Niche Research
Before committing to any niche it is important to research your potential niches thoroughly. You will want to get an idea of how many people are searching for your products, how much competition you are likely to have, and what products you can potentially sell from which merchants and at what commission rate. Completing your research will give you a feel for the market but will not give you the exact profitability due to the large amount of factors that can effect your sales.
At this point in our process you can buy tools to aid you, however I would fully recommend that you get used to using the free resources available to you.
- Tools
- Research the approximate search volume of specific keywords related to your potential niche.
- Research alternative keywords that are being used to find the products you plan to sell.
- Research advertiser competition down to keyword level within the niche you plan to promote.
Google Keyword Tool
Google & Yahoo Search Engines
- Research competition by viewing sponsored advertisements on both search engines (or as many as you wish)
- Research competition by understanding how many results show for your particular keywords.
- Get a feeling for other websites advertising or selling similar products and begin to get a feeling for how you would like your website to look and behave.
Affiliate Networks
Most affiliate networks provide great insights into the market you are looking to enter. They provide conversion statistics, average earning per affiliate click and of course help you decide which merchants you will promote. Before finalizing your decision to enter any niche you will have to confirm that there is not only the demand for what you want to sell but that there are merchants to offer you a great products to promote. I would strongly advise you to stick to tangible products and avoid ebooks and any make ‘money online’ sort of products; I have never met an affiliate that has made a living promoting these (although apparently there are many:)
When i first started as an affiliate i was overwhelmed by the technical aspects of it. Building websites was something i had never done and therefore my choice of niche was limited. I began marketing in a very competitive niche and it was not long before i realized my mistake, however what i needed more than to make a fortune with my first enterprise was a steep learning curve to teach me (by way of making mistakes) everything i wanted to avoid in the future. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO MAKE MISTAKES, it is the only way to learn.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Do you have any tips on finding out how many people are searching for keywords? I find the google keyword tool to be too inaccurate to use.
Hi Joe.
Thanks for stopping by. Over the years i have used many paid keyword services and unfortunately i find the Google keyword tool to be the best and most accurate, which sort of makes sense since it is Google that has all the data.
I do understand your concerns though. The only suggestion i can make is to only search using exact match; which is an option on the far right of your keyword list (drop down box which is normally set to broad).
Thanks again.
Sam