Competitive, Niche, and Idea Research Resources

A running resource list I keep:

1. Trends

Google Trends
=> http://www.google.com/trends

Trend Watching
=> http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/

Google Insights
=> http://www.google.com/insights/search/#
=> http://www.google.com/support/insigh...y?answer=96693

Quantcast
=> http://www.quantcast.com

2. Directories

Directories are where search engines where born, and can give you great insight into categories and niches both by seeing who is there and visiting them.

Open Directory Project
=> http://www.dmoz.org/

Yahoo Directory
=> http://dir.yahoo.com/

3. Mega Ideas Generator

Google Suggest
=> http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en

Lycos Movers and Shakers
=> http://50.lycos.com/

Alexa Top 500 Movers and Shakers
=> http://alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=global〈=none

Amazon Bestsellers
=> http://amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books

WikiSuccess
=> http://www.wikisuccess.org/wiki/Main_Page

Barnes and Nobles BestSellers
=> http://www.barnesandnoble.com/gatewa...ellers.asp?z=y

43 Things
=> http://www.43things.com/

Squidoo Top Lenses
=> http://www.squidoo.com/browse/top_lenses

Magazine.com
=> http://www.magazines.com/ncom/mag?redirect=1

Ebay Pulse
=> http://pulse.ebay.com/

Shopping.com Top Searches
=> http://www10.shopping.com/top_searches

Yahoo Recreational Hobbies
=> http://dir.yahoo.com/recreation/hobbies

Google Groups
=> http://groups.google.com/

Yahoo Groups
=> http://groups.yahoo.com/

Google Blogsearch
=> http://blogsearch.google.com/

BlogCatalog
=> http://www.blogcatalog.com/

Google Catalogs
=> http://catalogs.google.com/

Yahoo Buzz Index
=> http://buzz.yahoo.com/

Technorati Top Searches
=> http://www.technorati.com/

Thesauraus, Dictionary, and Encyclopedia
=> http://thesauraus.reference.com/

4. Affiliate Programs

Not only can you research lucrative affiliate programs you can promote, and get ideas for products to fill a niche, but all the affiliate networks will show you what their hottest offers for you to promote. This also tells you what niches are hot, or you can use those to suggest products to create yourself.

Offer Vault
=> Offervault
http://offervault.com

AzoogleAds
=> http://www.azoogleads.com/corp/index.php

Joe Bucks
=> http://www.joebucks.com/

MoreNiche
=> http://www.moreniche.com/

ClickBank Marketplace
=> https://www.clickbank.com/marketplac...=65&keywords=#

PayDotCom
=> http://www.paydotcom.com/homepage.php

FreeIQ
=> http://beta.freeiq.com/index.dhtml?a=1

Associate Programs
=> http://www.associateprograms.com/

LifeTimeCommissions
=> http://www.lifetimecommissions.com/


2 Tier
=> http://2-tier.com/

Affiliate Directory
=> http://www.affiliatesdirectory.com/

5 Star Affiliate Program
=> http://www.5staraffiliateprograms.com/

5. Free Keyword Tools

Google Adwords Keyword Tool
=> https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Webmaster Toolkit Keyword Research Tool
=> http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/key...rch-tool.shtml

SEO 20/20
=> http://www.seo2020.com/seo-tools/key...research-tool/

WordTracker FREE Keyword Tool
=> http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

Digital Point
=> http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/

Nichebot Classic
=> http://www.nichebotclassic.com/

DomainCountry Keyword Tool
=> http://www.domaincountry.com/

NicheTaxi
=> http://www.nichetaxi.com/

WordPot
=> http://www.wordpot.com/

Freeaddlink
=> http://freeaddlink.com/domain/research.php


5. Answers, ?How To? and Self Help

Great for for niche research, you can contribute and leave your link for traffic generation.

eHow
=> http://www.ehow.com/

WikiHow
=> http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page

AnswerBag
=> http://www.answerbag.com/

How Stuff Works
=> http://www.howstuffworks.com/

So You Wanna?
=> http://www.soyouwanna.com/

About.com
=> http://www.about.com/

Yedda
=> http://yedda.com/

Yahoo Answers
=> http://answers.yahoo.com/

Tips and Answers
=> http://www.tipsanswers.com/

This is a good gem to look out for. Use this to create custom reports and offer to your list and add value to your subscribers, or as opt-in incentives:

=>Find All About ?> http://www.findallabout.com/index.php

Here is some great ?How To? materials that will also generate loads of useful ideas:
Must watch => VideoJug -> http://www.videojug.com/


?Early To Rise Health, Wealth, & Success Ezine? with loads of great info:
=> http://www.earlytorise.com/


?MyGoals? pre-made and customized goal-attainment:
=> http://www.mygoals.com/

6. Article Directories

Great source for information and ideas, as well as traffic genetation.

EzineArticles
=> http://ezinearticles.com/

iSnare
=> http://www.isnare.com/

Associated Content
=> http://www.associatedcontent.com/

SearchWarp
=> http://searchwarp.com/

Article Dashboard
=> http://www.articledashboard.com/

GoArticles
=> http://www.goarticles.com/

ArticleBase
=> http://www.articlesbase.com/

ArticleDepot
=> http://www.articledepot.co.uk/

ArticleCity
=> http://www.articlecity.com/

7. Public Domain

Wikipedia list of public domain directories
=> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_resources

Gutenberg
=> http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Online Books Page
=> http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

Creative Commons
=> http://creativecommons.org/

Google US Government Search
=> http://www.google.com/ig/usgov

Public Domain Books Online
=> http://www.pdbooksonline.com/

ibiblio
=> http://www.ibiblio.org/

Health Research Books
=> http://www.healthresearchbooks.com/

Bibliomania
=> http://www.bibliomania.com/

Electronic Text Center
=> http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/

8. Interesting Facts

Amusing Facts
=> http://amusingfacts.com/

Strange Facts
=> http://www.strangefacts.com/


9. Forums

Forums can be some of the best resources for specific end-user answers, and allow you to ask specific questions.

WarriorForum
=> http://warriorforum.com/forum

Big Board
=> http://www.big-boards.com/

Digital Point
=> http://forums.digitalpoint.com/

Sitepoint
=> http://www.sitepoint.com

A Best Web Affiliate Marketers forum
=> http://abestweb.com

ZamDoo
=> http://www.zamdooforums.com

IM4Newbies
=> http://www.im4newbies.com/forum/

thanks for sharing. could you give an example of how you use these.

Wow it's great list and so many thing to check.

Thank's bro.

This is an awesome share man. I never knew so many of this existed and can see the possibilities!

Thanks

aistee -

Great share! Over the last hour surfing some of your links, I've come up with five possible niches. Just have to do some market research to see how viable they might be, and then figure out a way to exploit them.

Many, many thanks!!

>>In particular, I appreciate them being listed as links. It makes it so much easier to save and access!

Thanks aistee for this great list. I thought it was so good, I made a small PDF ebook from it. If anyone wants it. I have uploaded it to two file sharing sites. They are listed below:

Download From MediaFire:

- OR -

Download From RapidSpread:

Thanks again aistee for the great list!

Cheers! - "Wiz"

EXCELLENT LIST!

Thank you very much for this, bookmarked + thanked

Really a nice big and damn useful list.... one of the reasons I always love BHW