What is a Niche?A niche is a focused sub-set
of a particular market. Niches are generally
speaking, not a wide topic, but instead, a more specific
portion of the market. An overly general topic may
be "home improvement"; a niche e "how topic may be "how
to install a deck or patio". A generic topic may
be "travel and tourism"; a niche topic may be "Barbados
travel information" or "hiking in the Smokey Mountains
of Tennessee".
The more familiar you are with the particular niche,
the easier it will be for you to create a thriving,
content-rich website about that topic. It is
helpful if you are deeply interested in that topic or if
you are a self-prescribed expert in that field. If
your website niche happens to coincide with a hobby that
you are passionate about (such as "windsurfing at Bird
Island"), and then you will find creating content and
writing articles very easy - it may not even feel like
"work" at all!
Scout the Competition
Before you finalize your topic and begin any lengthy
work on your site, you need to scout the competition and
analyze what you are up against. Much like any
other conventional industry, an online business is in
competition with other websites. The good thing
about the internet is that even the "little guy" can
compete - you can start an online business with
relatively little capital and compete with industry
giants. First, enter in some of the keyword
phrases that you would like to target into the Google
search engine. Enter in keyword phrases that you
hope will lead future customers to your site. When
the results page comes up, take a look at the top 10 or
so listings and see how stiff the competition stacks up.
Take the time to analyze your potential market.
Is this particular niche saturated? Is it
dominated by huge monolith sites covering all associated
topics (such as local newspaper websites and some large
corporations)? Try a series of different (and
specific) keyword phrases when scouting the competition.
Avoid using one-word keyword phrases (e.g. "travel",
"soccer", "carpentry", etc.) - these terms are overly
generic and do not reflect a true niche. When
evaluating your competition, click on the website
listing and actually view their sites. Take the
time to see how in-depth they over your particular
niche. Many large websites cover a lot of topics,
but cover them in an overly-shallow manner (such as
about.com). Don't be initially discouraged by
seeing coverage by these types of websites - if you
stick to the true principles of a niche and put out a
product that is focused, in-depth, and full of content,
you will find that you can compete with almost anyone.
Many sites hire generic content writers to superficially
cover many topics. Many of these large companies
do not have the wherewithal to attach all niches and
cover them to the extent that you may be able to by
dedicating your efforts to just one segment of the
market.
Next, take a look at what approach your competition
uses to reach your target market. Is it an
article-based approach? Do they focus on
user-generated content such as forums and interactive
portals? Do they provide how-to content articles?
Are they just a giant link-farm with no unique content
or contribution? When you figure out the approach
used by our competition, you can better evaluate how
your site may compete against it - and you may gain
insight on a better way to approach your niche subject.
If you see a site that you like or you think has
merit to it, take notes, even bookmark it for later
viewing. If you find that your target niche is
swamped with numerous content-rich websites, your
analysis may lead you to abandon this niche, or at least
adjust its focus or your approach. Remember, if
you are trying to sell products online, people will buy
from you because you have the cheapest prices. If
you are trying to attract visitors to your site because
of your great content, you are competing based on the
volume, quality, depth, and organization of your
content. Your site may even be a hybrid of both -
a site with ample content that attempts to sell a few
targeted products. Always ask yourself, how can
you put out a website that is better than the
competition? If you can't answer that question, it
may be time to switch gears.
