by Scott Spooner
If you are interested in finding a niche market, you can turn to any of dozens of articles, blog posts, and forum threads that discuss the topic in length. Unfortunately, most of these writings are theoretical in nature; defining what a niche market is, or advising you to find that delicate balance between enough traffic and limited competition to make it profitable.
As a full-time niche marketer, the bulk of the writing that exists today leaves me somewhat frustrated as so little of it points to any metrics, or “rules of thumb”, for defining what is “enough traffic”, or “limited competition”.
To address this issue head on, this article will specify the numbers that I use when I am considering a niche to explore. I will also describe the tools I use to determine these numbers. The best part is, these tools are free.
Let’s start with “traffic”. Traffic is usually described in terms of the number of searches performed through any of several search engines. Because of its current dominance on the Internet, Google is usually the “go to” search engine that is used for search traffic counts, so that is where we’ll start.
Google has a free keyword too, which you can locate by going to Google and typing in “Google keyword tool”. Although this tool was designed for use with Google’s AdWords program, anybody can use it free of charge.
Simply enter in one or more keywords from niches that you are interested in, fill out the “captcha”, and click on the “Get keyword ideas” button. Google will then compile the data and report back to you both related keywords and monthly search volume counts (among other data available).
Here is where I look for the first of my two metrics. I am searching for niche-related keywords that show at least 2500 searches per month (or, approximately 80 searches per day, if you are using a keyword tool that displays daily search counts).
Ok, now we have a specific search traffic number that we can use for selecting our keywords. But, what about the other side of the equation, the “limited competition”? What kind of metric can we use to determine how much competition is too much?
Like with traffic, there are many ways to size up your competition. Some authors use “strength of competition” (SOC), while others prefer measures of “authority”. Still others use Google’s own measure of Page Rank (PR). For purposes of this article, I’ll focus on Page Rank for two reasons: 1) it is a simple measure that is widely used, and; 2) I’ve got a free tool you can use to measure it.
The tool is named “SEO for Firefox” and, like the name implies, it works with the Firefox browser. You can download a free copy of it by going to Google and typing in “Firefox download”.
SEO for Firefox is a plug-in that lets you measure Page Rank of web sites while you are analyzing keywords in Google. You can download your free copy of SEO for Firefox at: http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
After installing both the Firefox browser, and the SEO for Firefox plug-in, simply toggle the SEO button so that SEO is running, and then surf on over to Google. Type in your keyword and let Google report back to you the search engine results. With the SEO plug-in turned on, you’ll notice that below each entry on Google’s organic search, an array of information is displayed for that web site. The first piece of data is the page position for each web site displayed. Right behind that number is what we are looking for: PR (Page Rank). The PR is followed by a question mark (?). By clicking on that question mark, the SEO plug-in reports back the web site’s Page Rank.
So, what is the actual metric that I use for determining how competitive my keyword is? I look for at least two (2) web sites on Google’s front page, with a Page Rank of “3” or below. Simple.
There you have it: I look for keywords that have both a minimum of 2500 searches per month AND at least two web sites on Google’s Page 1, with a Page Rank of “3” or below. When both of those metrics are satisfied, I get serious about diving into the niche.
Yes, there are many other metrics that you can use to help you decide which keywords to select, but the two I’ve described above are both simple to arrive at, and use tools which cost you nothing; both important considerations, especially if you are just starting out.
Technorati Tags: market research, niche marketing
In this Snowcast ( http://snowcaplabs.com/blog ) Loren demonstrates some simple techniques to finding “keyword seeds” and expand them to get hundreds (or thousands) of keywords relevant to a given market niche.
This short video explores the SWOT Analysis as part of an overall Strategic Marketing Plan. Most people perform a SWOT analysis for entire companies, or across entire markets. This is the wrong approach, creating only generic results. Effective SWOT must be linked to a market segment.
Looking beyond the numbers in your market, this video discusses how you need to bring your own knowledge and passion into the mix in order to succeed. Focus on what you know, what you are good at, and what you enjoy doing.
The key to niche market research is finding the needs of your target market. Watch this short video as the author dives into market research for a niche.
This video is a good primer for those interested in market research and segmentation. The author describes and defines both market research and market segmentation and offers both reasons and techniques for their use.