Choosing a successful, profitable niche can feel confusing and stressful.
Most of us choose a niche because it interests us and there is nothing wrong with that.
However, it is important to ask ourselves several questions to make sure that we build our passion into a successful business.
The importance of asking these important questions can save you a lot of wasted time and effort.
Are you interested in your niche?
When selecting a niche it is important to have an interest in the topic otherwise it can be a very daunting process trying to build your niche site.
The more you enjoy your topic the easier and more productive you will be.
You can become succesful at creating a niche that you don’t care about, but the work involved will feel stressful and burdensome compared to pleasurable and exciting.
The stronger your level of passion the better your opportunities to create a good niche are.
An important rule of thumb to ask yourself is: Can I still see myself working on this niche of I don’t become successful within the first 6 to 12 months?
Some niches may take a while to generate an income, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good niche.
Depending on your learning curve, expertise, and level of effort involved it could be a niche that simply takes awhile to get off of the ground.
Is the topic you chose popular?
While you may enjoy the niche you’ve selected it is important to understand whether or not your niche topic is a popular one.
You don’t need to have a massive amount of traffic to be successful, but it is important to make sure your topic is popular enough to send you the traffic you need to become successful.
Having good keyword research tools can help you greatly reduce the effort involved in finding out whether or not your niche is popular, and what your level of competition is.
Tip: You can check out my resources section if you’d like more information on some useful keyword research tools I use.
Does your niche solve a problem?
Is your niche able to solve a problem that is important to your visitors?
The better you are at solving problems in a meaningful way, the more you will attract visitors and gain referrals.
Creating a niche that provides solutions to a common problem is a great way to increase its popularity and help it go viral, or at least spread through the social network.
Focus your best efforts on solving problems and/or relating to your visitors needs.
What is your level of competition?
Understanding how much competition you have and how strong your competition is can play a key role in your success.
You may be better off competing in a low competition niche where you can stand out and rank well than competing in a niche where the competition is overwhelming.
Your level of expertise on your niche and your ability to market your niche will play a large role in your ability to be successful.
A good content marketing and SEO strategy will also greatly increase your chances for success.
Tip: Market Samurai is a great tool for researching your competition and helping you find a profitable niche.
What makes your site stand out from your competitors?
Is it providing a deeper connection with your visitors, creating a very easy to navigate website, or showing a strength in a sub topic your competition is lacking?
Understanding what makes your niche site better than your competition and using it to your advantage is a great way to stand out and get noticed.
Look for what your competition is lacking and make that a strength in your niche to improve your chances at success.
Is your niche monetizable?
Are you able to promote monetizable solutions on your site?
Are there products and services that will truly help solve your visitors problems, and are they closely related to your niche?
Trying to sell or promote products/services that have nothing to do with your content and/or don’t have any market value are highly unlikely to appeal to your visitors.
Being able to create a connection with your visitors, communicate how the benefits of the product/service will help them solve a problem of theirs, and giving them useful information play an important role in building a monetizable niche.
Now tell me, what strategies do you have in place to monetize your niche?
This post is part of the online business series.