Niche Marketing – Taking Advantage of Undervalued Keywords Part One

You’ve selected your keywords, and tailored your content and link text to make the most of it. But did you realize that when it comes to marketing, there might be even more keywords that you could take advantage of that have a lower CPC and could be configured to bring in extra traffic?

I checked out the Google AdWords Keyword Tool yesterday. My fictional site, PetStyles, needs a new idea, a new product, something just a little different. I want to find a niche market.

Google AdWords starts by having you type in a keyword or keyword phrase. It then spits out a batch of related search terms (in this case roughly 200 of them) and I can sort them according to the type of information I am looking for. Of course, I type in pet clothing.

The first display shows the list of keyword options lined up against competitor interest as well as the amount of searches done for that particular word or combination of words in the last month, and the last year. This show up as bars partially colored in to represent how much interest they are receiving from advertisers or consumers.

I notice right off that the competition is fierce for the words I typed in, as well as for cat clothing, dog clothing and the like. The search bar is nearly full, but so is the ad competition one. The CPCs are considerably higher as well, over $2 in some cases.

Of course, I already knew that as I grudgingly cough up a chunk of change for these and other keywords each month. I can’t afford another highly ranked keyword, and besides – I am looking for a niche market!

I request the list be sorted again, this time setting my maximum CPC to .25 cents. The list I have now is only half the length. I start scrolling down, looking for keywords I can work with that have little or no competition, and a fair amount of search.

Aha. I have found a niche. Hoodies. Who doesn’t love a hoodie? I even (theoretically) stock a few, but never thought of deliberately advertising them before. They do have some popularity, among the dog owners in particular. For quick one mile run on a drizzly morning, you just can beat a hooded sweatshirt.

Dog hoodie, cat hoodie and animal hoodie all have a smidgen of interest in both the search and competition columns, and cost under a quarter a click. What catches my eye, however, are the combinations pet hoodie, pet hoodies and pet sweatshirts. They have almost the same amount of search as the others, but competition is nil and CPC is only a nickel.

I even see ncaa hoodies listed. I have this terrific image in my minds-eye of the diehard college ball fan, out jogging in the rain with his golden retriever. They wear matching team grey hoodies. The music swells, and the dog peeks out from the shadow of the hood in an adorable manner – OK. You get the idea. Guys love their dogs almost as much as their sports.

I am going to corner this imaginary pet hoodie market and try to make it my niche. There’s no guarantee it will work, but nothing ventured, nothing gained!

****Tomorrow: Keywords and Niche Markets Part Two****