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Almost everyone uses the Internet to search for information. After all, that's what the Web is...a gigantic sea of information. Is it possible that you have uncovered a new Internet opportunity through your everyday research?
Over the past couple of years I have found the need to search for specific information on many topics. Sometimes those searches have been difficult and resulted in hitting literally hundreds of web sites in my quest for answers.
I find a great article here and an interesting tip there. A link to more information on another site which leads to another site and so on and so on. Finally, after many hours of searching, I gather enough information to satisfy my original desire for an answer.
Has this ever happened to you? If it has (and I'm reasonably sure it has), did you overlook an opportunity to create a unique web site in the process?
Fact: If you have trouble finding information on a topic - then anyone else looking for the same information will have the same difficulty finding it, too.
What's this got to do with uncovering an opportunity?
If enough Internet surfers are looking for information on that topic and having trouble finding it, you would be doing a valuable service by gathering the results of your research into one web site. Doing so could create an opportunity inside of a very broad (and sometimes very competitive) market.
Here's what I mean:
Let's say that your interest is "cats". Your search for information could cover a wide variety of topics. It might include caring for cats; common cat diseases; proper diet for cats; certain breeds of cats; etc.
The probability is, that to find all of the information about cats you want, your search will lead you to many different web sites. If you gathered all of that information into one web site you could be creating something unique in a very broad category.
The attraction (or unique selling proposition) of this kind of site would be that cat lovers could find all of the information they were searching for at ONE web site.
It also becomes a "win-win" situation for you AND the authors of the articles that you use. Your web site would, of course, link back to theirs and they would gain the benefit of being an "authority" on that particular aspect of cats. And you have a web site attracting a lot of targeted traffic.
Sound interesting? Here's a few ideas on how this might work:
Collect as many articles as you can on your topic of interest. Be sure to include as many different topics as you can think of or discover during your search.
Research how many times each topic is searched for in the search engines. Be sure to research many variations of the search terms you use. One source for this would be http://www.overture.com . Go to: http://www.overture.com and click on list your site. Now click on self serve. Then scroll down the page until you see a link that says search term suggestion tool.
Were there a lot of searches for each? No? Don't give up just yet! What if you added all of the searches for each keyword together? Does that total add up to hundreds? Thousands? Remember...you are gathering ALL those topics into one web site.
What do you do if you feel there is an opportunity here? Here are a few ideas:
Get permission from the authors to reproduce their articles on a new site or in a new section of one of your existing sites. Call it a "topical directory" or an "information library".
Design a very simple site that has a topical index to the articles you found in your searches. (An example of what I mean can be found here: http://www.netprofits4beginners.com)
Write a few articles of your own to place in your article index. You want to be an authority, too!
Test market your new site by purchasing the search terms used in your research from the pay-per-click engines. This test can be done without spending much money. Give it a couple of months. And make sure you implement a way to measure your traffic.
To avoid missing out on possible opportunities in the future you should develop a few good research habits. Here are some that I have formed and use whenever I do research on the Net:
Create a new folder in my "favorites" section of my browser with an appropriate title.
Bookmark every page on which I find information that is related and valuable to my search. Further organize these into separate folders on each topic.
If the site has an ezine I explore the "archives" for articles related to my search and bookmark all those pages.
If the site has a "links" page I explore those links for more information on my research topic. Again, bookmark all good information.
If the search was difficult, always examine the search popularity of ALL the topics. Add them together and decide whether to develop the idea.
Next time you encounter a difficult search on a topic of interest think about the possibilities!
********************************************************** Darrell Finkeldei publishes "The Start Advisor" newsletter. Discover how to succeed in your PERFECT homebased online business niche, with proven research, winning business ideas, and affordable resources. Subscribe free: http://netprofits4beginners.com/subscribe.html **********************************************************
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