Keyword research
Keywords are the words and phrases people type into a search engine. The SEO potential rating on each suggested niche already reads this for you, so none of what follows is something you have to do before creating a store. It earns its keep afterwards, as the fastest way to get to know the niche you picked.
What makes a good keyword
You might think traffic volume, but volume alone hides half the picture. "Chicken soup recipe" gets plenty of searches from people who are not buying anything. "Chicken soup recipe book" gets fewer, from people reaching for a card. The second keyword earns more.
Competition matters just as much. You will not rank for "treadmills" because the big fitness brands own it. You can rank for "under desk folding treadmill", and that traffic converts better anyway. Volume, buying intent and competition together make a keyword worth having.
Three kinds worth knowing
- Informational. Questions people want answered: "how to clean a yoga mat". Great for articles that guide readers towards products.
- Commercial. Buying intent: "best yoga mat under $50", "yoga mat vs exercise mat". The most valuable, best served by buying guides and comparisons.
- Long tail. Longer and more specific: "best non-slip yoga mat for hot yoga". Less volume each, far less competition, and a much better fit for a new store. Start here and work up as the store grows.
Sizing up a niche in ten minutes
If you want a second opinion on a niche, the free Google Keyword Planner gives you one quickly. Choose "Discover New Keywords", enter a keyword or two, and read what comes back.
Take "keto cookies". Competition comes back high on nearly every keyword and the year on year change is down across the board, which is a niche losing interest. There is a seasonal shape too, with more traffic in winter when people start new diets, and "keto cookie recipes" carries the lowest competition of the lot because those searchers are not buying.
Now take "educational toys". Strongly seasonal, because toys are Christmas presents. Competition is high on the obvious terms, but dig down and you find achievable ones like "teaching teddy bear", plus named products with real volume behind them. That is exactly what an affiliate store wants.
Ten minutes here tells you a niche's trend, its seasonality and the products people hunt for. You can settle the exact keywords later.
Finding keywords for your content
Once the store exists, the same work feeds your content plan:
- Google auto-suggest. Start typing a phrase and read the suggestions. They are real searches. Try "best [niche]", "how to [niche]", "[niche] for beginners", "[niche] vs".
- People Also Ask. Open the boxes on a results page and more questions appear. A long article list builds itself this way.
- Google Search Console. Once your store is live and connected, the Performance report shows the keywords you already appear for. Anything sitting on page two or three is a focused article away from page one.
- Your competitors. What have they written that you have not?
- Reddit and forums. Every repeated question is a keyword.
Turning a keyword into content
Your store's Article Writer handles most of this, and the articles built with your store are already matched to the niche. When you brief it yourself, give it one primary keyword per article, then read what comes back and add anything only you would know.
Keep a running list of keyword ideas as you find them. You will never be short of something to work on.