How to fine tune my niche ?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by energetic, Sep 24, 2006.

  1. #1
    As a newbie, I would like to seek for advice.
    I want to make a website and I decided to use keyword "lasik"
    I searched it in overture keyword tool.
    I found the followign data:

    keyword "lasik"
    --> too general and much completition-> I give up

    Keyphrase "lasik eye surgery"
    12448 searches
    14,100,000 website in google search results

    Keyphrase "lasik surgery"
    10439 searches
    11,100,000 website in google search results

    Which one is less competition ?
    What keyphrase should I concentrate ?

    Appreciate your advice :)
     
    energetic, Sep 24, 2006 IP
  2. Telmari

    Telmari Active Member

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    #2
    The advice I have, from my experience, is that unless you plan to establish THE singular leading premiere information site on a highly competitive keyword, don't go for it. You rightly saw that all the terms above are somewhat highly searched but also pretty competitive. However, if you look for the term "customvue lasik tv commercials", which seems obscure, you'll notice it receives many less searches, however, the competition is little-to-nothing!

    I'm not saying you should build a site around this keyword specifically, but that is the kind of logic you want to apply. A very, very helpful tool for this is the NicheBot. Find a general area with enough keywords that pay well, type the term in, and then scan all the way down to find one in that area that you think you could monetize/build a site around with a low ratio or high KEI value (The lower / higher the better).

    The other advantage to monetizing keywords that are less popular (but still decently paying) is that you have the chance to get out of the Google Sandbox quicker. Try making a website on a general, competitive keyword, even getting a high PR for the page with lots of original/unique content and tons of backlinks and still find your site nowhere to be found your keyword. :)

    Just a few things I've learned.
     
    Telmari, Sep 24, 2006 IP
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  3. Zedzero

    Zedzero Peon

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    #3
    my advice is, never ever disclose your target keyword.
    you could replace your keyword with xxxx's and people would still help you :)
     
    Zedzero, Sep 24, 2006 IP
  4. energetic

    energetic Well-Known Member

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    #4
    hi, Telmari,
    Thank you for your advice. I have visited NicheBot and found that It is very useful to find out the data on competition and ratio.
     
    energetic, Sep 24, 2006 IP
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  5. poseidon

    poseidon Banned

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    #5
    lasik surgery is highly competitive keyword :) + there are lot's of good authority websites already there on it. I mean there are some .edu domains which are on top for eye surgery and similar words. Ofcourse you can easily get 200+ uniques without getting any search engine traffic. If you want that than you can work on it but still as ppl said, if you are new, than do not choose very tough keyword. Also do not reveal them.
     
    poseidon, Sep 24, 2006 IP
  6. bluesync

    bluesync Peon

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    #6
    I agree with all of the above. Telmari stated it the best to how you would go about narrowing your niche, and poseidon made a good point that it's likely that it'll take too much time to beat an authority site simply because search engines trust those sites. So you have to dig a little deeper for terms less competitive. It's highly possible that if you rank well for 30targetted niches, that you can make the same as ranking well for a general, competitive, high searched niche.
     
    bluesync, Sep 24, 2006 IP
  7. Mong

    Mong ↓↘→ horsePower

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    #7
    For newbies ...
    You must find your interesting niche and then build light weight website.
    and work hard on link building.
     
    Mong, Sep 24, 2006 IP
  8. bluesync

    bluesync Peon

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    #8
    I think it's all about quantity, if you find niches that only get 1000 searches a month... Find 50 of those, make 50 websites... You can probably even make a couple website for each niche assuming you don't duplicate content...

    But even with 50 sites, say you make $2 a day per site (which is easily achievable)... That's $100 per day, and $3000 per month. Simple as that.

    These days it's extremely difficult to just hop into a niche that gets hundreds of thousands of searches. Think of it like a normal business... You're not going to go head to head with WalMart, but you will go head to head with that local ice cream parlor.
     
    bluesync, Sep 24, 2006 IP
  9. Telmari

    Telmari Active Member

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    #9
    Do you speak from personal experience here? My personal experience that even just trying to start up 10 websites all at once, drive backlinks to them, get them ranked well in SERPS, and find enough original content to not be a MFA site that gets lower-paying Adsense ads is a lot more work than pouring that time and effort into a few niche sites with quality content, backlinks and traffic that make solid cash because they have real value, not hit-and-miss niche popularity.

    Not to mention the financial costs - even if you get 50$/year hosting + 10$ domain name registration, you're talking about 50 sites * 60$ = 3000$ of startup costs just to put that much out there. While it *might* be worth it if you're truly going to make 3k a month, you also have to figure in the fact that others will be competing with your keyword eventually, you'll have to continue to add content to keep yourself on top of your niche, and just managing all the files gets to be a hassle and take a lot more time than a few sites.

    I think unless you have a lot of content writers hired for these 50 sites, you'll eventually see the law of diminishing returns take effect, both on your personal time, and on your budget over time. I'm not saying there aren't people who can effectively manage this many sites, just that unless you have a lot of time and energy, as well as good niche choices and smart content management skills, it's probably not most people's best bet.

    That's really just my opinion from personal experience though :)
     
    Telmari, Sep 24, 2006 IP
  10. akamaimommie

    akamaimommie Peon

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  11. cientificoloco

    cientificoloco Well-Known Member

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    #11
    on your experience, how god/bad is a KEI of 3?
     
    cientificoloco, Sep 24, 2006 IP
  12. Telmari

    Telmari Active Member

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    #12
    Do you mean a Ratio of 3? A ratio of 3 is not too bad. A KEI of 3 would be the worst thing ever. :p
     
    Telmari, Sep 25, 2006 IP
  13. wissam

    wissam Well-Known Member

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    #13
    Great, that's my style ..
     
    wissam, Sep 25, 2006 IP
  14. cientificoloco

    cientificoloco Well-Known Member

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    #14
    I mean KEI, so 3 is realy bad? How about 5 to 7? What KEI level would you call a potential niche worth exploring? I understand KEI goes from 0 to 10, is that right?
     
    cientificoloco, Sep 25, 2006 IP
  15. Telmari

    Telmari Active Member

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    #15
    Not sure about that 0-10 thing.. nichebot seems down at the moment, but from what I saw, KEI went from 0 -> infinity. The niche I am making a site around had a KEI of 900,000+.
     
    Telmari, Sep 25, 2006 IP
  16. cientificoloco

    cientificoloco Well-Known Member

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    #16
    WOAW. it seems I'll have to look further... hw about the number of searches? I guess if searches are low the KEI will fluctuate in a meaningless fashion.
     
    cientificoloco, Sep 25, 2006 IP