In this post, we get down to the basics of starting your niche blog. You have an idea of what a niche market is but not such a clear picture of how to find it. Keep reading and you will get insight that will aid you to uncover as many niche markets as you have time for. They all might not lead to a gold mine, but you can get useful information from a flop idea as well.
Market Research
Ask questions. The dumbest question is the one that you never ask. If your website has a forum or blog attached, you can ask questions in your every day posts and assess the response. Readers are keen to air their view, and if you ask the right questions, you will get the right answers.
Use an opt-in box to build niche lists. Ask readers to subscribe on your site. You can present a reduction or free item to do so. Your readers can give you their name and email information of friends in return to earn a referral fee. But remember, they will not sign up if you spam their Inbox daily.
Similarly, the placement of the opt-in box can also influence the outcome. A/B tests can help you refine your optin box design as well as placements. You can do these tests using a web based tool such as Optimizely, or use a flexible split testing framework. A server based framework provides you more control over your tests and also allows you to create as many different tests as you want.
Keyword Research
People use search engines to compile the information about a product or service. They type keywords into the search box to look for this information. No one wades through thousands of pages of results. People look at the first two or three pages at the most.
Finding what keywords people are most likely to use is your task. There are keyword tools you can use and then optimize your blog based on these keywords. If you are selling vacuum cleaners, you want all possible keywords people would use to find a vacuum cleaner.
Some of these keywords will return millions of pages. Use keywords that other Vacuum cleaner websites have not used. Note the single keywords and the keyword phrases.
It is easier to rank well for phrases, and they supply much more targeted traffic.
Trial and Error – The Fun Begins
Now that you have surveyed your readers and narrowed down your target market, you need to test your niche idea. Setting up a website to advertise your product is the first step.
Resist advertising more than one product on a web site.
If you have multiple products for the same target audience, you can use one website for them all. However, using the same product to appeal to more than one audience will require more than one website.
Set up small websites. Use each web site to market to a single target. For example, weekend warriors prefer a livelier site to buy their climbing gear. These items should be in the low price range. For experienced climbers, the best of the best at any price is the right placement. That is the reason it is so important to know your target audience and learn about their needs.
Doing your research and using that information to sway people in favor of your product is the way to boost sales. If one niche does not work, center on the other ones that are doing well. When you have time, diagnose the problem. Experiment with different niche markets.
Follow these steps to come up with options for your niche blog. And if it is something you are genuinely interested in, your job will be much easier!