Thinking about starting a new site to make some money on ads/affiliate campaigns? You need a niche.... but which one? There are several things to research. Competition from existing sites Where will the content come from What kind of ads/affiliate options do i have How popular is the topic i'm trying to rank? #1 is easy. A Simple search can usually get you the top sites ranking on the SE's in the niche. How big are they? What are they lacking that you can better? #2. Content is king. Will you write the articles your self? Will you expect user-submitted content? Will you syndicate RSS feeds and turn your site into an automated blog? Which ever way you go, you will need to get content together in a short amount of time. #3. Use the overture keyword tools to see what ads are paying on the CPC networks, and also check out CJ and Azoogle for any applicable Affiliate ads that you may be able to take advantage of. #4 Used to be the hardest thing to figure out. Not any more. Many people probably don't know this exists, but Yahoo has a service called "Buzz" http://buzz.yahoo.com/overall/ in which you can see what people are searching on on a regular basis. If you can rank on the front page for a day that the Buzz is huge on that idea, you will make some money. Before you start a site, it might be a good idea to watch the buzz report for a couple days and see what the trends are. Is it celebs? The most recent weather event? A news story? If you spend some time doing a little research before you undertake a new venture niche, your odds of making it profitable will probably triple. Hope this helps somebody
Nice simple tips that work. If you do your research you have a much better chance of making money with a site.