Having a great idea for a website is only the first step in determining if it will be viable as a commercial entity. Before you part with your hard earned dollars, developing the next great thing in websites, take a step back and review the niche it fits into determine whether it really is a good business idea in reality.
The first thing to do is determine whether or not there is an audience for what you have to offer, or if you are going to be required to build up awareness of the services product you provide. If the latter, be aware that building up a market profile can be an expensive and time consuming process; take that into account when developing your business plan. Just because you and your friends think it is a great idea, doesn’t mean that in reality, once you launch a website, it will take off and be the next big thing. While getting ranks for your revolutionary service or item will probably be easier, it is unlikely to help, because people will be unaware of what you offer and will simply not be searching for it. It’s not simply a case of “rank it and they will come”, if the keywords and phrases you are ranking for are simply not commonly searched for.
Obviously the better way to do it is to work back wards when determining your market. Find keywords and phrases for which people are already searching, and use that as the basis for working out if a market exists, and how big is it without having to initially create it. Using keywords and phrases, look at how big the competition already is and how well entrenched it is. There are several key questions you need to answer…
1/ How many competitors are in the niche?
Simply search Google in the niche you wish to target to determine how many players are already in the game. The more saturated the market is, the harder it will be to gain a foothold to build on, as you have to assume they all also want to be on page 1 like you and are working towards that goal.
2/ How well entrenched is the competition?
Take note of what is ranking on page one for your chosen keywords and phrases. Are they high authority sites, like Gov sites, wiki or competitors sites with High PR? If all the top ranks are taken up by such sites, be aware it will take time for your new website to gain enough authority to rank above them.
3/ How competitive are the keywords/phrases I want to target?
When you type a search query into Google, it looks at its database and creates a list of pages ranked for relevance. As a very general rule, the more pages Google finds relevant for any search, the harder it will be to rank. So even if you find a high volume keyword, you need to gauge the amount of pages you require to be on page one.
There are many variables that come into play to create a successful website, but one of the most important aspects is getting your website ranked. This exposes your site to your audience and builds your brand; the first step should be how you plan to target your audience and what keywords to use. Talk to your local SEO expert today to work out the best course of action for your new website idea.