{"id":9858,"date":"2017-01-02T09:38:12","date_gmt":"2017-01-02T08:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/authorityhacker.com\/?p=9858"},"modified":"2023-01-31T09:06:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T09:06:45","slug":"niche","status":"publish","type":"podcasts","link":"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/niche\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing Your First Niche For Your Authority Site"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This is episode 2 of 7 of the Authority Hacker New Year Starter Series. If you haven&#8217;t been through the previous episodes, we suggest you go and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"102\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">check those out first<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>What you will learn<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe most common mistakes we see when choosing a first niche<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe exact criteria we use when looking at potential niche markets<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat niche categories are and the key differences between them<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuper actionable steps you can use right away to find a profitable niche<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA real life example of a &#8220;good&#8221; niche and why it works<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Niche Research Mistakes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Niche research is arguably one of the most important steps when starting a new authority site. The likelihood of creating a successful site depends heavily on your ability to choose a niche that ticks all the right boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the biggest mistakes we see with niche research is what\u2019s known as \u2018paralysis by analysis\u2019. Spending so much time on the research phase that you start experiencing information overload and can no longer make a logical decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, we also see people who are too lazy to put in an adequate amount of research. As a result, they\u2019re usually too quick to choose niche and end up with something that will probably fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to strike the right balance. Finding the right niche does require a lot of work, but at the same time, you need to enable yourself to make a decision when you\u2019ve finally gathered all the facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Note: To give you some kind of benchmark, the niche we used in <a href=\"\/system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Authority Site System<\/a> took us about a week (~2 hours\/day) to finally settle on.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What To Look For When Choosing a Niche<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Niche research is essentially about looking at different markets and making comparisons. Specifically, these are some of the niche criteria we use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SEO Competition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>How difficult it would be to rank for niche related keywords (including keywords with commercial intent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Commercial Intent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Finding keywords with commercial\/buyer intent means you can create content that targets people further along the buying process (resulting in much higher conversions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Monetization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>What products and services are being sold in that niche and how you could potentially offer those too. Things like affiliate programs, training courses, physical product, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Personal Interest<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether or not you yourself have some level of interest in that niche. Though not essential, we recommend having some personal interest in the topic because it makes it a lot easier to stick at it long-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mass Market<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Mass market niches (like phones and laptops) should always be AVOIDED. Not only are they super-competitive, but they also offer very low commissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 3 Niche Categories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although there are countless niches to choose from, they can all be grouped into 3 main categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Passion<\/strong><br>\nNiches that people are obsessed with (almost like hobbies on steroids).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Horse riding<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Model trains<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Paintball<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Lifestyle<\/strong><br>\nNiches that people identify with (how they would describe themselves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Running<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Veganism<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Parenting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Problem<\/strong><br>\nNiches that offer a direct solution to a specific problem or pain point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Acne<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dating<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Weight loss<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Which Is The Best Niche Category?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Though you can always find a successful niche in either category, they\u2019re not all created equal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, passion and lifestyle niches have an edge because they inherently have a strong community, which is a marketing opportunity that can be leveraged on social media platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, you\u2019ll find tend to find less \u201cexperts\u201d and more \u201cbloggers\u201d in these categories, which makes outreach (and link building) so much easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Actionable Steps For Finding a Niche<br>\nLet&#8217;s move away from the theory and give you some actionable steps when it comes to actually choosing your fist niche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 1) Make a List<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Write down a list of niches that take your fancy using websites\/directories such as Dmoz, <a href=\"https:\/\/alltop.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alltop<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reddit<\/a>. At this stage, the only factor you should consider is whether you have an interest in that niche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>Step 2) Eliminate Niches<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Run your list through the niche criteria above (what to look for in a niche) and cross off any that aren\u2019t aligned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 3) Research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the remaining niches, you need to actually go out and research the the criteria above. That means looking at keywords, evaluating commercial, and identifying monetization opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An Example Of A \u201cGood\u201d Niche<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now we\u2019ve broken down the process, let\u2019s put it into context by looking at a niche that does tick all the boxes&#8230; <strong>The outdoors niche.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, it\u2019s a passion\/lifestyle niche so we know it\u2019s one that people get excited about. It\u2019s a market that has an endless amount of products to sell, whether that\u2019s through Amazon or private affiliate programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A good chunk of those products are also high-ticket items (like tents and kayaks), so you can expect a healthy commission on sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a fairly broad niche with a huge number of topics and plenty of low difficulty keywords to target, which also makes content creation and link building a breeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To top it off, our research also revealed a TON of other outdoors sites, so we know it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For further reading, be sure to check out the advanced podcast on <a href=\"\/how-to-find-a-niche\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">choosing a niche<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5],"acf":{"coauthors":null},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"gs-tiny":false,"xl":false,"xxl":false,"xxxl":false,"xxxxl":false,"xxxxxl":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Gael Breton","author_link":"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/author\/gael\/"},"uagb_comment_info":6,"uagb_excerpt":"This is episode 2 of 7 of the Authority Hacker New Year Starter Series. If you haven&#8217;t been through the previous episodes, we suggest you go and check those out first. What you will learn Niche Research Mistakes Niche research is arguably one of the most important steps when starting a new authority site. The&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcasts\/9858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcasts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcasts"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}