In the previous sections I talked about finding a niche, how to determine if there is
enough demand, and evaluating your competition in paid and natural search results. This
is all important material, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have a unique selling
proposition (USP).
A USP is what makes you stand out from the crowd; it differentiates you from the
competition. The content you provide your visitors is more important than the number of
competitors in the search results, or click prices.
Your website has to fill a need and offer prospective website visitors some kind of value.
Give people a reason to click on your ad and buy from your merchant partners.
A quick and easy way that you can offer value to your visitors is to write-up a
personalized review on a product or service you’ve used. When you share your personal
experience and opinion about a product you’re giving your visitors a unique perspective
they can’t easily find at another website.
Another way you can add value is by writing up a tutorial or guide for using a product or
service. I’ve produced articles and made screen capture videos showing people how to
use software. Not only did this content give my visitors value they couldn’t find
anywhere else, but it gave them even more motivation to buy the products I was
promoting.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Market Research Summary
Before you get too far into your project, it's important to do some initial research. Think
about some of the consequences of skipping any one of these steps...
What could happen if you don't do a high-level overview?
• The product or service you want to promote could be on its way to becoming
obsolete. Would you invest time and money into building a website that promoted
film cameras? Sure there's still demand, but even Kodak, who invented the film
camera, is moving away from film.
What could happen if you don't measure the demand for your category?
• Your category focus could be too narrow. You may think everyone is as
passionate about "unicycle hockey" as you are, only to find out there's not enough
money in the sport to pay your monthly web hosting bill.
What could happen if you don't check out the competition?
• You could invest time and money into a website that will never be profitable. If
your website is focused on keywords that are too expensive or too competitive,
you will never be successful. You can make money in any category online; you
just have to focus on the right keywords within that category. If you decide to
target a highly competitive niche you should identify a segment within that
category that you can target and offer the most value.
about some of the consequences of skipping any one of these steps...
What could happen if you don't do a high-level overview?
• The product or service you want to promote could be on its way to becoming
obsolete. Would you invest time and money into building a website that promoted
film cameras? Sure there's still demand, but even Kodak, who invented the film
camera, is moving away from film.
What could happen if you don't measure the demand for your category?
• Your category focus could be too narrow. You may think everyone is as
passionate about "unicycle hockey" as you are, only to find out there's not enough
money in the sport to pay your monthly web hosting bill.
What could happen if you don't check out the competition?
• You could invest time and money into a website that will never be profitable. If
your website is focused on keywords that are too expensive or too competitive,
you will never be successful. You can make money in any category online; you
just have to focus on the right keywords within that category. If you decide to
target a highly competitive niche you should identify a segment within that
category that you can target and offer the most value.
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