Deciding on a niche market to target and researching keywords go hand in hand.  You can’t really do one without doing the other.

1. You must know if the niche you want to target actually has a market.  You wouldn’t want to try to sell products in a niche where there was little or no interest.  Remember the online grocery store delivery sites?  It may have been a great idea, but no one was interested. Creating new markets requires time and money.  Unless you have large amounts of both to spare, you should target existing markets.

2. You need to know what customers in your selected niche are searching for.  You may think they’re looking for product A when they’re really looking for products X, Y, and Z.  Or they may really want more information on a specific topic.  If you provide the information, they just might pay your site a visit and make a purchase.

3. You need to know how much competition you will be facing.  You can almost always find something within any given niche with little or no competition.  But if you don’t do the research to find these hidden gold mines, you could very well be competing with some large established online businesses.  I’m not saying you couldn’t compete with the big boys, but if you’re just starting out, it would be much easier to build a following around a specific element of a niche and expand from there.

So, how can you do the necessary keyword research to successfully compete online?  There are dozens of free keyword tools, and there are dozens of sites that provide historical search information.  But, if you’re really serious, you’ll want to buy a subscription to WordTracker.  WordTracker is probably the best keyword research tool available.  The free version of WordTracker is very basic, but it’s a great place to get started.  The paid version offers far more information, so you may eventually want to give it a try.

Okay, so now that you know where to find a few good keyword resources, let’s talk about how to use them.  First of all, you’ll want to begin with some keywords that you have in mind for searching within your niche.  For example, if you’re wanting to create a website about antique tractors, you would begin with the keyword phrase “antique tractors.”  From there, WordTracker will return a list of related terms that your potential visitors might use to find your site.  Along with the words, you’ll get the number of searches made by visitors for each keyword and the projected number of searches for those words over the next 24 hours.  Drilling down, you’ll get information for each of the major search engines, such as the number of competiting web pages for any given keyword.  You’ll also get the KEI (keyword effectiveness index) number, which compares the count of searches for a keyword with the number of competing web pages.  This number helps identify words that you could target with the best chance of getting a top spot in the search engines.

To summarize, don’t fly blind when it comes to creating content for your website.  First, find out what your potential visitors are looking for.  Then find out how much competition you’ll have for your selected keywords.  And finally, create content for publishing on your site that incorporates those keywords that will provide the best chance for getting located by potential visitors.  In an upcoming post, we’ll look at this in more detail.  Plus, we’ll look at some interesting ways to use what you learn from your keyword research to really boost traffic to your sites.

In the last post, I told you that we would soon discuss selecting a domain name.  After deciding on a market to target, you’re probably wanting to purchase a domain name and get started.  But there are a few things to keep in mind when selecting a domain name.

1. Search engines place at least some importance on domain names.  The name is only one component of getting a high position in a search engine’s database for a specific set of keywords, but it’s a good place to start.  So, you’ll probably want to begin with a domain name that includes one of your target keywords.  For example, if you’re creating a site to provide help for packrats, you probably would want to include the word packrats in the domain name.  To help with this, use a free tool like MakeWords.com to create a catchy name using your selected keyword.  And to learn what terms people are using in the search engines to find sites related to your topic, you may use a free keyword tool like the software available at GoodKeywords.com.

2. Never use trademarked names in your domain name unless you own the trademark.  I once purchased a domain name to promote an ebook that taught readers how to effectively buy and sell using a well-known web service.  I made the mistake of including their name in the domain name.  After receiving an email from their attorneys, I quickly let that one go.  I was just getting started, so I had no idea it would be a big deal.  You might actually be able to get away with it for a while.  But if you’re in this to make money, it’s best to avoid the issue completely.  At worst, you could face high legal costs.  At best, you could invest lots of time and money on a site only to be issued a cease and desist order many months later.

3. Try to keep the length of your domain name as short as possible.  The site name LearnToPlayGuitarNow.com, is a great example of a domain name that is too long.  I typically don’t purchase names that long.  But the domain name CoolGameConsoles.com is also quite long, and I actually like that one.  If you find a name that’s a long but catchy enough to remember, you should be okay.  Just keep in mind that shorter domain names are preferable.

4. Try to avoid dashes in your domain name if you want it to be easily remembered.  If you have to purchase a name with dashes to get the name you want, chances are good that the market you want to target is too competitive to try to enter without some experience.  Using MakeKeywords.com or GoDaddy.com’s search tool, you should be able to find a good domain name that doesn’t include dashes.  How many domain names with dashes have you visited recently?   I must point out that search engines don’t seem to view dashes negatively.  So, if you’re willing to invest the time required to get your site ranked highly for keywords within your chosen market, including dashes in your domain name is less of an issue.  (But it usually does take time and a good knowledge of search engine optimization to get your site ranked highly.)

5. Don’t use an odd name thinking you will create your own brand unless you have a good knowledge of marketing and money to invest to promote your site.  If you’re just getting started, it’s much easier to get traffic to your site if you create a domain name using words that people might type into a search engine to locate your site’s subject matter.

So, do some keyword research to find what words are being used to find sites like the one you want to create.  Then do some research (using a tool like MakeWords.com) to find what domain names may be available that use one or more of those keywords.  Once you find a name that you like, you should register it quickly.  Good domain names usually don’t last long once they have been entered into a search tool.  There are individuals who monitor these names.  If you wait a day or two to think about purchasing your name, you may return to find it has already been registered.

Next time, we’ll go into keyword research in more detail.  I’ve managed to get several sites listed on the first page of Google, MSN, and Yahoo’s search results for some fairly popular keywords, so I’ll share a few pointers with you.

We’re in a recession?  Wow, you could’ve fooled me.  And I’ll bet there are thousands more out there that continue to profit day after day online.  There are dozens of reasons for this, but here are just a few important ones:

1. You have a global market.  If your local economy is lagging, you can sell to the whole world.

2. People will always buy items they need or want.  They will always find the money, so why not let them give it to you?

3. You can get started with a very small initial investment.

4. You can start part-time while keeping your day job.

5. You can work in the comfort of your own home.

As I said in my last post, I will publishing a series of videos to show you how to create a website that can make you hundreds - maybe thousands of dollars per month.  If you follow the steps I’ll be outlining, your success will only be limited by your imagination and determination to do the work.  It will require taking some action, but it won’t be overly difficult.  And with the step-by-step instructions I’ll provide, it won’t require any special technical skills.

While I’m preparing the first video and supporting documentation, there are a few things you can do to prepare.  The first is to look for a web hosting account.  When choosing an account, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. You will probably want an account that will allow you to maintain multiple websites for one low price.  One site probably won’t produce the level of income you seek.  You’ll likely want to operate several sites.

2. Some of the scripts we’ll be looking at will require the Zend optimizer.  Don’t worry if you don’t know what I’m talking about.  You don’t have to.  Just make sure the web host you’re considering has this installed.  The majority of hosts provide this.

3. Make sure the host supports PHP and allows multiple MySQL database installations.  Most hosts support PHP - even those that use the Windows operating system.  But for the scripts I’ll be demonstrating, a Linux account will probably work best. 

4. Look for a web host that provides quick and easy installation of scripts like WordPress for blogs and Joomla for membership sites.  This will make your life much simpler in the long run, and most hosts that provide this are very affordable.  This is usually provided through the hosts CPanel (their web management interface.) 

It probably won’t matter where you host your sites if they meet the criteria listed. In case you’re wondering, I host many of my sites with HostMonster.  I’ve had accounts with them for over a year, and I’ve been extremely pleased with their service.  I’ve only had to contact their support a couple of times, and they were very helpful.  I run dozens of sites on their servers that earn me money day after day.  But the choice is ultimately yours to make.  Just be sure to get an account that will grow with your business.

Next, you’ll want to begin thinking about the market you want to target.  The best way to do this is to make a list of things you’re interested in.  Also create a list of anything you’re particularly good at doing.  These lists may or may not be the same.  Don’t rush out and buy a domain name just yet because there are a few rules to keep in mind.  We’ll get into that soon enough.  For now, just begin thinking about what you’d like your site to be about.  Have some fun with it, and stay tuned for our next step.