In the last post I gave you a short introduction about this topic and explained why it’s important to do this before you start blogging. I also mentioned the importance of having research objectives. To recap, research should help you see if a niche:
- has enough traffic or interested people
- has manageable competition
- offers profit opportunities
Evaluating Traffic
Start by picking a particular niche you have in mind and typing it into Google.com. Remember, be specific. Do not settle for a single general word. In our example above, specific niches would be polymer clay crafts or polymer clay jewellery.
If there are sites and blogs dedicated to your specific topic, chances are, there will be people highly interested in it simply because other bloggers or webmasters have already started publishing information about it online.
Next, take your specific topic and type it into the Free Google Keyword Tool. On the right hand sidebar, tick “Phrase”, type in the (captcha?) and hit “Search.” Look at the list of words that appear underneath. Your main topic should be listed first. Look at the number under the heading Global Monthly Searches. The figure there is the average number of people who type the exact phrase into Google every month.
Obviously, the higher the number registered under the Global Monthly Searches, the more people there will be who will be interested in your topic.
Underneath your main topic of choice will be a list of other words and phrases. These should give you a clue about other niche topics that could be alternatives to your main one.
Assessing Competition
In a lot of cases, a niche might have a great deal of people interested in it. This doesn’t mean though that this is automatically an advisable niche to pick. This is because you might come across very stiff competition. You should go for a niche where you have a good chance of beating or at least standing on equal footing with the existing competition.
You’ll get your first clue about the quality of competition through the Global Monthly Searches. The higher the figure, the more likely other bloggers and website owners already have web properties that revolve around this topic.
You can confirm this by using a free tool like Traffic Travis. Download the free version of the tool. Open the SEO Analysis section and type your main topic phrase into the “Phrase to Analyze” box. Leave the “Search Location” to US unless your topic is tied to a specific geographic location.
Look at the top ten sites that appear in the results. These are the top sites that appear in Google.com when your niche or topic phrase is typed. This is your competition.
Generally speaking the higher the PR (page rank), Age and BL (backlinks) and the more green checkmarks in the grid to the right, the stiffer the competition will be in your niche.
You can also manually review the top sites that appear in the results. You’ll know if a blog or website is difficult to surpass if it has a solid following as indicated by the figures appearing in social networking follower or sharing widgets published on site.
Determining Profitability
As I mentioned in a previous section not all bloggers choose to go into blogging for the money. It’s still worth looking into the profitability of your niche though just in case you decide to monetize your blog along the way.
The first step is to again manually review the top sites for your niche. You’ll know there’s some money to be made from a niche if related advertisements, products or services are offered in these top ranking sites.
You can also use another free tool like Spyfu. Type your niche topic into the box and click “Search”. If a high “Cost/Click” figure appears and if there are “Advertisers” that register, there’s hope that you might make money in your niche.
Words of Caution
Keep in mind that what has been mentioned here so far is all very basic. Lots of internet marketers have very complicated methods and use powerful tools. These points however should be enough for starters.