Authority Site vs Niche Site vs Affiliate Site

Authority Site vs Niche Site vs Affiliate Site

There’s a good chance that you’ve seen the terms “niche site” and “affiliate site” used a lot, and probably even “authority site.” So, let’s have a quick look at each of those and I’ll tell you what I mean when I say “niche authority site.”

Niche Site and Affiliate Site are terms often used interchangeably to describe what it typically a small site with a monetization focus on the Amazon affiliate program. Sometimes you’ll even just see one of these referred to as an “Amazon site.”

It’s usually pretty easy to spot one of these as most people followed the example of APennyShaved  when it was a public case study at the Niche Pursuits blog. I hate when people out other people’s sites, so I’ll only show you some examples that I found on Flippa:

    This one is a micro niche site focused on weighted vests -click here
    This one is also a micro niche site focused on radios -check out
    This one is a niche site that covers a broad niche (and is perfectly poised to be converted into an authority site) -check out

Using that last site’s niche, a good example of an authority site in the same niche is Outdoor Gear Lab. It doesn’t take much comparing the two to see that Outdoor Gear Lab offers a LOT more value to visitors than the Outdoor Activities site offers them.

I would consider Outdoor Gear Lab to be a Niche Authority Site. Why? Because it focuses on a specific niche and it is an authority in its industry. For me, a broad authority site would be something like Consumer Reports – it covers multiple niches, offers a lot of value, and it is an industry leader.

When I build sites, I focus on building a niche authority site. I don’t want to cover every topic in the world – I focus and I try to be better than the competition.