How "micro" is a micro niche?

7 replies
Hello,

Another person on the forum suggested that creating a small site (maybe approx 10 pages) for a micro-niche site could be a good way to generate some passive ad-sense income.

But how micro is "micro" exactly?

I don't have a good example. But I'll try to create an example using snowboards:

1) Snowboards
2) Burton Snowboards
3) Burton Snowboards for youths
4) Burton Snowboards for youths that 'board reverse-footed
5) 2011 Burton Snowboard models for youths that 'board reverse-footed


How far down the chain should one go when building a micro site? Just trying to get a basic idea here.
#micro #niche
  • Profile picture of the author Nikomia
    It depends. You can use "2011 Burton Snowboard models for youths that 'board reverse-footed for your niche" or you can dig down further. There are many factors that come into consideration when you're choosing a niche. As far as I am concerned, "2011 Burton Snowboard models for youths that 'board reverse-footed" should do.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3489907].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
    The fifth one is very micro. But I'd do a mix of them. Try to build authority sites that are long term as well. It's easier to maintain a couple of authority sites versus 500 mini micro sites in the long haul.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3489965].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Carlsbadd
    It depends on what the google keywords tool tells you. How you read the results and how up to date the keyword reporting is. I also use the trends tool also.

    All the tools like market samuri and traffic travis as well as micro niche finder use the data from google anyway. MSN adcenter is a good tool also.
    Spending time learning about the results will help you.
    Still it can be trail and error, I have a site on page 1 in second position for it's term that gets 20000 searches a month but it's not a buying keyword so I don't get many sales from it, but I learned a lesson, I can get to page one.
    I also learned it doesn't matter what your rank is if the people searching that term are not buyers.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3490804].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author azmanar
      Hi,

      What Carlsbadd said is correct.

      The first question is, what do you want to do with the Micro-niche site?

      ClickBank, Linkshare, Google Aff, CJ, E-Commerce, Adsense, CPA, branding, or creating a community?

      Some people are just looking for answers, price comparisons, research and tips. All these people are not buyers. Not good for e-Commerce.

      Some search for freebies. They may impulsively take the CPA baits.

      And some search for products because they are seriously wanting to buy. There are some keywords used by these people. Examples are " Buy Burton Snowboard Online ". " Burton Snowboard Stores ". " Burton Products in Minnesota ". " Snowboard Stores ". " Burton Special Online Price " . " Order Burton Snowboard Online "

      These are only indicators for potential buyers.

      So you can use the Keyword Tools to see how people are searching for Snowboards. Take time to study the keywords used. In micro niche, its good to have at least minimum 2,000 local searches ( USA ).

      For me, that isn't the last step.

      I would dig further to see where are the 2,000 searches coming from. So I would use Google Insights. With 2,000 searches only won't be enough to create any stats in Google Insights. So I will un-micro ( lol ) my micro niche. I make it broader. For Burton Snowboard, I would use the word Snowboard in Insights. Then test Burton Snowboards as well.

      Insights will show maps, States that show the most searches and most searched words as well as rising searches in that niche.

      Then I start drilling down the maps in Insights, to see which cities have the most searches for Snowboards. Insights will show 10 most searched words trends.

      You'll noticed that some popular searches are seasonal. The spikes and line graphs will show you that.

      From here on, you can refine your search in the Keyword Tools further. You might even change your micro-niche several times before you finally get the one you're comfortable and confident with.

      Just my take on developing micro-niches.

      And one last thing.

      Creating a community around your micro-niche would be a good long term strategy if you're patient. If this is your plan, then most likely you'll need to know more about community building strategies and tools as well.
      Signature
      === >>> Tomorrow Should Be Better Than Today

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3494072].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author beks001
      Banned
      [DELETED]
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3495849].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Kraggy
        Consider your active competition as well:

        Some of your best leverage in ranking the micro-niche comes from owning exact-match domain(s). Before I get to the stage where I'm buying a .com to anchor the niche sites I look past all the research tools, as wonderful as they are and look for active competition by peeking at the various free web 2.0 properties.

        You can bet if the {exact match}.blogspot.com and {exact match}.tumblr.com, and all the rest are taken already with recent articles on them that you are in for a bit of a fight. This could be good. If these competitors are not really strong, it can confirm a market for you without being much of a threat. If the micro-niche is already occupied by someone who knows what he's doing, it might be worth stepping back and going broader with more of an authority-type site, or focusing tighter.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3507361].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Jexo Advertising
    The more specific you get, the less competition there is. That's really why people use "micro" niches. Once you've established that niche and are making a consistent profit you can start taking over other areas.

    If you went for "Snowboards" head on, you'll overwhelm yourself and also find it very hard to profit from. If you take it one step at a time... within a couple years you may find yourself controlling a huge chunk of keywords/sites.

    Hope that helps =)
    Signature

    Jexo.com is a CPA based Affiliate Network. Affiliates receive 100% commission for their first month!
    Follow us at Twitter.com/JexoAdvertising
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3507487].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Abinadi Suarez
    I love Micro Niches...

    A micro niche is a small size group of people who share the same needs or are interested on the same activities.

    We have what we call a Market, a Niche and a Micro Niche. A micro niche is located inside of a niche, and a niche is located inside of a market. It really don´t depend to much on how long is the Keyword phrase it depends on two things. Searches and Competition. That`s how you will define a Market, a niche and a Micro Niche.

    Market: 100.000+ Searches
    100.000+ Competing Pages

    Niche: 50.000 to 100.000 Searches
    50.000 to 100.000 Competing Pages

    Micro Niche: Less than 50.000 Searches
    Less than 50.000 Competing Pages

    But also it depends on the keywords as well.

    Market: Decorating
    Niche: Cake Decorating
    Micro Niche: Cake Decorating Techniques

    Let me know how is it going...

    Abinadi Suarez - Niche Finders Expert
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3585781].message }}

Trending Topics