You know what secret I’m going to share with you? Despite the huge number of content sites in the Russian segment of the web and the apparent saturation of niches, there are still no mega-posts. To me, a mega-post is one that answers my main questions on the topic and completely fulfills my need, after which I don’t look for further information. It is a post by a specialist who breaks down all the information clearly and thoroughly for me.
For example, a great article by Oleg Lezhechnikov, author of a travel blog (unexpectedly) — How to legally withdraw Adsense and Webmoney to a sole proprietorship account and pay taxes
He replies in the comments and gives step-by-step instructions. For resolving my issue, this article was the best. Moving on.
Top Informational Articles for the Query «How to Treat Gastritis»
Now I’ll show you the killer of all content sites in the gastritis niche.
What, not impressed, probably? Well okay, it will become clearer further on.
Everyone talks about quality, but if we look at search right now, we’ll be surprised.
As proof, right now I’m going to Yandex and typing in the query «how to treat gastritis»
Terrifying competition according to Mutagen
In Google, there are approximately 40,600 articles on this topic in one form or another. Just think about that number.
If we look at who specifically targeted this exact keyword in their title for SEO, we get 1,060 articles.
For me, the solution to understanding whether I actually have gastritis or not, how to diagnose it, the symptoms, and so on, came from a great informational website, a content site made for people, with excellent quality… Yeah, I’m lying. It was actually a book by a medical specialist. None of the top content sites have this information. Just think about that!
Paramonov’s book—Comfortable Bowels, Problem-Free Stomach—is precisely where I found the answers, because all the content sites are simply cluttered with useless and contradictory information.
Dizziness? You have gastritis. Constipation? Gastritis too. You’re sick from head to toe, my friend, and there’s no hope for you. By the way, to cure gastritis, you MUST take ONLY THIS REMEDY… And then a link to an affiliate offer like monastery tea.
The Unvarnished Truth About Making Money
Nobody thoroughly understands the topic; the goal of top informational sites is making money and nothing else. That’s the truth, not the sweet lies about text quality and sites made for people. Type in the search query «how to treat gastritis» right now and see the TRUTH for yourself.
It’s uncomfortable news, I know—after all, you build sites for people and answer their questions, right… 🙂
Using gastritis as an example, the doctor explains that the diagnosis of superficial gastritis is handed out to almost everyone these days just to get them treated. The main cause of gastritis is the Helicobacter pylori bacterium, but to detect it, you need proper diagnostics—and I didn’t see proper diagnostics mentioned on any of the top 10 sites. Here is the correct answer from the book:
The modern gold standard: the 13C urea breath test and stool antigen testing for Helicobacter using monoclonal antibodies. These methods are non-invasive, highly sensitive, specific, and affordable.
And it doesn’t involve endoscopy (EGD), where a scope is inserted down into your stomach and, let’s say, the experience isn’t the most pleasant. That’s what content sites recommend. Instead, it’s just breathing into a tube! You’ll agree there’s a difference, right?
Before that, the doctor explains that Pevzner’s diet tables are outdated and no longer meet dietary standards, yet many websites still feature them. They recommend Diet No. 1 and all sorts of unproven treatment methods like folk medicine.
Tell me this: if you put together a mega-article written by this doctor, breaking everything down clearly, stating «do not use folk medicine; instead, properly diagnose your gastritis, and check if you even have it at all—maybe it’s a functional disorder.» Will this article reach the top and outperform competitors or not?
That’s a good question, and I don’t know the answer. But I know for sure that combining such a great article with pushing an affiliate offer (ONLY THIS REMEDY…), just wouldn’t be right anymore.
Yes, monetizing the site and providing a GENUINE solution to the problem can’t easily be combined here. THAT IS THE TRUTH.
You can’t write an article credited to a professional, point out that folk medicine has unproven effectiveness, and then shove in an affiliate offer for monastery tea.
This goes against your current approach, but it is REAL QUALITY. It builds TRUST with other people.
Sorry for putting this harsh truth out there, but I sometimes look for information myself and can’t find an authoritative source that breaks everything down so clearly.
So How Do You Create Quality? A Medical Site Example
Here is an example of a quality website in the medical niche — https://tolkosprosit.docplus.ru/blog/
There are answers from doctors:
There are links to authoritative sources
And there is even an article mocking all the informational toxins and waste, as they put it
Every minute, 5 thousand people ask Yandex about health. But in the search results, informational toxins and junk keep floating to the surface. I’ll tell you what to look out for so you don’t fall for unreliable medical information.
Now that is real quality, not pipe dreams when you order rewritten articles for 30 rubles per 1,000 characters. And then you wonder why your site didn’t reach the top—didn’t I answer the query?
The goal is to churn out 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 articles a month on an assembly line. Not to deliver quality, but to make money and show a good ROI.
And if you tell the truth in an article, it becomes tricky to shove an affiliate offer into it.
«I Make Crap Articles to Earn from Offers»
So I think you’ve already determined for yourself what YOU ARE ACTUALLY DOING, without entertaining illusions that this merry-go-round will last forever, because since August 1, Google started weeding out sites without authoritative doctors in the medical niche, wiping out content sites lacking real specialists.
The same thing could happen in Yandex, given it already happened in Google. As you know, Yandex loves adopting the experience of its foreign colleagues. First came Penguin, then Minusinsk… Or maybe it won’t happen at all, who knows. But with Yandex’s capabilities, it would be easy to introduce guidelines for assessing site quality based on source authority.
Update June 2019 — Yandex followed Google and wiped out a huge number of medical content sites.
Using just one example, I’ve shown you the complete flaw of content sites. Nobody wants to solve the issue thoroughly, which means NICHES ARE STILL OPEN. Even now in late 2018, for the query «how to treat gastritis», there is no real answer to the question in Yandex’s top 5.
Yesterday I was searching in the auto niche for how to sell a car and transfer it to a new owner, and guess where the clearest answer was? On the Gosuslugi government portal. Here is an article where everything is clearly broken down.
Even on authoritative automotive sites, I didn’t find such a detailed guide. You’ll draw your own conclusions, I hope.
And then, of course, you’ll say that all the niches are taken. Naturally, a classic.
Nobody looks deep into the issue; you just glance at the search results, see SEO articles at the top, and assume there’s no way to break through. Well, with rewritten content, yes, you won’t break through anymore. But with an article by an authoritative doctor that clearly breaks down the answer step-by-step? But then you can’t shove an offer into it… A contradiction arises.
That’s all for now. I spent 2 hours typing out this article; I wanted to record a video (it would have been faster) showing how I search on Yandex, but I explained everything clearly enough in text.
I’ve shared my frustration, and I hope you’ve drawn your own conclusions as well.
By the way, that book costs 236 rubles on Ozon. But at least you’ll actually resolve your issue, otherwise there’s only ONE FOLK REMEDY…