Content Sites are Great Marketing Tools  

By S. Housley 

Highly targeted, focused sites that are related to specific  

market segments are highly advantageous and can often be  

created using existing web content. The key is to provide  

value.   

Think of the time spent surfing the web gathering resources  

and information. By creating a topic-centric resource  

compiling information, webmasters are providing a service or  

value. In many cases that value is simply the compilation of  

topic-specific information in a single resource. The  

compilation of this information in itself is the value.   

These highly focused content sites can be great supplemental  

portals that are invaluable as a marketing tool for niche  

products. Niche portals help define expertise in a specific  

market segment, not to mention the added benefit of  

providing valuable topic-specific links. The topic-centric  

portals also tend to achieve high search placement and will  

often provide advertisers high quality exposure, allowing  

webmasters the opportunity to capitalize on their efforts.   

What to put in topical portal?  

ARTICLES 

Many article writers allow webmasters to republish their  

articles.   

Search the large article directories for quality  

topic-specific articles using keyword searches. The articles  

contained in these directories often allow publishers to  

freely reproduce the article's contents as long as the  

hyperlinks in the article and article resource box remain  

intact.   

Resource for finding articles for publication: 

GoArticles - http://www.goarticles.com 

RSS FEEDS 

By nature, RSS feeds are designed for syndication. Most RSS  

feeds can be freely reproduced. Locate topic-specific feeds  

using keyword or category searches. The contents of the  

feeds can be used to populate web pages. There are a number  

of free scripts available that allow webmasters to display  

the contents of an RSS feed (see  

http://www.rss-specifications.com/displaying-rss-feeds.htm  

for instructions on displaying feeds).   

Resources for finding RSS feeds for syndication: 

RSS Network - http://www.rss-network.com  

RSS Locator - http://www.rss-locator.com 

LINK DIRECTORY 

While this takes a little more time, compiling a collection  

of niche websites on related topics can significantly  

enhance the value of a portal. Topic-specific directories  

and search engines can achieve high search engine rankings  

with the larger engines like Google and MSN, and can easily  

be optimized for a collection of search terms. The process  

can even be automated if you have programming experience.  

Sample Link Directory - http://www.investing-partners.com  

TOPIC SPECIFIFC FORUM 

The most successful forums are those that are highly focused  

and niche-oriented. Establishing a community of individuals  

with common interests will result in return visitors.  

Managing a forum is not overly complex and there are free  

forum scripts available that will provide the forum  

structure. Many of the forums have scripts available that  

will allow for search engines to spider the contents and  

forum posts. As the content flourishes, the site will  

increase in value.   

Free Forum Scripts: http://www.phpbb.com 

More on topic-specific portals or information radars can be  

found in Robin Good's book 'Newsmastering'.   

http://www.masternewmedia.org/reports/newsmasterstoolkit/  

A site that is focused on a relatively narrow range of goods  

and services will find that there is less competition.  

Topic-centric websites that provide a gateway to niche  

information related to a particular industry, sector, topic  

or market segment are becoming increasingly valuable and  

popular. Compiling the resource using free resources will  

minimize the capital investment. Regardless of whether you  

are marketing a product, service or advertising, narrowing  

the topic focus will attract a targeted audience who  

genuinely are interested in the website topic, allowing you  

to monetize the portal, and minimize the expense.   

About the Author:  

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll  

http://www.feedforall.com  software for creating, editing,  

publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon  

manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net  a  

wireless text messaging software company.