that and and if you Want something that if you need like new Targets following building you’ve kind Of like run through like you’re the Global sites in your niche and so on That is a good way to get some good Links and that’s a campaign that’s Doable because you’re reaching out to Um more local newspapers and Publications so they’re like less so This like they have less on their Editorial than uh the bigger ones like The bbc or like the big ones have you Know like you can’t do that uh so i I would say that’s that’s a cool one That you can take away and that’s that’s One of the places where i learned this One for example you know um so again and Just to just kind of like complete the Link building section i had a quick look Because i i have all the harrow emails For like the last however many years in A folder in my inbox and i just searched Through it And last year there were 20 mentions of Vpn in the question so i wouldn’t really Be relying so much on on harrow to as my As my link building strategy in the in The vpn niche um especially considering The numbers that these other sites are
Putting out for For all their their content as well Yeah uh i think Yeah i think it’s a good place to one Thing that’s interesting though is like We’ve established at this point that It’s extremely competitive in the steps Like ranking on this position google Um i i don’t want to i don’t want to Attack anyone but i think for most People us included it would be very Difficult to build a big site in this Niche but I was curious to see how people do on Youtube for this niche because Um people search for stuff on youtube And people buy stuff through affiliate Links on youtube like it’s that’s pretty Good actually and so i was like okay has This been taken over yet by all the big Guys and i googled i google i searched On youtube i did not google um for the Most the biggest keywords that you would Type on google like best vpn or base vpn For mac or bzp for windows stuff like That And all i found was usually medium-sized Channels like people with like 100k subs Or something which sounds like a lot but It’s not that it’s quite achievable for Most people to get to that level um and Uh and and none of these big Conglomerate sites now uh was showing up And it feels like the market’s still
Wide open there and there’s still money To be made there so it’s quite Interesting to see I think we are at a point now where some Niches are hardly touchable On the google side but on the Social slash youtube site etc is still Quite wide open and i think a lot of Affiliates should like it’s Because these niches seem to pay so much Uh it it could be if you were looking to Like do affiliate marketing but not Necessarily go on google but rather go On youtube or one of these platforms That would be probably like one of the Issues that i would pick because because You’ll make less right it’s like there’s Still less people searching for these Things on these platforms uh et cetera So if you pick a small niche on youtube It’s gonna be hard to leave from Affiliate marketing um but if you pick a Niche like you know uh like these vpns Yeah i think it’s actually quite viable Because the the revenue is quite high You can still make all these videos for Like best vpn for mac basically for Windows etc and pick up a decent amount Of views through all the long tail And you could make some decent money so I think it’s like It’s something that was necessary maybe Not on the table a few years ago but now Is the growth of social youtube etc and
The fact that google is becoming quite Difficult in some other aspects um maybe You start you start on youtube for this And then eventually maybe you grow a Site or something i think with tutorials Etc you can still make it you need to Just Go around the difficulty maybe Um but yeah i was just looking at a few Of the the commission structures on on Some of the more popular companies they Have listed on their sites and uh quite A few of them actually have recurring Sub uh commissions to to affiliate so as Long as someone stays subscribed you get Paid of 30 every month in one case Uh so you know that can really stack up Quite quickly and people often keep vpns For quite a long long period of time They buy one year as well it’s so much Cheaper for one yeah so usually it’s Like if if you if you get people to Renew that one time after one year then You’re golden i think uh if people keep It for two years they’re likely to keep It for a while um so yeah overall it’s a It was quite interesting to check on the Social side like i would not necessarily Recommend you go i mean i haven’t Checked tick tock or something at least For this um but on youtube it seems it Seems valuable actually um I want to talk i want kind of like to Finish this podcast and talk about
Like this consolidation effect the fact That like it seems like This kind of niches not just this one Right there’s there’s more niches like That like this this sleeping niche and Basically the Biggest Broadest medicines that make the most Money on the market seem to be Consolidating It’s not really like small site owners Anymore running the top size but rather A big conglomerates big size to be frank There’s much more money in these issues Than there was also like four or five Years ago right it’s like We would never have heard of a site Selling for 150 million which you know Is a testament to the revenue of the Site A couple years ago like we wouldn’t it Would just for pure phase no way so Do you feel like It’s something that’s gonna expand to More niches or do you think it’s gonna Stay on the top niches these kind of top Niches only So i i think I think it’ll stay in the top niches but I think there’s probably quite a few More Big niches that this can happen we’ve Already seen this with hosting with Sleep with vpn um i don’t know about
Like casinos and i presume cbd and these Ones are kind of similar as well Um but you know business and um These kind of deals tend to go where the Money is um so you look at the any niche That is highly profitable it makes a lot Of money that pays very big commissions And and you’ll probably find more of This Going on Um especially as I imagine we’re likely to see kind of Slightly lower valuations of sites over The next couple years as As a recession type high interest rates I think as well Yeah exactly um the cheap money is uh is No more Uh so That may become a factor whether that Becomes a problem for The small guy i don’t know specifically I think big companies still tend to go For like the big keywords and they still Leave the the easier smaller ones open For for the little guy to come in so i Think that’s always going to be Um like a realistic possibility even in Competitive niches Like this one thing that it could cause Problems with though is if you have a Supplier like a vpn company which owns Let’s say like multiple big affiliate Sites then
Maybe they can start like cutting their Commission rates to like the smaller Affiliates because they already Hover up you know most of the the the Traffic from the big ones i i mean the Two deals that um we we read about they Only seem to have um one or i think one Actual affiliate site that they’ve Acquired all the other sites are other Vpn companies or kind of related uh Privacy companies Um which are actually supplying this so I’m not not really sure if that’s the Testing the water or if that’s a trend That’s going to continue but we Need to uh keep an eye on it Yeah it’s it’s an interesting one i also Think as i said there’s just much more Money on the internet post pandemic i Would say um and it’s one of these Things where it’s like You can probably afford to go for like There’s more smaller niches that are Viable as well now because of that um And so like it’s kind of like Everything’s moving down one level right It’s like the big business is kind of Like taking these top niches then the Smaller guys can kind of like take all The other small initiatives that maybe Were not viable a couple of years ago But now became viable as well so there’s Pros and cons to everything it’s Something to consider i think like i
Wanted to ask you would you start a site In this niche how would you feel about That Uh I mean i i’m quite intimidated by just How much authority like these big sites Have and the fact that even they don’t Rank for like some on page one for like The the top level keywords so Probably not just due to the extreme Competition but That being said uh if i was you know Starting from scratch day one It may make sense because there’s Probably enough like Low competition keywords that quite Quickly you could start making sort of Like job replacement income um From it if you go super niche with your Your keywords and don’t go for anything Competitive Yeah fair enough i think it’s uh i mean If i had to start a site I think it could make it work it would Be difficult um let’s be honest it would Be quite difficult but uh we could Eventually find a way around would i Deliberately go after this no i think There’s like you know i’m just looking At like how much i thought i’m putting And how much i’m getting in return and It’s kind of like you could get a lot if You make it do well like you could Really get a lot but
It’s a it’s a high gamble you know so It’s a big gamble whereas there’s things That are more and it’s like i’d Rather maybe trade like the ceiling to Be a bit lower in exchange for something That’s more likely to succeed you know Um and again it depends on everyone’s Risk tolerance and like how high they They want to go they aspire to Themselves etc i personally prefer like Average staff that’s very lucky to Succeed um and just do it several times Than just going for the absolute most Competitive niches but some people are Like that like some people in h4 are Like that too they go after the big Stuff and they make it work um i know People in this niche To this day that are doing uh okay more Than okay even uh right now so it’s it’s Definitely possible it’s still possible As a small publisher but it’s difficult Um anything else you understand a vpn Niche No just If you guys like this kind of format Where we take one nation do more of a Deep dive um into it like let us know in The in the youtube comments and we we May look at some other niches if you Have any ideas or suggestions for niches Which we should look into let us know There as well yeah uh you can tell me on Twitter as well i’m more active there so
You can go on my personal account at Gail breton pretty easy Uh we’ll see who can spell it and who Can’t that way because a lot of people Struggle with that uh g-a-l-b-i-e-t-o-n Um so yeah tell me that tell us also on The youtube comments like subscribe if You enjoyed it and we’ll see you in two Weeks final episode [Music] [Music] You