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5 Ways to Generate Content for Your Niche Site…Right Now

A lot of times when I’m starting a new niche website, I have a hard time figuring out the content I should write about. I used to sit down and struggle, trying to brainstorm different topics that I was interested in, even trying to imagine the topics that other people would be interested in learning about.

But then one day I realized – I shouldn’t be the one dictating what my readers should read. I should let the market tell me what my users want, and then simply provide the information that they’re looking for. This makes content generation infinitely easier, because #1, I no longer have to come up unique content of my own, and #2 there are so many tools readily available on the internet to help with my market research.

The following lists my top 5 favorite sources that anyone can put into practice today – and discover what content your target audience actually wants to read about.

1. Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool

If you are reading this, you’re probably already familiar with the Google keyword research tool. This is the most popular market research tool. The information generated is incredibly powerful because the data comes from Google’s massive audience of people that use the Adwords network. A few tips that I’ve learned when using the Google keyword research tool.

• Get a more accurate approximation of search volume by using the “phrase match” option
• Add the “estimated Avg. CPC” column. This is important because not only do you want a lot of traffic, but ideally you want to find the really profitable keywords
• I always sort by “global monthly searches.” I find that this is a good metric to start with because my top priority is to write content that will generate loads of traffic.  I start with the high traffic keywords and filter out words that are too competitive or have horrible CPC.

2. Seobook Keyword Suggestion Tool

You actually have to register with the SEO Book website in order to use their free tools. But registration on this site is free and a great idea because SEOBook.com actually provides a ton of free and high quality tools. I usually take the top 20 keywords generated from this keyword research tool and add them to the list I’ve generated from the Google keyword list, deleting any duplicates.

3. Google Search Bar

Another great way to search for interesting and relevant content to you niche site. You can start typing relevant queries directly into the google search bar, adding a “~” in front of your search in order to spot any auto-complete keyword suggestions that are representative of what your target audience is searching for. You can even use the keyword list generated from methods 1 and 2 above to start a more defined market search.

The biggest downside in using this method is that you don’t know how much targeted traffic you’re getting based on these long tail keywords. You just have to assume that there should be some decent search volume if the suggestion is showing up.

But the biggest positive is that the suggestion tool uses live search data from Google’s massive user base of people that use the search tool. Contrast this with the Google keyword tool, which uses information from how advertisers target keywords in the Adwords network.

4. Wordtracker Labs

Another great tool to ascertain relevant questions in your target niche. This tool is pretty self explanatory.

5. Forum Search

Finally, this is the most time consuming method, but it is a method that I personally find the most useful. If you type in the search phrase “forum: <keyword>” Google will scour the internet for related online forums that are relevant to your keyword. From this point forward, you can do a number of things. You can browse through current forum threads and start documenting common questions. Or if you want to take this a step further, you can register at the more popular forums and actually get involved with the community. This is ideal because these forum members are your exact target audience, and there is no better method to get inside the head of your customer than by straight-up talking to them.

I’m a firm believer that despite all of these wonderful market research tools available, there is no substitute for going out and just talking to your potential customers. Because this is the only guaranteed way you can really find out what kind of questions and “pains” your customers are suffering and how our product/content can help them.

Additionally – as you get involved, most forums will allow you to place a link in your signature. If you can successfully position yourself as an expert and provide quality content, forum members can turn into an amazing source of highly targeted traffic, and you can develop a huge following without implementing any time consuming SEO tactics.

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