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How much competition is too much?

by JMac
7 replies
I'm looking at a keyword that gets about 50,000 searches per month and only has 400,000 results show up. The scary thing is, each of the sites on the first page has at least 3000 backlinks. Is this something any of you would pursue? Or should I move on to the next keyword?
#competition
  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Koop
    While 50,000 searches a month is obviously good, that doesn't necessarily make it a really lucrative niche.

    That said, I personally don't worry too much about competition if I plan to target the niche for the long term. If you are trying to market something that is time-sensitive then I might advise against it but if it is something "evergreen," it can't hurt to start making inroads.

    Another thing to remember is that all backlinks are not created equal. If you get 10 really good one-way links from sites with decent authority, you can easily outrank sites with 100's of lesser-quality links.

    Good luck in your pursuit,
    Kevin
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  • Profile picture of the author AdInventive
    If trying to rank for a specific keyword, I personally tend to stay away from any that have the competition equipped with more backlinks then I can produce for my own site.

    There is a matter of effort vs reward. Your time is an asset that should be treated as such. If it would take you a fraction of the time to rank for a handful of other related keywords that are not getting as many searches monthly, then it's probably more beneficial.

    With that said, I take a look at the overall rankings of page 1. I specifically focus on the top 5 and see what they did with their linking for that particular phrase. If I can beat it without too much trouble then I will go for it.

    Don't be afraid of lateral marketing either. Finding related niches or keywords that would be interested in your offer, but have little to no competition, would also be something well worth considering.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Franklin
    Hi J-Mac,

    When diving into a niche, take some time to research the long-tail keyword niche phrases. Those phrases tend to not be some competitive.

    Based on your keyword, I would see if I can narrow it down by researching viable 3-5 word phrases with your keyword contained within the phrase.

    Plug in your main keyword into Google's Keyword Tool to help get you some long-tail phrase ideas.
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  • Profile picture of the author rdxsumo
    IMO...

    The competition is tough but search volume is attractive too. If you want to be certain about your ability to beat the competition then use this operator:

    allintitle:yourkeyword

    If competition is below 1000 then its pretty easy for you to beat it. If it exceeds, then it would be a tough fight.

    Regards
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    You must examine each and every page on the first 10 results at Google. Total number of "competing" pages is irrelevant. Focus on the quality of your competition, not the quantity. It sounds like you've got a good start, since you've looked into the amount of backlinks they have...
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanzona
    Another thing to look at is what is the Page Rank of the already established competitor sites? A page rank 4 or better with thousands of links will probably take a lot to dislodge. imo.
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  • Profile picture of the author AdInventive
    Page rank is a relative thing.

    A lot of the times sites will rank for keywords that they are not targeting.

    Or another example would be a website's inner page is ranked, but the main domain itself has the PR.

    I really don't see PR as a deterrent because of this. A more accurate representation from my experience is the amount of backlinks a page has for a particular term, and the anchor text that's used for them.
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