How to tell if a niche is low/high competition?

RedShifted · 02-04-2012, 11:45 AM

I'm in the basement waterproofing niche right, and it definitely seems there is lots of competition as far as PPC goes.

But as for backlinks it seems that 90% of the guys on page 1 only have around 300 backlinks or so.

Is it a good sign that if I build 1000-2000 backlinks that I can also get on page 1? I mean this doesn't seem competitive at all as far as SEO goes (forgive me I'm a newbie) but 1000 backlinks would take me only a month or 2 to do? And then what my site just goes to page 1? We also have concurrent PPC campaigns going to so the site already gets traffic. Its just not ranked well do to no backlinks.

Am I missing something here? I researched all my competitors and it seems this is all I have to do to compete with them.

retsek · 02-04-2012, 12:19 PM

It's not as simple as that. Not all backlinks are created equal. 300 quality backlinks gained over the course of years can and WILL be better than 30,000 built in the space of 1 month ....standing to reason that thousands of back links built in a short time are not going to be quality.

You also have to consider content. Is yours better? Are their pages optimized for the keywords they rank for?

There's domain age and domain authority and about 200 other lesser factors.

Dev!l · 02-04-2012, 01:44 PM

For all Google cares you can blast your website with 1,000,000 Xrumer links. Doesn't matter. Quality, contextual links [Panda Update] are the key and not the quantity.

tobi1kanoby · 02-05-2012, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dev!l

For all Google cares you can blast your website with 1,000,000 Xrumer links. Doesn't matter. Quality, contextual links [Panda Update] are the key and not the quantity.

It is all about quality,
low quality backlinks are easy to generate and automate, and you might as well do it, but it would probably won't be enough, while adding high PR backlinkg, or authority backlinks ( EDU, GOV) sites to your mix would be far more significant and rewarding.

semaximizer · 02-06-2012, 02:56 AM

Once your on-page optimization is done, the best strategy would be to get links from High PR sources. You may try getting listed in good web directories (with a fee for listing).

TBInternetMarketing · 02-06-2012, 08:17 AM

It also depends how well SEO'd they are for on-page? Do they have the keyword in title, description, headers etc. This is also a good indication factor I look at when accessing if I can high Google Page One.

paramongoose · 02-06-2012, 09:22 AM

Backlinks can be as much about quality as quantity, some of these guys might have really good quality links. Also remember there is no tool currently available that can check all of the backlinks on sites most links could be invisible to you.

cardine · 02-06-2012, 09:46 AM

You might want to try a tool like SerpIQ which gives you a score from 0-100 for a keyword as to how competitive it is.

If you want to test the waters by building links, I would send maybe 1000 social bookmarks at it. If the keyword is medium to lower competition a single social bookmark blast should put you on page 1 or page 2.

papamo44 · 02-06-2012, 07:07 PM

Search for the keyword in " " in google. The lower the number of search results the better. I will not go above 500,000.

retsek · 02-06-2012, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by papamo44

Search for the keyword in " " in google. The lower the number of search results the better. I will not go above 500,000.

That means nothing.

If anything it means the keyword you're going after is NOT worth the effort.

02-04-2012, 11:45 AM	#1
RedShifted Advanced Warrior Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 521 Thanks: 86 Thanked 192 Times in 107 Posts	How to tell if a niche is low/high competition? I'm in the basement waterproofing niche right, and it definitely seems there is lots of competition as far as PPC goes. But as for backlinks it seems that 90% of the guys on page 1 only have around 300 backlinks or so. Is it a good sign that if I build 1000-2000 backlinks that I can also get on page 1? I mean this doesn't seem competitive at all as far as SEO goes (forgive me I'm a newbie) but 1000 backlinks would take me only a month or 2 to do? And then what my site just goes to page 1? We also have concurrent PPC campaigns going to so the site already gets traffic. Its just not ranked well do to no backlinks. Am I missing something here? I researched all my competitors and it seems this is all I have to do to compete with them.

02-04-2012, 12:19 PM	#2
retsek Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,017 Thanks: 6 Thanked 294 Times in 172 Posts	Re: How to tell if a niche is low/high competition? It's not as simple as that. Not all backlinks are created equal. 300 quality backlinks gained over the course of years can and WILL be better than 30,000 built in the space of 1 month ....standing to reason that thousands of back links built in a short time are not going to be quality. You also have to consider content. Is yours better? Are their pages optimized for the keywords they rank for? There's domain age and domain authority and about 200 other lesser factors.

02-04-2012, 01:44 PM	#3
Dev!l Active Warrior Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 49 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: How to tell if a niche is low/high competition? For all Google cares you can blast your website with 1,000,000 Xrumer links. Doesn't matter. Quality, contextual links [Panda Update] are the key and not the quantity.

02-06-2012, 02:56 AM	#5
semaximizer HyperActive Warrior Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 108 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: How to tell if a niche is low/high competition? Once your on-page optimization is done, the best strategy would be to get links from High PR sources. You may try getting listed in good web directories (with a fee for listing).
	Directory Maximizer - Professional Directory Submission Service Social Maximizer - Quality Social Bookmarking Service

02-06-2012, 08:17 AM	#6
TBInternetMarketing Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: In your PC Posts: 2,075 Thanks: 83 Thanked 789 Times in 234 Posts	Re: How to tell if a niche is low/high competition? It also depends how well SEO'd they are for on-page? Do they have the keyword in title, description, headers etc. This is also a good indication factor I look at when accessing if I can high Google Page One.

02-06-2012, 09:22 AM	#7
paramongoose Active Warrior Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 62 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: How to tell if a niche is low/high competition? Backlinks can be as much about quality as quantity, some of these guys might have really good quality links. Also remember there is no tool currently available that can check all of the backlinks on sites most links could be invisible to you.

02-06-2012, 09:46 AM	#8
cardine Limitless Ambition Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 161 Thanks: 8 Thanked 20 Times in 15 Posts	Re: How to tell if a niche is low/high competition? You might want to try a tool like SerpIQ which gives you a score from 0-100 for a keyword as to how competitive it is. If you want to test the waters by building links, I would send maybe 1000 social bookmarks at it. If the keyword is medium to lower competition a single social bookmark blast should put you on page 1 or page 2.
	Interested in a free rank tracker? Click here to signup! I might have a really good spinner in private beta.

02-06-2012, 07:07 PM	#9
papamo44 HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Fayetteville, AR USA Posts: 102 Thanks: 15 Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts	Re: How to tell if a niche is low/high competition? Search for the keyword in " " in google. The lower the number of search results the better. I will not go above 500,000.