Basic Research to Building Your First Web Site(s)

If you want to make a web site of your own in a niche that you have some interest in, then using the basic ideas below will help you to research the information.

Just as a side note. I would recommend having at least some interest in the first site niche you wish to build.

For one, it will help you keep inspired to write content, secondly you will learn for yourself how things work online, and third, you will know what to expect of others or if you begin to outsource.

If you know how long it takes to research and write a 350 word article, you know if you are being ripped off. If you know how long it takes to make a twitter post and link using a site like bit.ly, then you know what to expect for quotes by a virtual assistant etc.

Understanding how things work and function will help you to write clearer job specs when posting for project workers.

Getting back to the first site you create. Having that passion or at very least some mild interest will help you to understand your potential customer a little better, and it will keep you inspired though the harder days and times (and they will come to test you, so be prepared). By the way, if you are in the industry, and not just a passionate or interested newbie, then be very careful. What you think of as research will be well above your average joe visitor. This will complicate matters when you start keyword and search term research.

Now imagine you wanted to start your very first web site to make a little cash. Do you think that going head to head with a massive corporation with millions of ad-spend budget will yield the results you are aiming for? Unlikely, but never let that put your off a project as the ONLY reason not to do it.

You will be surprised how many “simple” blog sites have been snapped up by large companies later down the road.

First of all you need inspiration on what people are searching for and also that interest you.

If people are paying to read about it already, then it is likely that you can make some income from that market. Take a walk down your local High Street. Look at the shelves and shelves of Magazine Content that people are reading every single day. Now think about this for one moment.

You can get lots of information free on the web these days, and you also have the convenience of getting access to the web from home, work, hotels, coffee shops, pretty much anywhere, yet people still PAY for magazines with their favourite content in them.

If people are motivated enough to leave their home, drive to the high street, park, mix with the crowds and pay for a few pieces of paper each week, month, etc. Then you have a market that people are willing to pay for content in.

Start broad, and work inward to a smaller niche market if you can. For example, if you were interested in interior design and furnishing new homes, you may start with some magazines that have a broad overview,
then later you would begin to research more specific elements within your niche interest.

Your potential readers/customers are like this too. If I wanted to build a new home, I may start by purchasing general house and garden magazines for inspiration. Then as I knew more about my choices, I would start to do more target driven research, likely on the web.

At this point, your customer is very driven. They are looking for specific answers, not just browsing. This is very important to your site content. If you are too general, yes you will pick up readers over time, but by being more niche specific, your content will be much more focused, and easier to monetise later

Some other places to do basic customer niche research includes:

http://pulse.ebay.com/
See what trends are happening on Ebay. Discover popular search terms,
Drill down to categories. For example, when I popped over last, in the
Home & Garden Section, Bedding and Curtains were in the top ten most
searched items. You can get much more niche specific within that niche
and build a site just around that.

Google Research Tool
This is Googles Own Research Tool. Great for getting an idea of search
volumes and using their keyword ideas tool will help broaden your
keyword research.

http://www.wordtracker.com/

This is a PAID for tool, but you can start with a free trial. If you
are serious about building many sites over time, then I would
recommend something like this to help you compile your research.

http://www.spyfu.com/
This site is useful for paid advertising information. If there are
companies/people paying to advertise on a regular basis in this niche
then there is money to be made from a well put together web site, even
if it is only from Adsense revenue.

When doing your research. Do not take the human element out of your
work. Sometimes, these sites will tell you that your market is too small
and that you practically will not make money in that niche. Combine
the tools to do various research before jumping to a hasty decision.

If you have any questions, please let me know so I can help further