Viable niche?

[tjm2788]

I have spent a lot of time researching keywords and putting them through the usual tests for competition and traffic volume etc however there is one thing that is holding me back...

If around 6 of the top 10 results on Google are links to shopping sites such as amazon etc in your experience does that make it easier or harder to gain a high ranking for that specific keyword?

I'm finding a lot of different information but cant work out whether this is good or bad. I realise this does depend on the actual product/keyword to a certain extent but in general, from experience is it more difficult?

Thanks
Tim

[asianbridge]

you must search the key word through google key word analysis tool its will help you according to your mind or thought

its very help full tool

[tjm2788]

I have searched all keywords throughly and narrowed it down to 16 keywords which are action related (i.e buying or name of the product) and that have over 3000 searches per month.

There are signs of paid advertising and other commercial activity. The only bit im unsure on is the competition in the top 10 spots of google for each keyword is half filled with results from online stores such as amazon etc

Do these type of sites generally make it harder or easier to gain a position in the top 10?

Thanks!

[RichardHK]

A very good question Tim, and something I am coming up against very often.

For example, the attached Market Samurai SEO Competition matrix shows what I think you are talking about. Several online stores, YouTube and similar there.

All those red highly competitive IC (indexed pages) numbers make my head spin, but note how the number 5 slot is filled by a relatively low scoring page. And rank 3&4 have zero backlinks to page!! And zillions of backlinks to domain too.

Q: Hope you do not consider this a hijack of thread, but could others comment on matrix and on how competitive they would consider this example.

Hope it shows what you are thinking too Tim, and if not, I can take matrix and query to another thread.

[ProfitwithAdam]

Hi RichardHK, I use Market Samurai too and what I would do is get rid of all the unneeded cloumns on the SEO chart. Google and the others rank pages, not websites. What you want to do is have "PR", "BLP", "YAH", "Title" and "URL". This will show you if they are targeting that actual keyword or not. The Search Engines will always put pages on the top 10 search results so they always have something for the searcher to look at, that doesn't mean however that the website is targeting those pages.

When I do this strategy, I personally look for a solid Green row. If I got that, then I look at the "BLP" and see if at least over half of them are less than 100 backlinks to that page.

With those guidelines, you can outrank the big boys because they are not targeting that specific keyword.

[simpleonline1234]

Amazon and those big guns will then to have a lot of links to them because other people are promoting their products by affiliates so they will be building the backlinks to the site.

If you site is niche specific then you might be able to out rank them.but it will still be tough and you will need a lot of backlinks if the product is popular..for instance....if your tniche is Top Flite zzz golf balls and your url has that name, your title, tag and such...then you would stand a better chance of out ranking them but if you come off like an online store that sells many different golf balls and the top flite zzz golf ball is only one of many then you might want to rethink your strategy because in that case Amazon will be the power house in the ranking for those type niches.

It's not always the case but many times it will be....it really all comes down to the backlinks and SEO in the end though.

[RichardHK]

Adam. What a great suggestion, and what a difference it makes! Fully understand what is happening here now, and my particular niche is certainly worth a go. <sound of large penny dropping! (Old English phrase for a 'eureka' moment.)> Thanks.

Sim...1234. Got it, thanks. <another penny drops!> Do have a good domain name so have every chance of getting into the top three based on your and Adam's feedback. Gonna go for it.

Tim, hope these points help clarify your original query too.

[affiliatecoachlandon]

If its shopping site...then its easier to get top ranking from my experience.

[Spot the Ball]

If I see Amazon or any other big shopping site then Im happy.

As has been said, it all depends if they are specifically targeting those products to rank individually. I have a few products ranking higher than Amazon and Im promoting their products.

[tjm2788]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It seems that it can be a good indicator only if the pages arent specifically targetting the keyword in question, which in most cases, they arent!

Richard, I too checked market samurai and got a similar style chart. I have decided to enter the niche and will be sure to record my progress.

Thanks again!

[RichardHK]

Good luck Tim! This is exciting stuff isn't it.