The Top 5 Lamest Web Niches For 2008 by A Rude Webmaster

While people have made money with these sites before, it's an uphill battle right from the start. Don't go against the grain by starting a site with any of these 5 lame niches, you will only be in for a world of hurt. Get a dependable niche that targets people who want to spend, create real content and link in products you know these people will buy. Get quality links and natural traffic, then start making sales. It's really that simple.

Without further adieu, I bring you the Top 5 Lamest Web Niches for 2008

1. Proxy. Everyone and their mother has a proxy site. How do you people still compete in this and actually turn a profit? Proxy is an overly competitive niche, don't expect to earn back any of the money you pay for marketing. Your target market is broke teenage Myspace addicts who would rather surf their Myspace than actually socialize with real people at school.

2. Making Money Online. A website trying to make money online about teaching others how to make money online is not only really stupid, it's really absurd. Exception: You must be clearing at least a few grand a month to actually have a website like this, or else people will laugh at you. Really.

3. Arcades. This niche is very similar to Proxy sites. Although it might be fun, hosting stupid cheap flash games on the same arcade template everyone elses uses will not make you one red cent. Most people on your site will be kids who can't afford to pay for and play real games, what makes you think you can make any money advertising anything to them? Find a better idea.

4. Image Hosting. Although image hosting sites serve a functional purpose, don't expect to make any money with them. These kinds of sites will not only eat up your bandwidth, they are a complete waste of time.

5. Warez. Do people really still make these sites anymore? I guess so. People too cheap to go out and buy the real game don't have any money to spend in the first place, so don't market to these people. Not only is this kind of site a pain in the ass because it's illegal, finding real advertisers for it will be a pain in the ass unless you like hosting porn ads.

 

Yep wisely spoken. If the targeted audience has no money to spend, you won't get any either.

 

I totally agree with all the niches except the MMO niche. If you start off with a unique approach (I'm not talking about a MMO blog detailing your journey) then you can make a ton of cash and have fun doing it.

 

Yep, all of those can be pulled off, I'm sure, it's just that the majority of people will just go out and copy something else they've seen and won't make a cent out of it.

 

The arcade nichie can be done properly if u spend a good amount of time and make sure you do the things the correct way i.

angry ant

i agree with all other

 

Amen brother I feel you 100% on Proxy sites and warez. I ran a proxy site for a while, i didn't make any money and i also didn't feel comfortable hosting that. I don't want to be responsible for people who might be visiting terrorist sites from my ip , thus it being linked back to me!.

warez sites were cool in the 90's I used to run a few of those, now warez sites do not even host warez they are just full of spyware. if you want warez get the torrent!

 

Nice stereotype right there, i do not agree with you on this point, i am not too bothered on the other 4 as i do not and have never developed in those niches. I started as a webmaster with proxy sites, with little to no experience, just reading these forums and in the first 3 weeks made $160 in google adsense.
Yes i do agree pretty much everyone has a proxy site but that is due to the high demand for proxy sites and continuing efforts from the administrators at both schools and works blocking/filtering these proxy sites. If you do it right you can earn a nice amount in proxy sites, there are a few people on here that would agree. I am not saying you could earn a living from proxy sites, and that it is easy work far from it. However if you research and learn about where the market look for proxy sites, you can easily succeed from them.

I am assuming you have tried to develop and profit from proxy sites in the passed and failed and this is why you have decided to make this thread.

Anyways, i have nothing else to say,

Will.

 

I would add Celeb sites to the list

and i agree with you

 

good tips there. i wonder if i shoul discontinue some of the sites i have

 

If you can't make money off celebrity sites, then you are doing something wrong.

Start there.

 

Good list definitely agree with the proxy sites and arcade sites.

 

I had one person make me a .info proxy site in the past, but then realized that building links to it would probably put me in the negative for a long, long time as I couldn't expect to make much of anything with it. Considering all the other niches I focus on actually promote real products and services, and they market to a better market than broke highschool kids, I would just be wasting my time and energy on a proxy site.

For every one person looking to use a proxy site, there are 10 there waiting to be used. There are way, way better niches than Proxy, trust me on this one.

 

I am not denying the fact that there are better niches than proxy sites, however you cannot say that proxy sites are not worth it and that they are rubbish.
Proxy sites are in demand and always will be, even if there are ten for every one person 9 of them may be blocked. Therefore there is a continous flow of people searching for proxy sites.

There you go again with your stereotype, what is with you and high school kids, do you have something against the younger generation?

Not every kid in high school is broke and not every person searching for a proxy site is a lonely anti social myspace addict as you suggested earlier, there are plenty of other people who need or want a proxy site.

Will.

 

Well , as the saying goes...content is king. unique content. MOst of those listed fail at that simple premise

However, even with unique content, making money is just downright tough

 

Actually, at this current point in time proxy sites are in fact not worth it.

The market who uses proxy sites is the exact same market who uses Myspace related sites.

Have you seen how much per click myspace sites are getting lately?

The market simply isn't profitable, that's all.

 

This will be my final post on this topic, the reason i posted in the first place was just due to your stereotype which was plain annoying.

Proxy sites are not worth "as" much at the moment, however everything has lost value currently. It does not mean to say it is not worth developing one or two.

Yes a "large" percentage of people who use proxy sites do so to get on to myspace, however that still does not back up what you said before.

It is profitable if you get your costs down, say if your paying just $5 for hosting which is very unlikely unless your going through a friend however it can be done, then you will more than likely profit.

I can argue this point due to my costs being minimal, however even with hosting at a standard business rate your costs are low.

Anyways, please just be careful what you say not everyone that goes to high school are broke probably the opposite, considering many have no bills and usually have a part time job.

Will.

 

PPC is not where they make their money. Exposure is.

Hence the skins for movies, music, comedians every week.

2 cents

 

Will, proxy sites see on average bout 5 cents a click, never more than 10 cents. If you have to cut on your hosting costs just so you can see profit then get a new niche - proxy sites suck. Students have never been known for their financial stability. Get over it.

Please elaborate?

 

I think this list is great.

 

If you get the right hosting ($2,- a month for 200 GB BW, beat that) , do a bit of promotion and use the right script you can just sit back and earn from your proxy.. you don't even have to look after it.