Really Struggling to Find a Niche

9 replies
I'm getting fairly frustrated with niche research. I know the general theory/advice behind finding a niche e.g.

-Something you're knowledgeable about/interested in

-Things on Amazon/Google trends
-Desperate buyers
-ClickBank products with a higher gravity than 40/50

But when I come to do keyword research for articles, I can't seem to find any that aren't super competitive.

A niche marketing ebook told me I should look for keywords that have 200-1000 searches a month but less than 10,000 competing sites when searching in quotes and so far found pretty much none.

Am I just doing my research wrong (I basically use the adwords tool)? Should I invest in some keyword research software?

Any help much appreciated!

Chris
#find #niche #struggling
  • Profile picture of the author johnlagoudakis
    You have a good list of qualifications for niche research but you shouldn't limit yourself to that last one, i.e. "Clickbank products with a gravity higher than 40/50".

    You will find that most CB products with a gravity higher than 40 are in niches that are "super competitive".

    You could, however, go into 'micro-niches' of that niche. E.g. instead of 'dog training', go into 'german shepherd puppy dog training'.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
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      • Profile picture of the author adamv
        I would scratch that first item off of my list too. I'm making most of my money in a niche I had no interest in what so ever. Then the checks started coming in and now I'm very interested.
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        • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
          Ahh..great you asked the question Chris, these types of recommendations on keyword research drive me INSANE!

          The very first aspect of keyword research I focus on is a manual look at a large keyword list looking for keywords and phrases that indicate my buyer is looking for what I have.

          For example - if I have an ebook on losing weight - then I will look for weight loss ebook, weight loss report, weight loss technique, weight loss dvd, weight loss help, etc...

          Why?

          Because these are keywords that people plug in when they both want answers to their question AND more importantly, where they are pre-conditioned to look for solutions - even solutions they are willing to buy.

          I mark these as my "A" list keywords - even if they don't get very many searches, I want to dominate them because they very likely have higher conversion rates of "clicks" to buys.

          Next, I go through the keyword lists and come up with a "B" list mainly focused on a combination of what I believe will target my products/services better and # of searches just to make sure I get enough volume. After that, I put them all through a systematic "test" process where I give all the "B" list a fair shot, but kill them quickly if they don't convert - you will find some really sweet surprises using this technique.

          Finally, then you have a "C" list, which you can test later on, but in most cases, the A and B list will keep you more than busy can be expanded using different traffic generation techniques once you find the high ROI ones.

          Jeff
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      • Profile picture of the author waken
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        I also don't really agree with all the "choose a niche you really like" stuff, either. What matters to me is what I can sell, not what I like myself. I'm a useless barometer of public taste and don't pretend otherwise.
        agree.

        And to the OP.. Well, keyword research really takes time and paid keyword tools / software can't help much. Doing your current keyword research with Google Keyword External tools is pretty much sufficient.

        Here's one of the way I do it.. for bum marketing purpose..

        1. View source of the vendor page of the affiliate product that you've chosen and look at his targeted keywords.
        2. Go to EZA and search for all those keywords. Look in the most viewed section and click on few of the articles. Again, view source to "steal" their keywords.
        3. Add all keywords gathered in Google Keywords tool. Tick the "use synonyms" checkbox and get keyword ideas.
        4. You'll get a big list of keywords. Now weed out all that with 1 or 2 words keywords and focus only on keywords with more than 3 words. Filter further those with insufficient search volume. This elimination process will leave you with about 20 high qualify search phrase.
        5. Now go to Google and search those keywords without quotes. Check on the search results for those with little authority sites but results from Web 2.0 properties or article directories.
        6. Search the phrase again in quotes and weed out those that has more than 10,000 competing sites / results (note that 10,000 is just a guideline. You can go for a higher benchmark if the search volume is high).
        7. You will find at least 10 keywords that satisfy your requirement for bum marketing this way.

        -----------
        If there's really not many keywords you've gather this way. Search for other related LSI. You can do this by viewing source of the first few websites that rank for your keywords.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Then
    Tell us what niche (or niches) you are targeting, if I can, (or some other warriors can), I'll PM you some keywords that you can focus on.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Atkins
    First of all, make sure that you choose a niche that
    you personally like. If you don't, you will probably
    get bored & you will not work on it long enough
    to see results.

    Secondly, don't be afraid to compete for
    competitive keywords. It takes a lot of work
    to rank for competitive keywords I know, but
    the results will be much more rewarding.

    Ranking for non-competitive keywords is very
    easy. I could do that without breaking a sweat.
    But why even bother?

    Getting on the first page of google for a
    non-competitive keyword is just a
    waste of time if you ask me, because the traffic
    that you get from SEs will be very little.

    Hope that helps
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  • Profile picture of the author GarryMSayer
    From my experience, writing about something you are knowledgeable and interested in regardless of whether it's a hot niche or not is a bit of a 'double edged sword'.

    On the plus side it will certainly help you slice through writer's block and crank out lots of content and think up product ideas. However, you may be so used to this niche that you struggle to think up the kind of fresh ideas that someone with less knowledge of the 'rules' of that niche might be able to come up with.

    You mention google trends as a source of inspiration. Try Trendwatching for a monthly breakdown of the emerging trends around the globe. That way you'll be able to see if the niche has any potential for longetivity.

    I like amazon and ebay pulse too as these are great places to just browse around and find things that are selling well and give you ideas. Plus if you check out the Amazon Bestselling Books section you get to see exactly the kind of niches people are happy to pay for information about.

    If it's desperate niches you're after then I've had considerable success sifting through Embarassing Problems as people have what they consider to be an 'embarassing' problem then the chances are they will pay good money to get rid of it.

    Hope this helps.

    Garry.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisJamesG
    Really good advice, thanks everyone
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