How To: Evaluating Competition For New Site Niches
The following is a guest post by Donna Fontenot, better know as DazzlinDonna from seo-scoop. Pay attention boys and girls; if you’ve ever had a thousand ideas, but don’t know where to start (who hasn’t?), this is a good one 
.
Those who know me well, know that I have new site ideas nearly every day. Although I don’t act upon every idea that floats through my head, I do act upon quite a few of them. Occasionally, I’ll start a new site just on a whim, but I at least “try” to be sensible about it before starting one. Essentially, the smart thing to do before I waste time starting a new site is to determine several things:
- Can the site make money - either while I own it or from selling the site later?
- If the site can make money, am I knowledgeable enough to create the site, and am I interested enough to want to do so?
- Finally, how hard will it be to compete in this niche?
This post will only concentrate on that last question - How hard will it be to compete? The competition level will determine if I have the timepower and manpower to make the effort worthwhile for me. If the competition is so tough that it would require a massive amount of time, energy, personnel, or money, then I may decide that it’s just not worth pursuing. If it’s still worth pursuing, even with a huge amount of competition to face, then at least I know what an uphill battle it will be - and I can prepare for it accordingly.
Each niche is different, so some may require more extensive research than others. Still, most niches can be scoped out pretty quickly with just a few statistics gathered. A quick glance at the top ranking sites within the niche I’m contemplating entering will tell me if I even want to do further research or not.
There are four main criteria that I check in my initial competition investigation.
- Site size
- Number of Backlinks
- Site Age
- Unanswered content opportunities
I generally compile the data for the first three criteria manually for each of the top 10-20 competitors into a spreadsheet. Once all the data is lined up, just a quick glance at the numbers gives me a good idea at what type of battle I’m going to be facing. The data can be obtained in any number of ways, but Firefox plugins such as SEO for Firefox or Search Status are usually the easiest.
There have been good tools I’ve used in the past that unfortunately are no longer available, so I generally stick with the tried and true method of gathering the stats manually and analyzing them in a spreadsheet. Having said that, there are a couple of tools that I’ll occasionally use to gather some additional stats.
One is NicheWatch (which requires free registration to use), which lets you enter a keyword phrase and optionally your url. Submission then returns the top 20 URLs ranking for that phrase and includes the following data about each:
- Backlinks to the domain in Yahoo.
- Backlinks to the webpage in Yahoo.
- Pages Rank of domain.
- Pages Rank of webpage.
- Keyword/Keyphrase occurrences on webpage.
- Pages indexed of domain in Yahoo.
- All in Anchor Rank of domain in Google.
- All in Title Rank of domain in Google.
- All in Text Rank of domain in Google.
Likewise, a similar tool is the Keyword competition check tool which also lets you enter a phrase and optional url. That then returns the top 5 sites with the following info on each:
- PR
- google backlinks #
- # google indexed pages
- # yahoo backlinks
- alexa backlinks
- alexa rank
- listed in yahoo/dmoz directories
All of these methods and tools return data that isn’t perfect. Search engines and tools often fail to give us perfectly accurate numbers. Still, when taken with a large grain of salt, and used just as a general overview, the numbers can give me a pretty good idea of what kind of competition I’ll be facing if I decide to start a new site. And really, a “pretty good idea” is much better than just starting a new site “on a whim” without any research done at all. I’ve done both, and the times I’ve gotten a “pretty good idea” have usually resulted in much more success.
But wait! I’ll bet you’re wondering about that last criteria that I haven’t touched upon yet, aren’t you?
The fourth criteria for analyzing competition is that of Unanswered content opportunities. Since this requires a completely different method of research, I left it for last. There aren’t any easy tools to help determine what the competition is for this aspect. This requires that I simply investigate top sites as thoroughly as possible to determine what they may be missing. What content haven’t they covered? What are they lacking? What content can I provide that no one else provides? If I can come up with some good answers to this, it may not matter how competitive the landscape is - I may be able to knock them all out of the running by giving users what they can’t get anywhere else.
That’s how I decide if I should tackle the competition in a niche. Do you do anything differently?
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About Donna Fontenot:
Donna Fontenot, aka DazzlinDonna, is an Internet Entrepreneur and SEO, who has long utilized search engine optimization and affiliate marketing to create a successful online business. Her goal as an ebusiness coach is to help others make a living online from the comfort of their homes (and in their pajamas).
Her motto is “You’ll never shine if you don’t glow.”
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Tags: Alexa, backlinks, Dmoz, google, Google Index, keyword research, niche, Search Status, seo, Yahoo
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December 12th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Great post. Honestly, I think it boils down to if you have the energy to put into the site. If a niche is uncrowded, but you don’t care about the subject, it’ll be hard to have the will to effectively work on the site. On the flipside, you could have a lot of passion for working on a site in a crowded niche and that might work better for you. In short, niches aren’t everything. I suppose though if you’re making great headway (and money) on a niche that doesn’t interest you, that’d be enough to keep you going.
SEO Wordsmith´s last blog post..The Page Rank of a Subdomain vs. a Folder
December 12th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Nice insightful read on niche sites with some good pointers into gathering data. The key to developing a good strategy is without doubt comparing data with the numerous tools available on the web. I agree with SEO Wordsmith that it does depend a lot on your energy levels.
If you manage to make a success out of one niche do you stop there or do you launch one after the other to increase your revenue. I frequently use and promote niche building software to help in the process of entering into any particular niche, but this software is useless without the research.
Thanks’ for the read
December 13th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Good article. I personally like the item 2 early on in the post that says ” are you knowledgeable enough and interested enough to do”. I think that is what separates the good niche sites from the not so good ones. Even with niche sites, there needs to be somewhat of a content in order to successfully monetize it. Thank you!
Raj Krishnaswamy´s last blog post..Thermal Spray Lab Costs
December 13th, 2008 at 10:59 am
That is exactly how I search for niches to blog about. Apart from this, I like to use Google Adwords to check for search traffic for a particular keyword and check the competition for the keyword.
I got to say that this is a great article. Good job.
Wei Liang
Wei Liang | ABloggerBlog´s last blog post..Lesson 20: Blog Contest
December 13th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I normally use SEO for firefox but the two tools you mentioned Nichewatch and keyword competition tool are both really cool. I book marked them for later use. Thanks.
Gerald Weber´s last blog post..It May Almost Be 2009, But Duplicate Content Still Isn’t a Good Thing
December 13th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Excellent advise! I think many times people fail to do their research and jump into a niche they think will be successful only to find it was a bad investment.
Tara @ Affiliate Marketing Prodigy´s last blog post..Inspired Affiliate Challenge Update
December 14th, 2008 at 4:10 am
that was a really good article and I am ashamed to admit I had never heard of NicheWatch before so I am going to check that out right now, thanks!
Mirjam´s last blog post..MoreNiche Update - First Sale on a New Site
December 14th, 2008 at 8:22 am
This is very informative post. Actually read the whole post!
Great post Donna
Desmond - DesmondBlog.com´s last blog post..Santa Claus Gifts-Giving Contest - Are You In?
December 14th, 2008 at 11:09 am
[...] Dennis Edell’s comment on blog post What You Actually Need To Start An [...]
December 14th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Great post! I check the first page results in G for the keyword, if there mostly big guns and high PR direct sites (not article and such) then I let that one go, because in reality a new site does not stand a chance at beating them and getting to page one.
Like laptop, that keyword is impossible, so then I will look for less competitive long tails under the main laptop and try for those better.
JR @ Internet Marketing Strategies´s last blog post..Link Building - 7 More Do-Follow Social Sites
December 16th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Is your objective to setup a site and then monetize it through adwords?
JeffMHoward´s last blog post..1 Thought On How To Make Facebook & Social Media Platforms $$$
December 16th, 2008 at 11:11 am
@JeffMHoward, not necessarily. (And just for the record, I would monetize through adsense, not adwords). But in any case, sites can monetized in many different ways, and I usually monetize a site utilizing a mixture of methods. Adsense is only one way, and very often, not the best way. The best way(s) are site/niche dependent, but that’s a completely separate topic.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:16 am
An interesting process. I have a simpler version. Did I have a brainwave? Was I awake when I had this brainwave? Is this idea something really cool that I really want to do that others don’t seem to be doing? But if that process was to fail me, I’ll refer to this list.
David Leonhardt´s last blog post..Do Bounce Rates Really Count?
December 17th, 2008 at 4:17 am
step wise on of the Great sugession i have got. Thanks for this.
Dhiraj kumar
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:30 am
Good review on the site which looks like..SEO and social media are quickly becoming almost essential for new bloggers to gain visibility.
Kendal´s last blog post..Huntsville, Alabama
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:48 am
@ Henry - you make a very interesting contradictory type point. However, I don’t see a lot of people making it very far in a niche (crowded or not) if they have absolutely no interest in it.
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 am
@ Bill - very good point. I don’t think any software is a “replacement” for hands-on research; it makes a good addition though.
As for multiples…many make a real good living through multiple niche blogs and such. Again though, it depends a lot on your energy levels, both before and after.
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:53 am
@ Raj - yes! You always need good content, especially if you want the search engines to pay attention. You can never have too much, but you can eaily have too little.
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 am
@ Tara - more often then not I’d say. You believe you have a great idea, buy the domain name, work 6-12 months, and then realize no one else really cares.
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 am
@ Mirjam - no reason for shame my friend, I learned a ton I didn’t know in this article. LOL
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:59 am
@ Desmond - hmm, as the owner and sole (without guests) author of this blog, I’m not sure how to take that. LOL
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:01 am
@ JR - I’m learning more and more that the longtails hold the cash; keep it up!
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:02 am
@ David - that may take a little further explanation.
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:04 am
@ Kendal - SEO has been around, just not widely understood. Social media being the “newbie” on the block, is absolutely becoming essential for many business models.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Good post.
Was an interesting read. I like to explore my competition as much as possible, I just try to be silent and deadly, and one moment - BOOM and I am on the top.
Cheers.
The Moneyac
The Moneyac´s last blog post..16 Interesting Internet Facts You Should Know About
Dennis Edell Reply:
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
@The Moneyac, go git ‘em!
January 25th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Great detail in this post, but useable. Thanks for the tips…it is scary how deep the rabbit hole goals with this “online business” stuff. I feel like a 2 year old trying to play the piano.
The Almost Millionaire´s last blog post..World’s Best Gaming System, Nintendo Wii
Dennis Edell Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:19 am
@The Almost Millionaire, that’s the fun part dude!
February 5th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Those are very good suggestions. Your approach sounds logical and systematic.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
[...] recommend reading How To: Evaluating Competition For New Site Niches as Dennis Edell posted an article by Donna Fontenot that provides some great insight on this very [...]
May 12th, 2009 at 5:48 am
[...] How To: Evaluating Competition for New Site Niches [...]
June 29th, 2009 at 1:32 am
hmm nice tips but m still confuse whats wrong with my website, I hav gud content, gud links, gud design but the only thng missing is good SERP
June 29th, 2009 at 1:38 am
Unanswered content is a very good point.
And the unanswered content does not have to be on your web site.
It could be on a wiki, or article site.
As long as the other site can get a good position in google.
December 30th, 2009 at 4:22 am
The article is very useful for the fresh people
Dennis Edell Reply:
December 30th, 2009 at 5:15 am
@wallarts,
Fresh people? You mean beginners?
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..UPDATED - ONE MORE DAY & MORE DOMAINS! Again - Pick My New Domain Names With A chance To Win $10!