17 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
17 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Will You Go After This Niche?

by ebizman87
13 replies
Hi there..

I found a new niche today and right after using my keyword research tool I managed to find out the following info...



Some additional info:

*The Niche is related to self-help

*The BL on the analysis above stands for "Backlinks" for that particular page

*The BLS stands for "Number of backlinks for the whole site"

* The site highlighted in RED is an affiliate site that uses WORDPRESS

*I manually checked the backlinks for the site from YAHOO and only found BLOG comments, 1 forum profile link,2 forum posts,1 EZA

*I found no submission of the site at Digg.com or Mixx.com (maybe I'm wrong)

*The site also uses RSS feeds to promote it's internal pages

* According to google keyword tool, the keyword is getting 5400 monthly searches (exact)

*963,000 competing sites without quote on GOOGLE

*There're 2 Web 2.0 Sites in top 20 of Google's search results (Wikihow & Youtube)

So what you think?

Will you go after this keyword & compete with the site above? YES/NO

If YES,what other factors that you'll consider before targeting this keyword?

Have your say and turn this into a great discussion topic
#keyword
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    [DELETED]
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2312789].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      This wouldn't be relevant to me at all.

      I don't care if there are 5,000 "competing sites" or 5,000,000, because I'm actually competing with only 10 of them, and those are the 10 on the first page of Google SERPs. I would need to know what those sites are (especially the top 3 or so) and form an assessment of whether I can outrank them.

      Which would you rather compete for, a keyword which has 5,000,000 other sites but article directory articles listed on the front page, or a keyword with 5,000 sites listed, but the top 5 or 10 and nearly all age-old, high-PR, authority sites with millions of backlinks? This is what actually matters.
      Right on

      I find the apparently widely adopted notion that number of competition really means anything in terms of SEO not only to be sometimes frustrating, but also quite baffling.

      It seems like people enjoy making calculated decisions from thorough, logical analysis less than they do mere assumptions; assumptions based on fear of something which may appear intimidating on the surface, at first glance - like a large figure - but ultimately becomes devoid of much or any meaning or influence, if you take the time to scratch away at it instead of running away from it with your tail between your legs.

      But I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise, given it's widely known amongst marketers that emotion plays a huge role in peoples purchase decisions.

      Why shouldn't that then extend to other decisions we make, or actions we take, in any and all facets of life?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2316616].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
        I think what is important is whether or not it is truly a buyers keyword and a niche with money.

        Well, those and what Alexa said.

        You can dance around not being on page one for a long time if you know how to drive traffic.
        Signature

        "May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"

        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2316662].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author ebizman87
          Originally Posted by avenuegirl View Post

          I think what is important is whether or not it is truly a buyers keyword and a niche with money.
          I believe that a keyword that's associated with a problem that's natural among all people in the world (self help/improvement) is indeed a buying keyword..(of course not all keywords)

          I saw some gurus making killer income with this niche and thought, "WHY not try out this niche?"
          Signature
          Is this for real?
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2317061].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            Originally Posted by DireStraits View Post

            It seems like people enjoy making calculated decisions from thorough, logical analysis less than they do mere assumptions; assumptions based on fear of something which may appear intimidating on the surface, at first glance - like a large figure - but ultimately becomes devoid of much or any meaning or influence, if you take the time to scratch away at it instead of running away from it with your tail between your legs.
            From what I've been seeing in conversations like this is that people like to have hard and fast rules that they can simply obey as a substitute for thinking. I'm not saying the OP is doing this, just a general observation.

            If their rule says "competition when searched in quotes less than 5,000", they will reject the keyword if their results that day show 5,001.

            Originally Posted by ebizman87 View Post

            I believe that a keyword that's associated with a problem that's natural among all people in the world (self help/improvement) is indeed a buying keyword..(of course not all keywords)

            I saw some gurus making killer income with this niche and thought, "WHY not try out this niche?"
            Just because a keyword is associated with a problem doesn't mean that people are looking to buy a solution. The searcher could be looking for background information, free solutions, free tools...

            One indicator when you do your search on the keyword - are there people already selling stuff directly related to the keyword, either via website or via Adwords?

            You could have a huge result in traffic, but if no one is buying anything, all you're doing is burning bandwidth.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2317123].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author ebizman87
              Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post


              Just because a keyword is associated with a problem doesn't mean that people are looking to buy a solution. The searcher could be looking for background information, free solutions, free tools...
              You've a point here but even if the keyword is not a buying keyword, if I provide enough info on my site,build trust and promote an aff product, don't you think that the customers will buy?

              Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

              One indicator when you do your search on the keyword - are there people already selling stuff directly related to the keyword, either via website or via Adwords?
              Oh ya, I totally forgot about this indicator. Thanks for reminding me up.
              Signature
              Is this for real?
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2317366].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
                Originally Posted by ebizman87 View Post

                You've a point here but even if the keyword is not a buying keyword, if I provide enough info on my site,build trust and promote an aff product, don't you think that the customers will buy?
                It's definitely possible. In fact, if you want to meet people at earlier points in the buying cycle, you can cut out a lot the competition before your prospects ever get to the buying point.

                Do it well, and you won't have any competition.

                Just be aware that it's a longer road than picking off the people who are ready to buy right now.
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2317500].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author wwadvice
      If it's a topic that you have no real interest in, will you have trouble staying motivated to keep at it?
      For me its a factor. I've done enough of IM to know that a project will sit idle because the topic is boring for me.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2316974].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ebizman87
    Looks like some people here don't really think that the number of competing pages in quote is NOT really a criteria to check out the competition..

    Guess we can start ignoring that factor while doing keyword/niche research..

    Well what you guys think about the "difficulty level" that my tool has given for that niche? It says "difficult". Would you ignore it?
    Signature
    Is this for real?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2317005].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author wwadvice
      That website in spot number 5 looks weak to be there. You might be able to get in front of that site. Does it have the keyword as the domain by any chance?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2317054].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author ebizman87
        Originally Posted by wwadvice View Post

        That website in spot number 5 looks weak to be there. You might be able to get in front of that site.
        That's what I've been thinking. With a wordpress site and high quality plugins and more backlinks, maybe I can outrank that site.

        But maybe I'm wrong...

        Originally Posted by wwadvice View Post

        Does it have the keyword as the domain by any chance?
        Yes, the keyword is in the domain of that site.
        Signature
        Is this for real?
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2317075].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author LondonPaladin
    I would look at the PPC campaigns being run on the page. IF people are spending money on a keyword then it is worth getting on that first page, but if it's not really getting ppc money then it's not really converting....

    You can also look to see if the other top 10 sites are selling something.

    Also how many searches a day?
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2317133].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mary Green
    I like to have at least a handful of decent keywords in a niche before I write up a site for it. I find it difficult to base everything around just one keyword. The topic of self help is great, but if you don't find good keywords to go with it... not so good.
    Signature
    Free Guide- 52 Time Saving Social Media Tools on Social Media Fuze
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2317470].message }}

Trending Topics