How much do niche websites really earn?

Short answer: it’s complicated! It obviously depends on the average number of users, but also on how big the competition is, geographical location, market share and many others.

Reference values worldwide

Average Earnings of Niche Websites and the Contribution of Advertising Revenue

Niche websites have become a popular way for individuals to earn a passive income. By focusing on a specific topic or industry, niche website owners can attract a targeted audience and generate revenue through various methods, including advertising.

Average Earnings by Category

The average monthly earnings of niche websites vary depending on the category. According to industry data, the following are the average earnings for different categories:

  • Health: $1,000-$5,000
  • Finance: $500-$3,000
  • Technology: $500-$2,000
  • Travel: $500-$1,500
  • Food: $500-$1,000
  • Fashion: $500-$1,000
  • Home & Garden: $500-$1,000
  • Beauty: $500-$1,000
  • Entertainment: $500-$1,000
  • Education: $500-$1,000

Earnings from Advertising

Advertising revenue is a significant source of income for niche websites. On average, advertising contributes the following percentages of total earnings:

  • Health: 60-80%
  • Finance: 50-70%
  • Technology: 40-60%
  • Travel: 50-70%
  • Food: 40-60%
  • Fashion: 30-50%
  • Home & Garden: 40-60%
  • Beauty: 30-50%
  • Entertainment: 30-50%
  • Education: 40-60%

Factors Influencing Earnings

The actual earnings of a niche website can vary significantly based on factors such as:

  • Niche popularity
  • Website traffic
  • Quality of content
  • Engagement with audience
  • Marketing and promotion efforts
  • Competition within the niche
  • Advertising rates

To maximize earnings, niche website owners should focus on creating high-quality content that resonates with their target audience, building a loyal following, and implementing effective marketing strategies. Additionally, optimizing the website for search engines (SEO) and exploring alternative revenue streams, such as affiliate marketing and digital products, can further increase earning potential.

But,

every stats offer different data

The financial reports of the sites are not homogeneous at the global level. Especially small sites rarely report income. The data about them are obtained only through estimates and indirect monitoring. Then, the classification of niche sites is not strictly regulated. Some statistics simply exclude some categories, and others reclassify the same site in all kinds of other categories. Often, not even the owners of the websites would be able to choose one and the same category if they describe their website three months in a row… It results in huge differences, which seem to be disconcerting.

Last, but not least, the companies who sell services like advertising, CEO or anything else for webmasters and web owner tend to be much, much more optimistic. According to them, the figures are 10x or 1000x bigger.

According to biggest player

A relative balance appears in the figures provided by the biggest players in the market. Thus, the universally known global platform, which operates a large search engine and controls 80% of the global online advertising market, offers data on the revenues of niche sites which may be optimistic, but within realistic limits.

According to this platform, a site in Europe with 50,000 monthly visitors can earn between 1,200 and 11,000 dollars per year. The lowest revenues are for news sites. The biggest for those in finance.

Graph: Average earnings for niche websites

So, in this dataset, Finance niche in it is by far the most profitable, twice more than the one on the 2nd place. And the 2nd is owned by Casa si gardina, with about 6k dollars per year (under the conditions of 50k visitors per month). This is followed by a large group of niches with incomes of about 4000 dollars per year. Then the incomes decrease rapidly in the areas of culture, education, sports and news.