Accessing Website Competition

I think you can compete with anyone if you can find enough related keywords that will drive people towards the same products. Market Samurai shows you high, middle, and low traffic and competition keywords, right? I wouldn't go after the same keywords Amazon has targeted, but others that are easier to rank for first, with maybe a little focus on higher ranked keywords.

Thank you very much for replying! I was thinking along the same lines, but the SEOv takes a big dive in value when you move down the list of keywords....The bottom end begins to range from $100 to $200...In your experience is that enough?

What does the competition look like for spots 4-10? It may look wide open since the top 3 are massive, but those other spots could be tough, niche competitiors as well.

You definitely can successfully outrank megasites like Amazon, Walmart, etc. even with a much smaller site.

Don't obsess over the 53 bajillion links they have to their domain, and instead look at the specific page they're ranking with:
- how many external links are there to that page?
- how well does the page target the keyword?
- how well do the anchor texts pointing to their page match the keyword?
- how important is the page in their internal hierarchy?
(A good competitive analysis / keyword difficulty tool will give you all of this information.)

Massive website authority like those sites have is certainly a huge advantage, but it's more like a lever or a multiplier than a minimum hurdle. Eg:
Huge website authority x crappy page = weak competition
Huge website authority x decent page = high competition

And for you the formula probably looks something like this:
Low website authority x awesome page = medium competition

Good luck!
--Matt

I don't know how to answer this question without repeating what other people have already said. You're given some great advice aleady regarding how exacty to accomplish your goals. As long as you can connect with people and find a way to entice them to purchase from you, you will make a profit.