Do you think it is about time that you get started with your very own online business? To do that you need a website. And the most important thing of all, you need to find the right niche to market to. This is where an effective niche market research steps in. Because your only chance to become a real online success story is if you would work within a niche and not target the highly competitive keywords or markets.

Now what is a niche to begin with? A niche is a more focused subset of a market. There are many factors that you can put into consideration to consider a market a niche. You can a price range so you can limit your target market to consumers who can only afford or want to purchase your product with that range. You can also focus on your product’s one main feature. One example would be the brochure copy writing niche if you are into freelance writing. You get the idea.

Here are five ways on how you can become better with your niche market research. It mostly includes places or services that you can use to find the best niches.

1. Consider using Google’s services or tools.

There are two Google services or tools that I frequently use whenever I am on the lookout for nice niche keywords. These are Google Trends and the free Google keyword research tool. The first one helps me in determining the hottest keywords that people are searching for on Google. It is usually about celebrities and important events especially those that just occurred recently.

With the keyword research tool, on the other hand, it helps me to narrow down my niche when I start with a bigger market. You can strengthen your niche research by looking at the search volumes of the keywords, both globally and specific to a certain region. Just listen to an Ed Dale interview and you will understand the importance of proper keyword research. The guy has built a reputation in finding great niches.

2. The bestseller lists on Amazon.

Every product department or category within Amazon has a portion called the bestseller lists. It shows you the products that most people are purchasing or rating. Basically it lets you find out what are the hottest products for you to sell or create a website on.

3. Yahoo! directory

It has been around for a long time and equally, savvy Internet marketers are using it find their lucrative niches. You can start, for instance, by choosing the Yahoo! Autos category and then narrowing down your selection to sedans, trucks, or coupes and then to specific car brands and makes.

4. Newsstands

Just stop by a newsstand and look at the magazines on display What do you notice right away? That each of these magazines are specializing in a specific market. These can be about literature, toys, pets, computers, mobile phones, home furnishing, electronic gadgets, and many more. Within each magazine you will find news stories where you can get more niche marketing ideas.

5. Auction sites like eBay.

These websites are all providing a list of the hottest trends or of the items that most people are currently placing their bids and purchasing. These are certainly niche market research tools that you should take advantage of especially if you are planning to create a website where you would be selling specific products.

Do you want to learn more about niche market research and other online marketing tips? Then you can listen to some podcast interviews of the top names in Internet marketing today.