At other end of spectrum Andrew Williams (Keyword Results Analyzer - Word Tacker Version) looks for niches with 1,000 or less competing sites for each keyword/phrase.

For our example here, I'm going to use Jimmy Brown's criteria : 30,000 - 100,000.

Now go over to http://www.google.com and start entering keywords/phrases from your Overture search, taking note of number of sites which are displayed. (Enclose your keywords/phrases with " for specific results, e.g. "snoring cures").

Here's Google results from list above :

snoring 977,000 stop snoring 121,000 snoring cure 3,850 snoring remedy 24,100 cause of snoring 2,310 snoring treatment 6,660 snoring solution 21,100 snoring problem 18,500 prevent snoring 3,510

So what does this tell us now?

The first keyword "snoring" is a non-starter. The term is well outside our competing sites criteria at 977,000 and far too general.

There are no individual search terms in 30,000 - 100,000 range, but that doesn't rule it out as a viable niche, term "stop snoring" isn't too far out of ball park and we can combine some of other keywords/phrases to meet criteria.

Result - we probably have a viable market niche.

Step Four :

Finally we need to check ratio of "supply" to "demand" for our keywords/phrases to make doubly sure niche is worth pursuing.

Here's how we do it. The formula is :

Google Results(Supply)/Overture Results(Demand)

The lower ratio less competition. Here's an example using our keywords/phrases :

snoring : 977,000/27352 = 35.72 stop snoring : 121,000/8211 = 14.73 snoring cure : 3,850/3308 = 1.16 snoring remedy : 24,100/2366 = 10.19 cause of snoring : 2,310/2186 = 1.06 snoring treatment : 6,660/1233 = 5.40 snoring solution : 21,100/1133 = 18.62 snoring problem : 18,500/800 = 23.13 prevent snoring : 3,510/623 = 5.63

So do we have a viable niche?

Based on figures I would say subject has pretty good potential. The niche is tightly focussed and level of competition is low, so it's worth pursuing.

Will niche make money?

The answer to that question will be down to how effective our marketing is.

One final note : This system has it's limitations. If you're really serious about this Niche Marketing stuff you should invest in some specialist tools which will provide a more comprehensive range of keywords/phrases than Overture returns.

Copyright © 2005, André Anthony Niche Market Know-How

The options for this include picking specific cities, metropolitan areas, or even a distance radius from a specific point. For example, maybe realtor only wants to generate leads from within 30 miles of their home.

Does this work?

Yes, it works very well. There are very few types of advertising online or offline where you have such detailed control over who you are advertising to. Basically it’s pretty hard to beat advertising to people who are searching for what you sell and happen to live close to your business. And, since this is pay per click advertising, you are only charged when searchers click through to your web site.

Local Advertising Tips

Promote Your Location - You’ll definitely see better conversion rates for your local advertising if you include your physical address on your web site. We recommend including this in footer of every page of your site to reinforce that you’re local to prospects.

Track Performance - When you use local advertising you will still have to compete against businesses willing to advertise nationally on same search phrases. This means search terms can get expensive but your conversion rates should support this. However, as with any form of advertising, it’s important to track what’s working.