I'm a Newbie Too!

[NewMama]

Hello everyone!

I just found this site and I am so excited to to chat with all of you. As you can tell from my screen name, I am a new mother and I'd like to create a site for new moms (and dads) and the resources available to them in our city. For example, I'd like to write a blog about getting back into shape after having a baby and then I will tell readers where they can go to get back in shape (gyms, parks, etc.) within our city. I came up with this idea because I was searching online for activities to do with my baby and there wasn't one site I could go to for this type of information that has a personal feel to it.

I look forward to chatting with all of you!

[GreenThumb]

Hello NewMama and welcome to the friendly forums! One question though...why limit your information to one city? Wouldn't you be alienating people who may not live in your city and just want exercise/fitness info?

My point is when you decide on a niche for your site you have to think like how people search in Google for example. In other words what keywords are you trying to target? I would guess most people type in things like "losing baby weight" or "getting into shape after pregnancy". So my point is how would you target people in your area.

For example let's say you live in Los Angeles and you are going to make a site about places to go in L.A. to exercise. That's great but do most people who search for losing weight after a baby look at city specific information? My point is I don't want you to make your niche too narrow that you alienate people because I think it's a great topic.

Here's a good tool to find what people are searching for and the keywords they use?

http://inventory.overture.com/d/sear...ry/suggestion/

It's very important to research how people use the net before making your topic final. Otherwise no one will find you or if someone searches for "losing baby weight" and see that your site only focuses on one city they may leave. Why not expand that to everyone?

Just my 2 cents...

[lisa]

Welcome NewMama!

GreenThumb, excellent points. I am in the process of writing a book on how to get traffic and one of the main points is when people begin their sites they often forget to think about how people will find them or they don't define their target audience's interests.

Here's an example. I met a lady online once who just got divorced and she wanted to build a site for divorcees in Chicago. Sort of like a "things to do in Chicago for people who are divorced." Well the site never got a lick of traffic because she wasn't sure what keywords to target and she hadn't really thought about how people are searching. She didn't stop to think that most women who are divorced in Chicago aren't necessarily Googling "things to do in Chicago for people who are divorced." They were searching for more generic search terms like "divorce lawyer" etc.

So she used the Yahoo Search tool and did some research on what keywords people are searching for related to divorce and revamped her site to target phrases she knew people were actually searching for. Then she started seeing traffic.

Remember people aren't going to just stumble upon your site. The best way to get them there is through a search engine and the search engines read your content to determine what search results you will show up for. But you have to target search phrases that people are searching for.

NewMama, I think you have an excellent topic but I agree with GreenThumb in that you may want to consider broadening it to all new moms who want to lose weight. I have a fitness site on flattening the stomach and I get tons of emails from new moms who are having trouble with post baby weight so there's definitely a market for what you want to do.

Then once you start getting traffic you can break it down into city-specific activities. Heck, you can even do some research and lookup things to do in all cities, not just the one you live in. But starting out, why not make a site for getting healthy after having a baby.

Go to the tool GreenThumb mentioned above and type in baby weight. Look at all the various keywords people are searching for regarding this. As you build your site you will write articles centered around the various keywords. Try other keyword combinations to come up with other ideas.

Hope this gets you started on the right track!

[ajones]

Welcome NewMama, I think that would be a very good idea for a web site. Very rarely is there a web site that has exactly what you want. I am also working on a web site for my Boy Scout Troop and in the beginning, I intended it to be relatively small, but now, I need a hosting plan that offers unlimited pages.

[attackdepression]

Welcome NewMama and congrats on your baby!!

I think it's a great topic too. Good luck and I would expand it more as well. If you make it too narrow you limit your traffic potential.

[NewMama]

Thank you very much for your advice and feedback. I see what you mean about narrowing my niche too much. I still have a lot to learn as I don't fully understand the key word search strategy (Lisa, I have to finish reading your website, which is wonderful).

You've given me a lot to think about and I really appreciate your time. This is a great forum to learn and grow.

I'll continue to post my ideas and offer advice in any way I can.

Have a great day everyone!

[danaP]

Hi NewMama,

Yes, keyword search is E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. Take it from someone who has started over and over again because I didn't have a clear focus for what I wanted to do and more importantly WHO I was targeting. So this time I'm taking my site. The best gift you can give to yourself is take your time.

Welcome, by the way!