One of my favorite authors, Seth Godin just put up a very short and very powerful post. He has a way of doing that.
I’m still refining my business mission, but it goes something like this:
I want to help as many local businesses as possible to grow as much as possible, so that we all benefit as much as possible.
If local business A takes in 10% more revenue, that goes back into the local economy. Consumers can then spend more, so other businesses can grow more as well. It starts small, but as it grows, there comes a point where people see real improvements in the local economy. This is where the recovery will come from, and I’m working hard to do my part.
Market Research from a Keyword Research Tool
The number one internet marketing tool, they call it the “Marketer’s Swiss Army Knife” Market Samurai does keyword research, and so much more. I will get a small commission if you buy here, but even if I didn’t, I would still recommend it. I use this software on a regular basis, and wouldn’t give it up for anything. The basic keyword research functions are always free, but the additional functions will require a purchase. Sign up for the free trial, and use it for your niche and keyword research. Explore the other functions when you have time. I think you’ll agree this really is a bargain at twice the price. Get Market Samurai here
Why do you need keyword research? On the Internet, keyword research is market research, and I hope you’ll agree every business needs market research. “If you build it, they will come” does not apply here.
On the Internet, keyword research also has the added benefit of being a major part of niche research. You want to narrow your focus to the smallest niche that can support your business model, and expand from there.
Fire up Market Samurai, and then under “Create a New Project,” click “New Project.” Enter the base keyword for your business. For this example, let’s say it’s squirrel training. If you want to keep your business local, set the Language/Region and Countries and Territories settings for your country and language. Decide whether or not you want to include adult content terms in your research, and then click “Create.”
Now click “Keyword Research” near the open padlock, and then click “Generate Keywords.” Market Samurai will churn for a few minutes while it gathers information from Google, and then it will present you with a list of terms. There are other options here we could play with, but we’ll save those for future sessions. For now, just click the “Keyword Analysis” at the bottom right of the window.
Keyword AnalysisNow we have more options than we need again. Check the “SEO Traffic (SEOT)”, “Phrase-to-Broad (PBR)”, “Trends”, “SEO Comp (SEOC)”, and “Adwords Value” boxes. Set the SEOT to 80, the PBR to 15, and the SEOC to 30000. If you’re setting up a strictly local business, leave the SEOC blank, since national and global competition won’t affect you much. Now click on “Analyze Keywords.”
Options
As you can see, this market is extremely small, but could make a nice little income-generating hobby. Squirrel training gets about 22 visitors per day at the #1 search position, and squirrels as pets gets about 91. These numbers are estimates based on many studies by the Market Samurai team and other marketers, but they are usually very accurate. Remember also, that this is only the traffic from organic search listings; we can also develop traffic from many other sources as well.
You might not find good keywords so quickly, of course. If you have too few choices for good keywords, clear the SEOC field so there is no upper limit for competition. Then choose one of the more competitive keywords that look promising, and click the little key next to it. This will set this keyword in a new tab. Open that tab, and click keyword research, generate keywords, keyword analysis and analyze keywords again. Be sure to set the SEOC back to 30000 again (if you are looking for a national or global business), so that you aren’t trying to fight the heavy hitters yet.
You may also find it helpful to move up a level or two. Instead of squirrel training, move up to squirrels or pet rodents. It’s not unusual for someone new to Market Samurai to spend a week or so trying different niches before they find a god one, but once you get the hang of it, you can find a good niche in about 15 minutes.
New options for a larger set
Sign up for the free tutorial for the next session: Scoping Out the Comptition
Technorati Tags: keyword research, market research
