How do you identify a worthwhile niche?

Welcome to the forum!

To keep it as simple and specific as possible:

Since you are just starting - a "worthwhile" niche for you would be a niche where there is no competition.

So basically look for keywords that have the following criteria:
1. Google Pagerank of ALL first 10 search results on Google is 0.
2. Exact monthly searches of the keyword ~500.

That's all... You can start with that and try to make 1 easy keyword to rank first (don't care too much about high traffic and/or high CPC keywords when you start).

Hope that helps!

Alex

I find it an absolute grind to work on things that don't interest me. The first thing I'd do is create a list of things I actually enjoy doing. I'm a big personal finance and development buff, so that's what I'm targeting.

Writing about this stuff is a total pleasure, and it's something that people are actually interested in. That's a win-win in my eyes.

To find out if the niche get's traffic, check out the Google Keywords tool.

I start with finding a worthwhile product to sell. Then I do the niche and keyword research around that.

Thanks alot everyone. I appreciate all the feedback. Would like to hear from more people guys!

How do you do it?

There are so many places to find niches. They're literally everywhere, from the news, Google Hot Trends, Ebay Pulse, Amazon Best Sellers, offline magazine ads, ads anywhere you find them. Here's a long list of popular niches that I keep adding to over time.


acne medication
AD/HD
Addictions
Adoption
adult
adult toys
Alzheimers
Anger Management
Antiquing
Anti-Spyware / Anti-Virus
Anxiety
Arthritis
Asthma
auto loan
Auto Racing
automotive
Babies
baby shower
Back Pain
Baking
Baseball
Basketball
Baskets
Beauty
beauty products
beer
betting
bill consolidation loan
Billiards
Bird Training / Train Your Bird to Talk
Birds
Board Games
Boating & Sailing
Bodybuilding
Bowling
Boxing
broadband phone
building muscles (especially pecs, biceps and abs)
business finance
business opportunity
Camping and Hiking
Cancer
Candle making
car insurance
car rental
Card Games
cars
casino
Cats
cell phones
ceramics
Certifications
Cheerleading
Chess
chess
Child Care
chocolate
Choosing A Career or Profession
Chronic Fatigue
Electronic cigarette
classic car
Climbing
Collecting
College Prep
Communication
computer games
computer hardware
Conflict Resolution
console systems (Xbox, Wii, Psp)
Craps
credit cards
Cricket Twenty20 league
Crocheting
cruises
Cure Hemorrhoids
Cycling
Dancing
Databases
Dating
Dating Advice
dating/singles
debt consolidation
debt management
debt/bad credit
Decks & Patios
Decorating
dental
Depression
Desserts
Diabetes
Diets
Digital Photography
Discipline
Divorce
DIY
Dog Training
Dogs
Dollhouses
Domain Registration
Domestic Violence
Dropshipping
Dvd rental
Eating Disorders
Educational software
Electrical
Electronic Games
Equestrian
Etiquette
Exercise equipment
Family Tree
Fantasy Sports
Farm Animals Care
Fast cash loan
Fat Burning
Fatherhood
Fertility
Figure Skating
films/cinema/movies (loads of CPA offers currently for Avatar)
Finance
finance and investment leads
Fish
Fishing
fitness
Floors
Flower Arranging
flowers
Food Allergies
Football
Football/Baseball/Basketball/Cricket shirts
forex
Forex Trading
Furniture
gadgets (i-phone/pad, blackberry,)
Garden Design
Garden/plants
Gardening
gift basket
gifts
Girls
Glass & Glassware Making
Goals & Achievement
Golf
gospel music
Grandparenting
Graphics and Designing Software
Green Home / Energy
Greenhouses
gym memberships
Gymnastics
Happiness
Hardware
Headaches
Health/fitness
Heart Disease
Heating and ventilation
hemp
Hepatitis C
Hockey
holidays
home improvement
Home Repair
home safety tip
home security
home theater
Honeymoons
Horse Care
Horse Racing
hosting reseller
hotels
How to Get Rid of Panic Attacks
How to Get Your Ex Back
How to Learn French
How to Learn German
How to Learn Guitar
How to Learn Italian
How to Learn Spanish
How to Play the Piano
How to Play the Violin
How to Quit Smoking
How to Save on Your Taxes
How to Save Your Marriage
Hunting
Hypnosis
Hypoglycemia
Instruments
insurance
Internet Marketing
Internet/ How To Use
Investing
Jewelrymaking
Job Hunting
jobs/careers
jogging
Juice
karaoke
Knitting
Landscaping
Language
Lapidary
Lawncare
Leathercrafts
Life Coaching
Low Calorie
Low Carb
Low Fat
low fat recipes
Mac
magazine subscriptions
making money
male beauty products
Management/ leadership skills
Marketing
Marriage
Martial Arts
Massage
maternity
Math Games
medicine alternative
Memory Improvement
Menopause
merchant account
MLM
mobile phone service
Models/ Building
modern furniture
mortgages
Motherhood
Motivation
motorcycle
Mountain Biking
movie tickets
Multiple Sclerosis
muscle and fitness
music
music/charts
nail care
NASCAR
Natural Health
Needlecraft
new age
NLP
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
office supplies
online bill pay
online casino
online games
Operating Systems (computers)
Organic Foods
Outdoor
paintball equipment
Painting
Papercrafts
Parenting
Parkinson's Disease
Personal Finance
Personal Training
pet friendly
phone card
photo developing
Photoshop Users
Pilates
Plants
Plumbing
poker
pottery
Pottery and Ceramics
Pregnancy
prepaid credit card
Programming/ computers
property development
psychic
Psychology
Racquetball
Rafting
Real Estate
Real Estate Investing
Registry Cleaner
related embarrassing issues (snoring, sweating, bald, overly hairy)
relationships
relaxation
Reptiles and Amphibians
restaurants (eating out)
ringtones
Role Playing
Roulette
Rugby
Running
satellite tv
Scrapbooking
Scuba Diving
Security
Sexuality
Single Parenting
Skateboarding
Skiing
Skincare
Sleep Disorders
Slots
Small Biz & Entrepreneurship
smokeless cigarettes
Snorkeling
Snowboarding
Soccer/ Football
software
Special Diet and Recipes
Special Needs Children
Special Occasions
specialty music
sports
Sports Betting
Stepparenting
Stock Trading
stop smoking
Stress
Stroke
Surfing
Swimming
Tai Chi
Teenagers
Tennis
Test Preparation
textbooks
Thyroid
Time Management
trading/forex
Travel
travel insurance
Trivia
TV's & Stereos
Twins & Multiple Babies
valentine's gifts
Vegetarian
Video Games
Vitamins and Supplements
Wedding Favors
Wedding Invitations
Wedding Planning
Wedding Speeches
Weed and pest control
weight lifting supplements
Weight Loss
Weight Training
Whiskey & Spirits
Wine/ Wine Making
WoodWorking
World of Warcraft
Wrestling
Yoga

Depends on whether you want to create an expert site or a micro niche site. The big ones have high paying keywords and are long run projects so competition etc doesn't really matter.

If you are micro niching then worthwhile products and low competition are the order of the day.

Mine are simple... if the keyword for that niche has more than 300 monthly searches and the competition is less than 2,000,000.

There are a few ways to do that... First of all I would look at the "for idiots" or "for dummies" book on Amazon. For example if I would like to venture into kite making niche I would look for "Kite Making For Idiots" book. If it is available then I would know that it is a worthwhile niche.

I like to put my time and effort into something that I enjoy and
am knowledgeable about. And that always seems to work out
best for me. I find that there is always at least a micro niche in
an area I enjoy that will turn out to be profitable with good adsense
income.

I made a video for another person needing the same advice...so I just decided to share it here. A warrior showed me this and it has really changed the game for me...this is not the re-hashed stuff you see everywhere else...

When just starting out, I would suggest picking a topic you are excited about and then finding a profitable niche product under that umbrella. You will be elbow deep in the subject for at least a month. If you are not interested in the information, you could burn out before making headway. Once you have your system down, then you can just plug-in-play with whatever profitable product you want to promote.

Personally I prefer to target offers instead of specific niches. I check out the search volume of the main offer keywords, then I check some forums to see what people are talking about when it comes to the offer. ie. are people in forums speaking highly of the product.

Finally I take a look at the landing page I'll be referring people onto, because the last thing I want to do is work my butt off to build traffic, but then send it through to an offer that doesn't convert.

If you've got a good offer to promote, then everything else kinda just falls into place. :-)

It is really 2 steps - find a market (you got a long list of those in a previous post)

and then find keywords that will be more likely to be profitable without so much competition.

Yes, the experienced people can do well in any niche. But if you starting out, I recommend you find keywords that have over 2500 exact match global monthly searches in the google keyword tool and less than 25000 results when you Google it without quotes.

I'd first check on its seach volume, how will I earn with it (if adsense = if CPC is high, or with CPA or affiliate offers) and the top 10 competition.

You can do it all with google's tools and traffic travis.

Anyway you'll need some imagination as many profitable niches have already high competition.

Long-tail keywords can be equally profitable.

A quick way to find a good niche is to simply look at magazines. If there is a magazine made specifically for that topic, then that's a sure sign that there's a niche.

Yeah man fully agree, those niches are pretty few and far between.

Have you ever tried the relevant results method that a good friend turned me onto? Check this out -

1. Set your G search settings to show 100 results at a time.
2. Run a search for anything on G in quotes.
3. Scroll to the very last page that is available and you should see something like the following show up:

"In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 264 already displayed."

That number - 264 - is the number of page results Google deemed relevant to the searched keyword term and guess what...

Google will only ever pick up max 1000 relevant results.

Therefore what we have is a scale from 0-1000, with 1000 being the highest competition and 0 being the lowest.

Yes you're right, this technique isn't absolute, however if you come across a keyword term with less then say 50 relevant results, you've probably got a pretty good chance of getting on page 1.

Try it out next time you're running some research.

PS. I'm sure this isn't the first time someones mentioned this technique, so I just wanted to say that I'm not claiming it as my own and I was referred onto it by a friend(they know who they are) :-)

I just stumbled on a hot niche that looks quite promising. I was even able to locate a perfect domain name that is not registered yet. I'd love to enter this niche yet due to my 2 other big projects I don't have the time to do so.

Anyways if anyone is interested and willing to put it into action - PM me. I'll give you all the info for free. I'm curious t see how good this niche is. Find out for yourself. Just a thought.

First thing is to see if that niche is making money (usually thru adwords research). In other words, are others paying for ads to do with that niche? For how long (use spyfu) How much, etc. etc. Why get into a market and put time into it if it's not making money...even if its a market you know or enjoy?

What do you think Ranjith?

Get niche base words and use it with google keyword tool.Then filter them with market samurai.

Another way to check a good niche is by checking out the bestselling section on Amazon and see what the popular 'niches' are in each category. This can give you a direction to focus on when choosing a niche.

worthwhile niche.

You should be looking for competition.

HUH?

you are crazy right, i hear you say.

NOPE!, some of our most profitable niches are the ones with massive amounts of competition.

Just means there are very passionate people willing to spend their hard earned dollars on this. Yes! even in a crappy economy.

Just find a good market, with lots of competitions and jump infront and take your smaller chunk of the bigger pie. You will be amazed at how easy it is.

Most people fail because they choose the wrong niche to start with. It is the most important part of this whole thing, so spend time doing it....as its really a make or break thing as you will soon find out.

I honestly don't really believe in this promote what you like idea. I mean if you wanna make money, you are probably missing out on many other niches that can make you tons of cash.

1) use google trends to identify hot searches
2) conduct some keyword research using GKT
3) test those keywords for actual traffic by launching a PPC campaign worth $30
4) keep the keywords that actually got good enough impressions
5) make site and rank for keywords

This is a very simplified version of the entire process but thats primarily what I use.

here is my step by step

1. Download Traffic Travis free edition.
2. Do a keyword search and it will show you the top 20 websites and the competion.
3. It has a range of factors with Red Cross or a Green Tick from site age to <h1> keywords, back links and domain age
4. If the niche your looking at has the top 10 with alot of Red, then it means it should be easy to target that keyword, solid green means your pushing against stiff competition.
5. Use google adwords keyword tool for niche keyword narrowing and cpa prices

rinse and repeat

well...i use to find out a running hot niche going to ezinearticles.com and some googling...simply type site:ezinearticles.com "" Submitted On * *, 2011. Viewed 5000..times then copy and pase this in google search bar...it will show many threads which has been viewed more than 5000 in 2011...you may vary the figure 5000 upto 9999....the most viewed topics are most probably the hot niche....

many people look off-line (or semi off-line) like what people are buying at Amazon & Ebay. but be careful doing this at this time of year because what's popular may just be temporary.

once you find a niche & a keyword, make sure you download the free version of traffictravis.com

this is an incredible free tool to see how competitive it will be to rank for that keyword/niche