Key Takeaways
Looking for a Roof Box
Embarking on creating my niche website, bestroofbox.com, marked the beginning of a transformative journey that ultimately led me to live in a vibrant town on the south coast of Spain.
I’d previously created niche websites for my YouTube tutorials that had made a little money.
They never achieved the 4 figures a month I was hoping for, mainly because I hadn’t put enough work into them.
I consciously decided to create a site and put the work in – to prove to myself that it could be done and share the journey with my community.
My objective with the website was to offer high-value Amazon products and create content tailored to specific car models, providing users with a comprehensive resource for finding the perfect cargo box for their vehicles.
Over 12 months, I worked diligently on the website using various strategies such as employing writers and editors, buying links, and utilizing social media platforms like Pinterest and YouTube.
If you want to watch the videos I created at the time while I was doing these things you can find all of the videos in the BestRoofBox Journey Playlist on YouTube.
Like any journey, there were challenges, triumphs, and plenty of opportunities to learn and grow through setbacks and expert feedback.
I created the website because I needed a Roof Box for my car, the Seat Ateca, but I was unable to find any information online.
Creating the Website and it’s Content
I created the website with WordPress (of course) in a full-length tutorial video.
I created it using a free theme and designed a logo using the wonderful Canva.
It turned out pretty well and got better and better as I continued to work on it.
It was then time to plan out the content.
Using Google Suggest and LowFruits.io, I did some keyword research and came up with lots of ideas.
As I analyzed the niche, I realized there was great potential for unique content due to the variety of cars people owned.
This variety allowed me to create targeted content for specific vehicle models, such as the best roof box for a Volkswagen Golf, and then easily adapt it for other models like the Volkswagen Tiguan.
Over the next year, I continued working on the website.
I employed writers to help me create content, enlisted the assistance of an editor to publish the content, and even tried other methods, like buying links from link-building services.
I also attempted manual outreach, Pinterest marketing, and established a YouTube channel to maximize the website’s success.
The Traffic Rollercoaster
After around 6 months, traffic started to grow.
After a slow start, traffic increased and then decreased again, creating an emotional roller-coaster effect.
Alongside this challenge, I encountered issues with people copying my website due to my public case studies and wasted money on unnecessary services.
Throughout this journey, I sought the advice of experts like Doug Cunnington and Ricky Kessler from income school.
Doug Cunnington
Doug applauded the design, images, and overall user interface of the site, stating it was almost “too polished.”
However, he identified areas for improvement, such as breaking long paragraphs into shorter ones and removing unnecessary links from the site’s footer.
I quickly implemented Doug’s recommendations, which positively impacted the site.
Ricky Kesler
Ricky, on the other hand, had a different viewpoint regarding the overall approach to the website.
He emphasized the benefits of a more indirect approach to affiliate marketing by creating broader, user-focused content alongside product-focused content.
Although my website was heavily product-centered, I appreciated his perspective and strived to incorporate a balance of content that catered to a wider audience.
Their insights on design, content, and approach helped me significantly improve the website.
Making Money 🤑
As the traffic started to grow so did the earnings.
The site was predominantly monetized with the Amazon Affiliate program and I added multiple links to products in approximately 80% of the articles.
A Roof Box for a car can cost anything up to $1000 so the commissions were pretty decent, event for Amazon.
The site grew to over $2000 a month in income!
Selling the Website
It was at this point I decided to sell the website.
I wanted to finish the case study with a great ending and with a valuation of around $75,000 I felt it was time.
I asked my network of friends and associates that I’d met online, and thankfully Miles Beckler responded and introduced me to a friend of his that was looking to buy a website.
We had a few calls and I shared all the details around the website.
He offered me $70,000 for the site and I accepted.
It was a great day!
We used Escrow to manage the transaction, Phil from Spidrweb assisted with the migration and everything went smoothly.
Now I live in Spain
At the time we were planning to move our lives to Spain.
Due to Brexit, British people require a visa to get residency in Spain – and to get the visa you need to prove you have sufficient funds to live.
With the money from the website we were able to meet the requirements and we’ve now been living in Spain for 2 years – and we love it!
We live in the beautiful seaside town of Estepona and our lives have changed for the better.
The project was a great learning experience and showed me that with commitment and work, you can make an online business work for you and change your life for the better.
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