I'm adding this post to this thread instead of the how to pick your 1st niche thread - because this is a little more advanced and applies to pro niche selection process, not just for newbies.
========================================
I wish the Diorex blog was still around. He wrote some good stuff. Oooff.com was able to salvage a couple good posts. Here's one of them
Diorex’s How to measure a niche post. He goes into how to evaluate niches - what to look for and things to avoid.
Avoid
· If you read the name of the niche and a few keywords dont pop-into your head immediately, you should probably not pursue it. Just about any product or niche will have hundred or possibly thousands of keywords, but if you cannot come up with the 5-10 high volume searches immediately, I would say move on.
· Follow-up this brief brainstorms with Google searches and pay attention to the ads. Are you going to be competing against common every day brand names or a bunch of mom and pops? I would discount the top 3 names and focus on how hard it is going to be to break into the second tier positions. Don’t let 1 or 2 brand names scare you, but if you look in 5th position and it is a fortune 500 company, then I might be tempted to move on.
· You do not want to be competing against the manufacturers of the product, even if they are not brand names, if there are no affiliates in the space that is probably a bad sign. The reverse is true, if it almost entirely affiliates (like ringtones) then it is probably pretty crowded and as a little guy without a white label/special payout you are already off to a bad start
· Is is it a product you know anything about? I dont think that unmarried college age guys are going to be rockstars at promoting a menopause product or even a baby shower list. Look to your life experiences for things you naturally know a little bit about. Sure you can learn, but why set yourself up for a longer more difficult road.
· By the same token, I would also avoid things that have enormous keyword lists. Ringtones, DVDs, Books etc. It just means a ton of optimization and a much more difficult road to start with. If you are looking at more than 5-10 ad copies to start, move on. Try to group your keywords for similar themes, it makes testing easier and testing is where you should be making your money.
Now that we've looked at what to avoid - go check out the rest for tips on things you should look for when evaluating potentially profitable niches.
Diorex’s How to measure a niche post