Niche Marketing: Newbie Asks “Is ‘Dogs’ A Good Niche?”
Choosing a Marketing Niche Without Keyword Research is a Huge Mistake
Here’s a situation that is all too common with newcomers to the internet marketing world. But in the following instance, the question was being asked of me by an individual that claims to have a web development business! I don’t know about you, but if I had hired this company to help develop my website’s online presence, and I became aware that the owner was asking a question like this one, well … his company wouldn’t be involved with my website anymore!
I digress, so back to the subject at hand. Here is a very common situation that arises AFTER a new internet marketer jumps on the band wagon. Let me share the gist of what this individual was asking me:
Hi: I am new to the affiliate marketing business. I presently own and operate a small web development company. We recently developed a website targeted to people who are interested in and/or related to all areas relating to dogs. They could be dog owners, breeders, groomers, trainers, etc.
Here is my question: Is “dogs” a good niche?
Is “Dogs” a Good Niche?
Sigh … OK, so this individual has already purchased a domain name; has started to build out a site around the HUGE category of dogs; has probably taken time to write content; taken time to place the content and other information onto this new site … but he’s asking NOW “is ‘dogs’ a good niche”??
Did he put the cart before the horse? Yes, most definitely. My suggestion to him was to STOP what they were doing right now and do some keyword research using a tool like Wordtracker or the Google Keyword Tool.
I told him that the niche pertaining to dogs was huge! (But “dogs” is not what you’d call a niche. Poodles would be a niche, or puppy training would be a niche.) I advised “dogs” was way too broad for them to achieve any online marketing success. That they needed to narrow it down!
I told him I’d make a 200% wager that they hadn’t done any keyword research, based on the question. I told him if they expected to attract targeted traffic, then keyword research was a must.
In addition, I advised that not only would the keyword research help them discover smaller niches within the broad category of dogs, they’d also get a grasp on what people were REALLY typing into the search engines to find out information about dogs.
If you know what people are searching for, then you’ll know what content topics to write about in order to try and grab some of that traffic via your organic search engine rankings!
As an example of what I am talking about, I entered “dogs” into Wordtracker, set it to give me the top 100 results, and here’s an example of those results.
Here’s the top ten (actual term being used with projected 24 hour searches made in the USA):
- 1. dogs 36,052
2. dogsrule.com 7,241
3. who let the dogs out 1,417
4. funny dogs 1,130
5. dogs for sale 1,058
6. hot dogs 831
7. cute dogs 798
8. boxer dogs 753
9. small dogs 693
10. mummy dogs 622
All the way down to:
- 93. herbs for dogs 123
94. teacup dogs 122
95. seizures in dogs 120
96. english bull dogs 120; and lastly …
100. havanese dogs 115
So, the moral of this story is to do your keyword research before you even purchase a domain name! You have to know the niche(s) you will be targeting within the broad category you’ve chosen.
Plus, you must get an idea of what people are searching for! If you build out a website that contains information that only 2 people a day are interested in, it’s going to be terribly difficult to make any money as an online marketer!
Don’t want to do keyword research yourself? No problem.
I provide custom keyword research reports.
I’ll tailor the report to the niche and your internet marketing goals.
Research Those ‘Most Searched’ Keywords
If You Don’t Keep Three Steps Ahead of Your Competition …
You’ll Get Trampled in the Search Engine Rankings & Miss Out on Better Visitor Traffic
I’m sure you know that people use different word combinations, known as keyword phrases, when they search for your products or services online. In order for your potential customers to find your site when they search, it’s important to use these keywords in your website or blog’s copy.
You can stab in the dark, and try to guess at the keyword phrases you think people are using to find you … or you can do intensive research, just like I do in my capacity as a professional SEO consultant. You know what, though? I always seem to get a chuckle when I perform my keyword research for my clients. Why? Well I’ll tell you …
I ask my clients many questions to get a handle on their marketing niche. One of the questions I ask is, “What words do you think your customers would use to find you via an internet search?” Like I just said, I am usually amused at the words they give me … and then normally even MORE amused when I get down to the real nitty-gritty of researching and determining the keywords they’ll need to be focusing on.
The reason I normally get a chuckle is that the words they give me are often NOT the words you’d necessarily want to target in the hopes of capturing a broader spectrum of potential visitors/customers. Sometimes I find that the words they think would be good to bring them traffic aren’t even used by searchers. And ultimately, after I tell them of my findings, they say something to the effect of “… no wonder my site isn’t making me any money!!”
The bottom line is you cannot “guess” at the keyword phrases you use in your Title tag, Description meta tag or each page or post of content. You CAN’T! Even though most internet marketers still have no knowledge of the importance of SEO and keyword research, you can’t take it for granted that YOU can squeak by without tending to these very important and vital components to your online success.
Two free-to-use online tools that you can use for your keyword research are the Google Adwords tool and WordTracker’s free version. So … stop guessing and start researching! You’ll be very glad you did. 
Does It Cost Money To Have A Domain & Website?
Stay-At-Home Mom Says “I Need to Make Money to Help Support My Family”
I always try my best to offer SEO help to internet newbies. I fully understand how daunting it can be to get your first website up and running and I don’t mean just the technical aspects, either. Choosing a domain name, which host to sign up with and such is very confusing too, to say the least. Anyway … I received an email the other day from a young stay-at-home-mom asking for some SEO help and affiliate marketing advice. I thought this might be of help to others, so here it is, in an abbreviated version:
QUESTION:
I have never had a website or domain name. Does it cost money to have one? I was thinking about appealing to moms and family since I have some experience being a mother and homemaker. I will think of a domain name and find all of the products I want to promote. I haven’t quite pinned a theme down yet though because I haven’t seen anything that just pops out at me.MY ANSWER:
Yes, ‘moms & families’ would be a great niche to target marketing-wise. There is lots of competition, but with research and such, you should be able to find a less competitive area within the niche of ‘moms & families’ that you could probably do very well in.My biggest suggestion is this: don’t jump in and register a domain name without doing keyword research into the niche that interests you. Because of the online success I have personally experienced and because professionally I am an SEO consultant, I will tell you that you HAVE to know what you want to target, meaning what niche you want to market to, before you jump in and buy a domain name.
Do you know what “niche” means? Do you understand that you have to find a smaller area of the great big theme of ‘moms & families’ to try to sell to? Have you entered all sorts of different keyword ideas into Google to see what kind of other websites are out there, what they offer and such? These sites might very well be your competition.
Let me steer you to some FREE tools you can use to investigate further. To research what keywords people are using, here is a free version of the professional tool many SEO’s and website owners use: Wordtracker Free Trial. You can also use Google’s free keyword tool.
In addition, to get a really good idea of why keyword research is so important … from the choice of your new domain name on to how you will structure your website’s theme, here is another FREE tutorial from Wordtracker that will really help you: Keyword Research Guide. Please make a point to read this. You’ll learn from it. I think this is enough for you now.
Then, I personally use and recommend either GoDaddy or Namecheap for checking domain name availability and for purchasing the domain names I decide to make mine; and I have been using hosting services for years from IX Web Hosting. They have great prices, great customer service and wonderful reliability.
Remember, read the Keyword Research Guide and use the free keyword tool BEFORE you jump in and buy up a domain name and get hosting, etc.
Have more questions?? Contact me for a free consultation.
You CAN do this, but let’s make sure you do it RIGHT!!! You’ll never regret taking your time in the beginning.
How to Write Effective Landing Pages
Grab Their Attention & Keep Those Prospects on Your Webpage!
Landing pages are very important web pages for your internet marketing website. Why? Because these pages serve as clear and concise pieces of “call to action” information for your website visitors. Landing pages are responsible for helping your visitor decide to engage an initial conversation with you, so they can investigate a specific product, or service, or free offer, etc. that you are promoting.
It is a proven fact that your website has a large influence over prospective clients and customers in deciding if they want to make the next step and learn more from you. A landing page is a vehicle that gives specific information on one topic to your prospect.
However, more times than not, most of the internet marketing websites that I have visited or have been hired to help improve, have poorly focused landing pages. The content is written in a manner that causes the visitor to end up either overwhelmed with too much non-specific information, or deciding to leave the website because they couldn’t find what they were hoping to find.
Write a Landing Page that’s Focused and Specific to Only One “Call to Action”
Without an effective landing page for each and every ad campaign you undertake, you’re wasting money and customers. As examples, whether you’re trying to build up your mailing list by offering a free download or promoting a special “Get to Know Us” discount on your professional services, the bottom line is all the same. You want positive results. You want prospects moving forward in their decision making process, not clicking off your website.
So, while your ad, special offer, etc. attracts your prospect’s interest, the landing page is supposed to pick up where the ad leaves off. It should lead the prospect to complete the desired transaction . The time it will take you to write clear, concise and compelling text for a landing page is an investment in success. There’s no getting around this fact.
Don’t think that landing pages are only limited to sales pages. They also include pages designed to get visitors to subscribe to an e-mail newsletter or to leave contact information on a lead generation page. A/B split-testing can also be employed to determine usability, to refine elements of a home page, or to develop a navigation system that visitors can understand.
Create a Great Landing Page to Capture the Attention of Your Prospects
Stick to one theme, one offer, one message: The tendency of most internet marketers is to say “Hey, I got them to my website, why don’t I give them information on all of my different services, or tell them about all the clients I’ve serviced in the past, or I think I ought to create links to all my other web pages”. You get the idea.
Your landing page should have one specific action that you want the prospect to take. To register for an event, or complete an information request form, or download a whitepaper, etc. Distracting prospects with other information or additional offers will drastically reduce the number of leads you are able to capture.
Create a clear call to action. Do not hide the call to action at the bottom of the page, making the prospect scroll down to get to it. The action you want them to take should be the main focus of the page. Create a clickable button beginning with the action word corresponding to what you want them to do – register, contact, download, buy, etc.
Prominently place this button above the fold on the page as well as in various places as they scroll down. The call to action button should be visible at all times as the prospect scrolls down the page.
Capture your prospect’s information! Regardless of the offer, create a response device to capture the prospect’s information. For instance, if you are offering a free downloadable eBook, also create a short form they must complete before they can proceed with the download.
If the prospect is interested in what you have to offer they will be happy to exchange a small amount of information about themselves. Normally all that is requested is their name and email address. I’m sure you’ve filled out many of these simple email “capture forms” yourself when registering for a free product; more information; free webinar, etc.
Additionally, those visitors are pre-qualifying themselves as interested prospects giving you legitimate reason to follow up. Do not ignore this valuable marketing step! Depending upon your offer, it might be something as simple as a “Thank You” email with a link that points back to your website. Or your follow-up might be a once-a-week for seven weeks email course.
I use and recommend Get Response autoresponder email system to all my clients. It’s affordable and not to hard to learn how to use. It allows anyone to easily capture their prospects information and also set up all different sorts of email campaigns. A serious internet marketer cannot be without an autoresponder system!
Match your ad campaign with your website copy. Make sure the look and feel of your landing page is consistent with the marketing piece that drives the prospect to it. If possible, use the same images, design elements, and colors. Repeat the copy and offer. This helps to build credibility, reinforce your message and the benefits, and increase awareness and conversions by reassuring the prospect that they are indeed in the right place.
Keep your prospect on your landing page. Keep navigation and links to a bare minimum if at all possible. Once they’re on your landing page, the last thing you want a prospect to do is click out to another page on your website without completing the desired action.
To help curtail this, simply strip the page of main navigation and keep the amount of links to a minimum. Only links directly relevant to your offer should be included. If you do offer the option of directing them off your landing page, allow the link to open up another browser window. Keep that landing page open!
Search Engine Optimization Considerations for a Landing Page
As a final note I must touch upon the SEO strategy for a landing page. Simply stated, definitely keep your landing page keyword focused and written with compelling copy. Make your visitors and the spiders happy.
However, there are many times when a landing page is a temporary situation, such as when you are offering something for a very short period of time and there would be absolutely no way search engine rankings would materialize in that limited time frame. In this situation, still utilize the targeted keywords throughout your copy and stick to sound content writing principles. Why not? It just makes good sense.
