How to Find Niche Markets
Everyone is always talking about how they are making niche tight web sites, or that they make most of their money in niche markets. While this is wonderful and great to hear, the majority of people will never tell you what niche markets they are actually focused on. Rightfully so, they shouldn’t. Niche markets can be big, but many are small and if you are making crazy money in one of those areas, you don’t want to spread the word and bring in some new competition to hurt your ROI.
If you aren’t currently focused on any niche markets, or just looking for something new, I have compiled a list of seven different resource sites that can help you pick and research different niche markets. Keep in mind that niche markets and keyword volume always change through out the year. Most of these sites allow you to search what was hot, any previous day of the year.
Google Trends
A lot of people already know about Google Trends, but over time many of them forget to go back and see what’s new. I really like Google, not only because they update really fast when something shoots up on the search radar, but they also provide more detailed information on each term when clicked. Once you click the “hot” search, you will also see related terms, blogs, web sites and reasons why it’s become hot. (Google Trends)
Yahoo Buzz
In addition to showing the latest “top searches”, Yahoo Buzz also has a Digg-like feel to it, as users can “buzz up” the most recent news articles and related search sites. Yahoo Buzz is a great resource if you are looking to reference sites relating to a specific hot search. You can also use these featured sites, to see if they have any related advertisers or products that you could also take advantage of, in that specific niche keyword/area. (Yahoo Buzz)
AOL Hot Searches
AOL isn’t known as one of the largest search engines for business or average searching… but they still can push some massive volume, and fortunate they also offer their own “hot searches” part of their site. Instead of an automatic flow or word chart of top searches, AOL Search has a blog concept, while also offering “what’s hot” on the right side. Still worth taking a look at. (AOL Hot Search)
While going through the AOL Hot Searches, I saw they have a section for the “2007 Year End Hot Searches”. It’s a decent side site and breaks down the top ten keyword searches for the years, focusing on tv shows, celebrities, shopping brands, musicians, general, news and more. This will be a good source when they update with the 2008 version. (AOL 2007 Year End Hot Search)
Lycos 50
The Lycos 50 has been around forever… but instead of focusing on all search terms, they focus more on celebrity and entertainment related terms. Lycos 50 is a great resource for any gossip or entertainment sites. (Lycos 50)
Amazon Best Sellers
If at any time you are wondering what people are buying, just head over to Amazon.com. Their Best Sellers list is an excellent resource to find what people are looking for, and actually buying. Stop thinking just books and movies… Amazon profiles the best sellers in nearly all of their site categories. (Amazon Best Sellers)
eBay Pulse
eBay almost offers the same effect at Amazon’s Best Sellers, except not everyone on eBay is buying… they might just be looking. Through eBay Pulse you can see “popular searches”, the largest stores (sellers) and the “most watches items” on eBay. This should give you a good idea of what is selling and what people are looking for. (eBay Pulse)
Now that you have a few resources to find old, new or existing niche markets, it’s up to you to decide on which you will tackle. Before diving in, make sure you do some research, look at your potential competition, cost/profit margins, and if you can sell through an affiliate program, or will have to provide your own product.
If you know of any other quality resource sites for top searches or niche finding, please feel free to share them below.