Monday, December 1, 2008

Generating A Niche Presence On Google

By Rob Metras

Niche gets talked about a lot, but what is it? A niche is usually thought to be a space or small notch, or an area or activity that a person is well suited for. Niche marketing can then be thought of as marketing that takes place within an area that is well defined, that a a person or company is well fitted for.

In the world of Google and search engines the goal is to appear at or near the top of the list when someone is submitting a keyword or phrase in search of a product, service, or information. Most users of Google won't go beyond the first or second page of results unless they haven't yet found what they are looking for.

It can be difficult to separate yourself from the crowd online. If for example you have a travel site, and use atravela and avacationa as keywords it is likely that your site will be virtually lost amongst the competition. It may not even be possible to find your site on Google without staying up all night looking. Placing high on or adominatinga Google's listings is important and to do this it is crucial to establish a well defined niche, and use keywords appropriate to it. Once your niche is established you will begin to see that online marketing really does work.

Advertising a "great vacation" to anywhere isn't going to get it done. If you feature a vacation to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Washington's San Juan Islands or a special place in the Caribbean, you're starting to work your way towards finding your niche. In reality your niche is something you know as much or more about than anyone else.

A key role is played by supply and demand. Imagine if the hula hoop were invented during a time when Google and the Internet were available. The inventor with a few press releases would have announced his product to the world. People would turn to Google and enter ahula hoopa and guess what? All results would have led back to the inventors website. The inventor would have adominated Googlea . The hula hoop did just fine without needing to be online, but the point should remain clear.

Whatever product or service you may offer, it should be in high demand and have few existing suppliers. It will also be greatly helpful for you to know a lot about your product or service, which you already probably will if you are offering your own. A large unmet demand and a low level of competition should be able to add up to a dominant Google search position.

Starting your own marketing business online may not be easy. In fact failure is likely unless you are able to find your niche early on. A good method to assist with finding a niche is to to use brainstorming. Make a list of all the marketing possibilities you can think of. Do not worry about the individual merits of each item on the list, just write down as many possibilities as you can. Then go through the list and examine the supply and demand possibilities for each item. Once something with high demand and limited competition is found, you are on your way to a successful niche marketing business.

Opportunities at times stare us in the face and we don't even realize it. Just give some thought to what you have to offer to the world. It's probably much, much more than you realize. Then look for the unique thing, that which other's find interesting or important and market it. Sounds simple, but it takes work. Success isn't guaranteed of course, not many things in life are, but with perseverance and maybe a little luck you can make your niche market work for you. - 15478

About the Author: