Need tips for starting an Amazon Niche Blog

13 replies
Hi all-
My boyfriend and I are thinking of starting an Amazon.com Niche blog. He loves the outdoors and camping, so we are thinking of using that as our niche. I have done some research using Google Keyword tracker and Google trends and I have narrowed down some possibilities.

Gerber Knives - Gets on average 74,000 monthly searches and there are 583,000 competing pages. gerberhuntingknives.com domain name is available. Google trends show steady traffic sometimes up and sometimes down. Traffic seems to be mainly from the USA. Amazon.com does sell Gerber knives for a variety of prices.

Camping Stove - Gets on average 135,000 monthly searches and there are 788,000 competing pages. outdoorcampingstoves.com is available. Google trends shows that traffic in 2009 has gradually increased quite a bit. Traffic seems to be mainly from the UK.

So I guess my question is: Do you think these are good niches to pursue? What else do I need to research? Any pitfalls or negatives you can see with either one of these? Suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!
#amazon #blog #niche #starting #tips
  • Profile picture of the author Philipc
    Gerber knives is probably a good one. Is that search "in quotes" or just a broad match? Do you have any ideas as to the PR value of the pages that are 1,2 and 3 when that search is entered into google? Camping stove it too broad. I think you'd be served better by narrowing it down to say "coleman camping stove" or some such brand.
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    • Profile picture of the author belgirl
      Just a broad match. The top 3 in google for this keyword term are:

      Gerber Gear PR 5
      Gerber Store PR 3
      Gerber Tools PR 3


      Originally Posted by Philipc View Post

      Gerber knives is probably a good one. Is that search "in quotes" or just a broad match? Do you have any ideas as to the PR value of the pages that are 1,2 and 3 when that search is entered into google? Camping stove it too broad. I think you'd be served better by narrowing it down to say "coleman camping stove" or some such brand.
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      • Profile picture of the author Philipc
        That might be a bit hard to beat with a blog. Hard, not impossible. The in-quote search is better for results.

        I don't know how much Amazon pays, but it may not be worth your time with the small % commission. Anyway, just a thought?
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        • Profile picture of the author belgirl
          Yeah, I wondered about that. I guess it just depends if you sell alot of volume or not.


          Originally Posted by Philipc View Post

          That might be a bit hard to beat with a blog. Hard, not impossible. The in-quote search is better for results.

          I don't know how much Amazon pays, but it may not be worth your time with the small % commission. Anyway, just a thought?
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  • Profile picture of the author radio
    The percentage might be small, but with volume you can do okay. Amazon isn't the only game in town either. eBay has lots of items in those niches and the nice thing about eBay is their 7 day cookie. With both programs you get a commission off anything the visitor buys while your cookie is active - that can add up as well. Don't put all your eggs in one basket and look at some of the aff networks to see if there is a program specific (or complimentary) to what you are promoting. (camping, travel, books, etc.)

    Tip: don't give all your niche secrets away and don't post domains that are available if you are seriously thinking about picking it up (as it probably won't be available much longer after posting it!) it's good when starting out to get some feedback, but keeping your niches secret helps you avoid unnecessary competition.
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    • Profile picture of the author Philipc
      Good point.

      Although i know that it's hard to be specific and not be specific - if you know what i mean.
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    • Profile picture of the author belgirl
      Good thoughts. Is it possible to combine products from ebay, amazon and other affiliate programs into one store?

      Originally Posted by radio View Post

      The percentage might be small, but with volume you can do okay. Amazon isn't the only game in town either. eBay has lots of items in those niches and the nice thing about eBay is their 7 day cookie. With both programs you get a commission off anything the visitor buys while your cookie is active - that can add up as well. Don't put all your eggs in one basket and look at some of the aff networks to see if there is a program specific (or complimentary) to what you are promoting. (camping, travel, books, etc.)

      Tip: don't give all your niche secrets away and don't post domains that are available if you are seriously thinking about picking it up (as it probably won't be available much longer after posting it!) it's good when starting out to get some feedback, but keeping your niches secret helps you avoid unnecessary competition.
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      • Profile picture of the author radio
        Originally Posted by belgirl View Post

        Good thoughts. Is it possible to combine products from ebay, amazon and other affiliate programs into one store?
        Yes. Absolutely! You just need to be members of each of the different company's affiliate program. eBay, Amazon, CJ for example are great places to start. Then you can manually add links, images, etc. or look for a combination of plugins to assist.
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  • Profile picture of the author wwesley
    the think to make money with amazon is volume. you know that they can tons of volume and the branding is there. however personally i wouldn't pursue these niches as i think there might be more valuable ones. another thing is, did you check whether any authority sites have dominated those keywords? if amazon is there, it will be a lot of work to displace them
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  • Profile picture of the author Lisa Gergets
    You'll want your domain name to be exactly the same as your niche phrase that you've searched. Don't add any words. This is the key to people finding your blog.

    So for instance, if you searched the phrase "camping stove", you'll want your domain name to be campingstove.com, .net or .org or camping-stove.com, .net or .org, but not campingstovesupplies or greatcampingstoves...
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    • Profile picture of the author belgirl
      The problem is the popular keywords are already domain names. It's the long tail keywords that are available as domain names--but don't have alot of searches.

      Originally Posted by TinkerAndPo View Post

      You'll want your domain name to be exactly the same as your niche phrase that you've searched. Don't add any words. This is the key to people finding your blog.

      So for instance, if you searched the phrase "camping stove", you'll want your domain name to be campingstove.com, .net or .org or camping-stove.com, .net or .org, but not campingstovesupplies or greatcampingstoves...
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  • Profile picture of the author Holland
    HI,

    The main term gerber knives looks a bit to difficult to start with. The competing sites are numerous. The keywords associated with it like
    gerber hunting knives
    gerber folding knives
    gerber pocket knives
    and the singual versions look much more doable. But the downside is that the number of searches are in the 700 - 1000 range instead of the many thousands the word gerber knives gets.

    My criteria I look for are words with a competition in Google search with quotes at below 50,000 (people don't search with quotes but it gives you an indication of how much competetion you have for the words) and exact match in Google adword tool with above 1500 for local search.


    HtH
    Angela
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  • Profile picture of the author belgirl
    Thanks everyone. I think I have found 2 niches. My lips are sealed until the sites are up!
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