Found a huge niche with very little competition

[xtrapunch]

I was looking for some keywords using my trial copy of Market Samurai when I stumbled upon this TWO words keyword with very little competition.
The top ranking sites are US/state government sites with no SEO. This keyword exists for every single US state and each get 5,000-20,000 search per month.

It is one untapped niche with several micro niches. The KEYWORD.com site is a parked domain.

Is it possible to beat US/state government sites with 200 backlinks or less? Can anyone do that for me or buy my keyword research?

[JennSpencerIM]

I'm not certain of the answer to your question, but just a suggestion to take a look at the "EXACT" match and not just the broad match to give you a better idea of the hugeness of it.

[iAmNameLess]

Yes, use exact match, or at least phrase match to get a better idea on real traffic.

Next, type in the phrase march keyword in google to see your competition. If you have 30,000 results and under, and the competition is weak then go for it. Unless you have time to put into it, then you can go for broader results.

[Rob Whisonant]

I agree with Jenn. Do the same search on EXACT match and see what the results are. The total searches could drop to the teens.

Re's
Rob Whisonant

[Kevin Kuriakose]

As already given above, do your keyword research using "exact match", so you can get a better idea of how much traffic potential the keyword have.

Also find the strength of top 10 ranking pages (you can use seo for firefox plugin) and see if you can easily beat them or not.

[thedog]

Also, don't pay any attention to the "competion" part in the keyword tool... this is related to adwords.

Use MS. Open a new project with the exact keyword phrase you're targeting, in ""

Do an SEO competition scan, PR, BACKLINK, KEYWORD IN TITLE AND URL.. should be enough... if you see a lot of green... cool.

It doesn't really matter how much competition there is, it's the strength of the competition in the top 10 that matters... yes there may be 30,000 or less... but if there's a lot of high ranking PR'S in the top ten, or .gov's, .edu's... well, best to walk away.

[xtrapunch]

Originally Posted by JennSpencerIM

I'm not certain of the answer to your question, but just a suggestion to take a look at the "EXACT" match and not just the broad match to give you a better idea of the hugeness of it.

The first entry in the image is the exact match and the rest an US STATE KEYWORD.

[thedog]

Originally Posted by xtrapunch

The first entry in the image is the exact match and the rest an US STATE KEYWORD.

No, you need to uncheck the checkbox, on the left hand nav that says broad, and then check [exact]

[terrapurus]

Outperform gov sites?

No.

And would you want to? Say one thing they don't like in a topic that they cover in depth and they will fry your arse 5 ways to Sunday.

[xtrapunch]

Originally Posted by thedog

Also, don't pay any attention to the "competion" part in the keyword tool... this is related to adwords.

Use MS. Open a new project with the exact keyword phrase you're targeting, in ""

Do an SEO competition scan, PR, BACKLINK, KEYWORD IN TITLE AND URL.. should be enough... if you see a lot of green... cool.

It doesn't really matter how much competition there is, it's the strength of the competition in the top 10 that matters... yes there may be 30,000 or less... but if there's a lot of high ranking PR'S in the top ten, or .gov's, .edu's... well, best to walk away.

Thanks for your feedback. I have done the research using Market Samurai and the top sites haven't been optimized for SEO. Most of them are US state govt sites with 200-300 backlinks. Will it be possible to beat them?

[xtrapunch]

Originally Posted by terrapurus

Outperform gov sites?

No.

And would you want to? Say one thing they don't like in a topic that they cover in depth and they will fry your arse 5 ways to Sunday.

Do you like the way government site provide information? I want to put things at one place and make them simple. I want to create a site in easy-to-understand English. I guess govt sites are on the top because there's no one providing the exact info.

Now that many of you are saying it won't be possible to beat govt sites, I am tempted to give it a try.

But before that I will need some more suggestions from you warriors.

[xtrapunch]

PLZ NOTE: The first entry in the screenshot is the "exact" keyword. Actually all black bars are the exact keyword.

[Owen Smith]

Originally Posted by xtrapunch

PLZ NOTE: The first entry in the screenshot is the "exact" keyword. Actually all black bars are the exact keyword.

They are not EXACT at all. Choose the EXACT checkbox and you will see differing results.

-Owen

[terrapurus]

Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak

Sounds like the hinge on Pandora's box needs a little bit of WD40.

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by xtrapunch

PLZ NOTE: The first entry in the screenshot is the "exact" keyword. Actually all black bars are the exact keyword.

You are not understanding what everyone is telling you.

1.Look at the picture you provided.
2.Look at the left side towards the middle
3.Look for the words Match Types
4.You can see that you have Broad checked. Uncheck it.
5.Put a check immediately below it where it says [Exact]

This will show you what the EXACT number of searches for that keyword are, not just a broad search(which you are currently doing) which can include anything related to that keyword.

Sorry to say, but my guess is you probably haven't found anything at all.

[owenlee]

Maybe you may wish to further research on the keywords to see how much competition it has...and also see the top 3 website to see how much backlinks they have...

sometimes all this research play a part in your long term business..

[KatyaSenina]

Why are you using broad match?

Broad match never gets you accurate results. Try exact match instead! Sometimes I use phrase match too. I don't bother with broad match though.

Why? This post explains it all:

Keyword Research Question: Exact, Phrase or Broad Results?

[calfred]

I think you don't understand the meaning of Broad, Exact and Phrase matches.

I understand. It's one of the most common misleading topics in the IM world.

Do yourself a favor and study this once and for all by going to IMimpact.com and download the Keyword Research Guide under Freebies section. Shane MeLaugh explained it very well.

[xtrapunch]

My mistake! Thanks for pointing guys. Here's the search with [exact] option. Does this make any sense to enter this niche?

@calfred : Thanks for your suggestion. I have downloaded the guide.

[Tina Golden]

Just because there is a lot of searches and little competition, doesn't mean a whole lot. What are those people BUYING? After all, without something to sell to them, the niche will be useless.

[TryBPO]

I would also say that the lack of "competition" (AdWords advertisers) is a bit worrying. Try selecting the columns dropdown and adding cpc to the results. You might also want to check SpyFu to see what advertisers are there.

I like the search volume, though, with the exact phrase selected. Nice find!

[Tom L]

Use Majestic SEO to get a better idea of the amount of backlinks really going to these sites, and spyfu to see if these are buyers keywords.

Also look for other affiliate offers in order to see if you can really monetize them:

Clickbank
Commission Junction
CPA Networks

or if you are lazy go to odigger.com and type in your niche

Good Luck!

Tom

[xtrapunch]

This is what I got in Spyfu. For me, this thread has been a great learning opportunity. Thanks guys.

[ElectronPlumber]

Also, is anyone bidding on ads for these keywords? No point targeting keywords that no one is paying for, especially those with .gov sites ranking for them.

You have to sign in to Adwords, then add the "Estimated Avg CPC" column to see it.

Also, try searching for some of these keywords. Do you see Adsense ads alongside your search?

[Elion Makkink]

Nice find dude! What is the Average CPC? I think you can beat government sites if you could get a few PR 3-5 backlinks